As inflation devours the middle and lower classes, energy producers and Colorado’s ruling party have reached a deal that will exacerbate the problem — predominantly for “people of color.”

The announcement came April 29, with a joint release from Gov. Jared Polis, “Democratic Leadership” and “Ozone Bill Sponsors.” It promises an “economy-wide transition.”

It is an energy tax that voters would trounce if given the rightful option under the Colorado Constitution’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. Surveys have shown for decades that Coloradans don’t support a higher gas tax, and we can’t imagine they would want the same cloaked as a “fee.”

“We are coming together for Coloradans to do the right thing and address the longstanding impacts of pollution on Disproportionately Impacted Communities, which are predominantly lower-income Coloradans and people of color,” said House Assistant Majority Leader Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver, in the release.

Radicalized Democrats pass off every anti-consumer Green New Deal bill as a benefit to “people of color." This deliberate mischaracterization seeks to focus on a higher cause, social justice, and distract us from the weight of ever-increasing state-imposed costs on those who can least afford them.

Make no mistake. The war on oil and gas — far more than long-term climate trends — hurts “people of color” more than any other demographic. That’s because poverty, unlike the weather, oppresses minority communities at an agonizingly disproportionate rate. The war on energy exacerbates the disparity quickly and beyond dispute. High energy prices cause inflation. High energy prices cause bare cupboards, despair and homelessness.

The “agreement” has large oil and gas producers — Chevron, Occidental and Civitas — setting aside plans for prospective ballot measures intended to protect the companies from crippling regulations. Democratic legislators agree to set aside prospective legislative acts and ballot referrals that would further regulate production in the country’s most regulated energy producing state.

The agreement led to the introduction this week of Senate Bill 230, which requires the “Clean Transit Enterprise” to impose a quarterly fee on “every producer of oil and gas in the state.”

The bill instructs the enterprise to set a fee based on an average of oil and gas spot prices. The money will first pay the Department of Revenue “for administering the production fee.” What’s left will pay for “clean transit,” as follows: 70% to the local transit cash fund; 10% to the local transit grant program cash fund; and 20% to the funding program for passenger rail.

The bill requires Denver’s Regional Transportation District “to prioritize completion of the northwest rail line to Longmont.” That means passenger rail through Boulder — the district of Democratic Senate President Steve Fenberg and home of Democratic Gov. Jared Polis.

The bill requires the Division of Parks and Wildlife “to impose a fee for wildlife and land remediation to be paid quarterly by every producer of oil and gas in the state.” After covering the costs of collecting, what’s left will fund “the Climate Resilient Wildlife and Land Cash Fund.”

Oil companies went along with this ballot-box blackmail because the alternative — proposals designed to put them out of business — was far worse. Besides, these companies will immediately pass the cost to consumers who have no choice but to buy their commodities at any price.

"It looks like extortion to me," said Republican Sen. Byron Pelton, as quoted in Colorado Politics. "We've heard that gas is hurting kids, kids with asthma, and now $140 million pays for transit infrastructure and now all is forgiven? This is right out of Tony Soprano's playbook."

This “agreement” will cost every consumer in Colorado — especially the “people of color” it pretends to help.