Brian Hedden Leads Colorado’s Environmental Movement By Example

Between his upcoming documentary and future plans, Hedden does more than tell us to make greener decisions. He wants to show us how.

Brian Hedden didn’t set out to make a documentary on fracking in Colorado. But back in 2017 he met some Lakota Elders, who had been at Standing Rock, and they convinced him to just look into it. 

“At the time my thoughts were more about climate change in general, and what a person can do about it,” said Hedden. 

But before he knew it, Hedden was going to meetings, talking to activists, recording thousands of stories, filming protests, and editing together footage that would become “Fracking the System: Colorado’s Oil and Gas Wars.” Early on, he was also hit with a lawsuit from the oil and gas companies who claimed he was illegally filming. They didn’t want any money. They just wanted the footage. The suit dragged on for 10 months, but eventually Hedden won. 

That’s when he knew he was on to something. 

“Of course, that’s just one little piece of the whole puzzle,” said Hedden. “But it inspired me to keep going with the film and try to get even better footage.” 

Still from “Fracking the System.” Provided by Brian Hedden

Trying to wrap a complex, ongoing story neatly into a documentary is no small feat. He leaned on his men’s group, The Mankind Project, for support. 

“There were so many times I wanted to quit and just put the footage I had on YouTube and say ‘Hey everybody, hope someone can use this for something better,'” said Hedden. “But their feedback was so supportive and encouraging.”

However, in 2018, it looked like the story may have its ending when activists were successful in getting Colorado Proposition 112 on the ballot. The proposition would mandate oil and gas wells be at least 2,500 feet from “occupied buildings” such as schools and homes.

But it didn’t pass.

“I had all this footage and when [the activists] didn’t win, I was like ‘I don’t know how this story ends now.’” So the footage sat. But the buzz surrounding the proposition didn’t fade, which resulted in the passing of Senate Bill 181 in 2019.

“I just picked up my camera and went to the capital and started filming,” said Hedden. The activists had a victory and Hedden had an ending of sorts. Under the new ruling, fracking sites had to be set back at least 2,000 feet from inhabited buildings, and the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission, COGCC, changed their guidelines from “fostering” to “regulating” the oil and gas industry. However, the law didn’t go into effect until 2020 and in that time the COGCC approved nearly 4,000 permits that didn’t necessarily fit the new guidelines but were nevertheless grandfathered in. 

So while it was a victory of sorts, it didn’t feel that way to the neighborhoods that still had wells right behind their homes and schools, as “Fracking the System” points out. 

Still from “Fracking the System.” Provided by Brian Hedden

But the activists aren’t done fighting. In response, Safe & Healthy Colorado was formed. This grassroots campaign of activists and volunteers is currently working to get the 135,000 signatures needed to get a measure on the 2024 ballot that would phase out new fracking permits by 2030. According to the organization’s website, if it passes the 50,000 active oil wells in Colorado will continue to operate. 

As for Hedden, his documentary will debut at Golden’s Environmental Film Festival, February 22–25, 2024. 

But Hedden is far from done with his plans to cover the environmental movement.  

“The argument against banning fracking is that we need oil and gas,” said Hedden. “And they aren’t wrong. And to transition away from that is not a small task. It’s convenient and hopeful to say ‘let’s switch to green energy,’ as if it’s a quick swap. It’s not that easy. That’s why, over the next 10 years, I want to make videos about sustainable, green, and regenerative economies. I also want to start an ecovillage to demonstrate what it’s like to live within planetary boundaries, through growing our own food, using green energy, and using the global economy as little as possible.”