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Energy and Environmental Policy (E2P) at the Independence Institute

By all measures, life is better. Because of our ability to safely, responsibly and efficiently develop natural resources, our standard of living is up, life expectancy is up, and our environment is cleaner. Individuals prosper while also enjoying a healthy planet. If we create an atmosphere where human potential flourishes and we dare to imagine, then everyone can reap the benefits of affordable, reliable, abundant, and safe power and revel in the beauty of a thriving environment.

Our Vision

Access to affordable, reliable, abundant, safe energy and a clean environment are not mutually exclusive. At E2P we envision a Colorado where every person is in control of his or her own energy and environmental destiny. Private property owners are in the best position to protect their land and environment, and the choice of energy resources and how they are utilized should come from the demands of an innovative and free market.

What is the role of government? To remain neutral, let markets work, let individuals innovate, limit regulations, and refrain from picking winners and losers.

Our Principles

  • People first
  • Celebrate prosperity
  • Innovation over regulation
  • Commonsense conservation
  • Primacy of private property rights
  • Results over rhetoric
  • Reject cynicism

 

Free Market Energy and Environmental Policy

  • Embraces our entrepreneurial spirit and optimism that we can have affordable power, responsible domestic energy development, and a clean environment.
  • Puts individuals in the driver’s seat and allows them to control their own energy future.
  • Lets the choice of energy resources come from the demands of the free market, and not from the preferences of policymakers, lobbyists, or special interest groups.
  • Champions private property rights.
  • Challenges the 80-year-old, monopoly utility model of electricity generation and distribution.
  • Puts states ahead of Washington, D.C.
  • Encourages limited and consistent regulations.
  • Rejects taxpayer funded subsidies.
  • Doesn’t pick winners and losers.
  • Welcomes transparency.

 

Latest Posts

  • Colorado’s Energy Future: The High Cost of 100 Percent Electric Vehicles

    Colorado’s Energy Future: The High Cost of 100 Percent Electric Vehicles

    • September 29, 2023

    In August 2022, California became the first jurisdiction anywhere in the world to ban the sale of gas-powered vehicles, setting a deadline of 2035 to phase them out completely. Just one week later, the state was forced to call on its residents to avoid charging their electric vehicles because the state’s grid was at imminent

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  • The Rotten Political Incentives of the Utility Industry

    The Rotten Political Incentives of the Utility Industry

    • August 22, 2023

    The monopoly electric utility business model is rife with problems. Chief among them is the regulatory capture it invites. Monopoly utilities tend to reflect the political environment in which they are situated. This is no accident. They know where their bread is buttered and are more than happy to play along with the ambitious energy

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  • Colorado’s Energy Future: The High Cost of 100 Percent Electric Home Heating

    Colorado’s Energy Future: The High Cost of 100 Percent Electric Home Heating

    • August 15, 2023

    What began as a first-of-its-kind ban on new natural gas hookups in 2019 in Berkeley, California, has turned into a nationwide movement. To date, more than 100 cities plus the state of New York have since passed gas bans of their own to push their citizens toward electrification. It has even begun to spread in

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  • Poll: Majority of Colorado Likely Voters Favor Nuclear Energy

    Poll: Majority of Colorado Likely Voters Favor Nuclear Energy

    • May 19, 2023

    Colorado voters are broadly in favor of the country’s largest source of clean energy, according to a newly released Independence Institute/Cygnal poll. Likely general election voters across Colorado favor nuclear energy more than 2:1 (53% support, 25% oppose). 54% said they favor including nuclear power in Colorado’s clean energy mix by 2040, with support crossing

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  • Colorado’s Energy Future: The High Cost of 100% Renewable Electricity by 2040

    Colorado’s Energy Future: The High Cost of 100% Renewable Electricity by 2040

    • May 15, 2023

    Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D.) campaigned for his first term in office on a platform of transitioning the state to 100 percent renewable energy by 2040. In his first year in office, Polis unveiled an official government “roadmap” to do just that. Since then, he has signed into law no fewer than 55 climate bills

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  • Colorado Policymakers Looking to Crack Down on Oil & Gas Industry Once Again

    Colorado Policymakers Looking to Crack Down on Oil & Gas Industry Once Again

    • March 16, 2023

    Colorado lawmakers and regulators are set to turn their attention back toward a familiar target: the state’s oil and gas industry. On Thursday, Governor Jared Polis announced that he was directing regulators at the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission (COGCC), the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), and the Air Quality Control Commission

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