Several Colorado counties seek to form their own state: 'North Colorado'

Saturday, June 15, 2013 by: J. D. Heyes
Tags: Colorado, secession, Bill of Rights

(NaturalNews) To most Americans the question of secession was settled by the Civil War, but even today there are those who believe that states - or, in this case part of a state - should be able to form anew.

A group of counties in Colorado are upset at plans to increase regulation of the oil and gas industry therein, and have said they wish to leave Colorado proper and form their own state, CBS Denver reports. Officials said they plan to call the new state North Colorado or Northern Colorado.

Officials in the counties say they are upset and frustrated with strict new agricultural and energy bills signed into law by the state's progressive legislature and left-leaning governor.

"We really feel in northern and northeastern Colorado that we are ignored - citizens' concerns are ignored, and we truly feel disenfranchised," Weld County Commissioner Sean Conway told local Denver affiliate CBS4.

'This is not a stunt'

He said the new laws don't really support the interests of the northern part of the state, which is noted for his rich agricultural background and history. Conway went onto say that is why he and other officials from adjoining counties want to break away from Colorado and form their own enclave.

What's more, they are fully aware of what it is they seek, but they are serious about pursuing their goal.

"This is not a stunt. This is a very serious deliberative discussion that's going on," Conway said. "There's a real feeling that a lot of folks who come from the urban areas don't appreciate the contribution that many Coloradans contribute."

The report said that a portion of neighboring Nebraska would be interested in joining what would become the 51st state.

Conway, it seems, has done his homework; he told the CBS affiliate that five of the country's 50 states were created through a process similar to what he and the other county officials are pursuing. And he says his proposal may very well wind up as a state ballot issue this fall.

"The whole purpose of doing this is to preserve an agricultural way of life and to protect the energy sector that we feel is very much under assault," he said.

The Obama Administration has also been no friend of the energy sector. While the president is fond of saying that, on his watch, oil and natural gas production in the U.S. has increased. In the literal sense of the word, he is right - but the increased production actually occurred in spite of his policies, according to Forbes magazine, which noted that increased production occurred almost exclusively on private, not government, land.

As for Colorado lawmakers, they are mixed on whether they would support an effort to break up the state. Rep. Cory Gardner, a GOP congressman from Yuma, told The Coloradan newspaper in Fort Collins he isn't sure how he would vote on such a measure. But, he added that he understands the frustration behind the measure and why it is being offered at this time. And he says Democratic lawmakers who control the state Legislature and office of the governor certainly have not been listening to constituents in the state's rural enclaves.

Ignore the minority at your peril

According to the paper the following counties are seeking "independence" from Colorado: Kit Carson, Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick Washington, Weld and Yuma.

"If voters in those counties decide they want to move forward, then the county commissioners would ask state lawmakers to approve the plan, and then petition Congress for statehood," CBS4 reported.

There's not much chance of that happening, either in Colorado or elsewhere around the country where secession talk has begun. But historically, nations that ignore such vocal minorities do so at their own peril; think Bosnia, parts of the former Soviet Union and, in more recent years, Libya and Syria.

Sources for this article include:

http://denver.cbslocal.com

http://www.forbes.com

https://www.naturalnews.com/038023_secession_history_Constitution.html