Udall will bring the abortion squirrel back into the fray.
Via The Hill
Republicans love fracking in Colorado — and it could help them flip a critical Senate seat this fall.
The onslaught against Democratic Sen. Mark Udall (Colo.) reached a fever pitch this week when Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) had to cancel a special legislative session meant to keep two hydraulic fracturing initiatives backed by Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) off the November ballot.
Udall, who had stayed out of the fray on the two measures, was forced to take a side much to the GOP’s glee.
Now, with Colorado as one of the top natural gas producing states in the nation, the fracking controversy could be the issue that gives Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) the boost he needs in the tight-knit race of high importance in the battle for Senate control. 
Udall came out against the two measures along with Hickenlooper, also up for reelection, essentially creating a rift within the state’s Democratic party.
The Polis-backed measures would set tighter restrictions on hydraulic fracturing operations for oil and natural gas in the state. One would extend the setback for hydraulic fracturing wells to 2,000 feet from schools, hospitals, and the like. The other would establish an “environmental bill of rights” giving local governments precedence when its laws conflict with the state’s.
But the progressive Poils, who is known for flying solo on issues and not bending a knee to the party, is unlikely to pull the measures, which Colorado environmentalists fiercely support.
Four out of five major towns in Colorado have already banned the controversial drilling method, which pumps a pressurized mix of chemicals, water, and sand, or wastewater as many call it, into the ground to extract natural gas deposits from deep below the earth’s surface.
The long and short-term health effects of possible water contamination via extraction wells that are being built closer and closer to homes, or schools, are unknown. That, and President Obama touting natural gas as the “bridge fuel” to help fight climate change, has catapulted the profile of fracking to a national level.
To hear Floyd Ciruli, a non-partisan Colorado pollster for nearly 40 years tell it, Democrats are in a full-blown damage control over the fracking measures being pushed by its liberal, environmental wing.
“Sen. Udall has to be concerned just because of the amount of negative, hostile conversation among Democrats arguing with each other,” Ciruli said of the multi-million dollar campaign surrounding the two measures.
“These guys are going into an election here that everyone thinks is one or two points, and the No. 1 characteristic of Colorado Democratic voters is that they are environmentalists,” he added.
Between Udall and Gardner, the incumbent is clearly the favorite of environmental groups, netting endorsements from the League of Conservation Voters, and billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer.