Could Chacon’s anti-Suncor crusade cost Commerce City jobs?

Ward III City Council member Renée Chacon is a political novice on council but a longtime activist in the environmental movement. Appointed in January to fill the remaining months in the term of former council member Rick Davis, who resigned in December, Chacon is an outspoken critic of Commerce City’s Suncor refinery and an advocate of “climate justice.”

The five-year resident of Commerce City is executive director and cofounder of a group called Womxn from the Mountain, which has crusaded against the refinery and describes itself on its website as, an “Inclusive group open to women of all colors and backgrounds, including those that identify as women and the feminine identity.”

The group helped launch a campaign seeking a “Suncor Sundown” and promotes a short film on the subject. Chacon has publicly called for action against the refinery, and has been quoted on the web on her assertions that the refinery is especially harmful to “indigenous people and communities.”

Yet, the refinery also employs about 500 people. Many are Commerce City residents of all races and ethnicities. The facility produces about 98,000 barrels of gasoline, diesel fuel and paving asphalt every day and sells almost all of it inside Colorado. Refineries perform a vital service, and most of us couldn’t drive our cars or trucks without them. 

It’s one thing for Chacon to oppose refineries because she believes they are bad for air quality. But doesn’t her public opposition to Suncor conflict with her duty as a member of the council to help advance Commerce City’s economy and its ability to create high-paying jobs?

If Chacon decides to seek election to her appointed council seat on this November’s ballot, shouldn’t she have to answer for the impact her activism against Suncor could have on employment in the community?