As Senator Cory Gardner’s Republican allies in Washington launch another disgusting and false attack against John Hickenlooper, Erin Martinez, a survivor of the tragedy referenced in their ad, has called on them to take down their “horrifying political ad” in a statement released to the public:
“I woke up this morning to hear about a horrifying political ad using images from the explosion and fire that destroyed my life and killed my husband Mark and my brother Joey.
“My family and I have worked extremely hard to create positive changes that will keep my story from happening to anyone else and in doing so, honoring the memories of Mark and Joey. Not a single day goes by that we are not heartbroken and struck with unimaginable grief. This ad uses my story in a negative light and disgraces the memory of Mark and Joey.
“Please remove this ad from public view immediately.”
Hickenlooper for Colorado Communications Director Melissa Miller released the following statement:
“Erin Martinez is absolutely correct — Washington Republicans must take down their ‘horrifying’ and false attack and stop exploiting this tragedy and distorting the facts to score political points.”
Here is the truth. As Governor, Hickenlooper held oil and gas companies accountable, levying tough fines for violations and implementing industry wide reforms. After the Firestone tragedy, Hickenlooper ordered companies to test pipelines within 1,000 feet of homes and implemented tougher disclosure rules for oil and gas companies. His administration also repeatedly fined oil and gas companies for millions of dollars for violating state and local regulations. The investigation into the Firestone disaster was started during the Hickenlooper Administration by the National Transportation Safety Board, and after it was completed in October 2019, the Polis administration levied fines.
“It’s clear Senator Gardner’s allies are desperate because they can’t defend Cory Gardner’s record of standing with Trump 100% of the time. While Governor Hickenlooper was implementing ‘gold-standard’ environmental protections and holding oil and gas companies accountable for safety violations, Senator Gardner was signing off on Trump’s rollback of clean air and water protections.”
