DENVER (AP) — Colorado’s Democratic governor forged a deal to stop dueling proposals on oil and gas drilling Monday, avoiding a messy ballot fight that had his party concerned about political consequences in November.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Polis joined Gov. John Hickenlooper at the state Capitol to detail an agreement that calls for a task force to deal with concerns about energy development. In exchange, groups agreed to drop four initiatives that support or oppose hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a technique that blasts a mix of water, sand or gravel, and chemicals into underground rock formations to release trapped oil and gas.