Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.
– Margaret Thatcher
Amy Oliver Cooke
- Home
- Amy Oliver Cooke
Oxford English Dictionary
Roget’s Thesaurus
Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations
Five Days at Memorial
“You see how picky I am about my shoes, and those only go on my feet.”
Cher (Alicia Silverstone) from Clueless (1995)
Two things:
My superpower is an ability to recall and sing AM hits of the 60s and 70s.
Also, I collect old cookbooks even though I rarely cook.
Amy Oliver Cooke is the Director of the Energy and Environmental Policy Center for the Independence Institute, Colorado’s free market, state-based think tank. She has worked in both policy and operations since 2004.
Amy began working in energy policy in 2010. She is proud to be one of the original state-level, free market energy policy advocates and is famous for her provocative messages like “Mothers In Love with Fracking” and “I’m an energy feminist because I’m pro-choice in energy sources,” which the eco-left called “hands down the worst kind of feminism.”
She founded a Colorado non-profit organization the Coalition of Ratepayers to provide a voice for captive ratepayers and to intervene in regulatory proceedings on behalf of small business and residential utility customers.
In December 2016, she was honored to be the second person named to President Trump’s Transition Team for the Environmental Protection Agency.
Her work on important ballot measures has earned her numerous awards including the Spark Freedom Trendsetter Award for social media outreach and both the prestigious Reed and Pollie awards for best Spanish language TV ad for a ballot measure.
Amy is a former senior fellow with the influential Independent Women’s Forum, a free market think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C., and a National Advisory Board member for the Steamboat Institute.
She has authored and contributed to numerous opinion editorials, issue papers, and issue backgrounders and has been published in the Daily Caller, Townhall, Denver Post, Pueblo Chieftain, Greeley Tribune, Denver Business Journal, Colorado Politics, and The Hill. She has appeared on Fox News, MSN.com, Devil’s Advocate, Colorado Inside Out, and Power Hour.
In 2015, Amy retired after 10 years of hosting the award winning Amy Oliver Show on News Talk 1310 KFKA Monday through Friday from 9 to 11 am. In 2008, the Colorado Broadcasters Association recognized her with the Award of Excellence for Best News Talk personality in a major market. She was recognized again in 2011 with the Award of Merit for Best News Talk personality in a major market.
Amy earned a Bachelor of Journalism in Magazine Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a Master’s degree in American History from the University of Northern Colorado.
Amy loves sports (especially baseball), politics, policy, and living in Weld County with her husband retired Sheriff and current State Senator John Cooke. She is a mother of three and stepmom of two.
Latest Posts from the Energy Policy Center
Colorado Utilities Signal Pain Ahead for Energy Transition0
- March 26, 2025
Some of Colorado’s largest electric utilities are starting to sound the alarm over the pace, expense, and grid reliability implications of meeting the state’s decarbonization mandates. Xcel Energy, the state’s largest electricity provider, is increasingly worried about its ability to reliably deliver power to ratepayers under current regulatory constraints, according to a recent letter sent
READ MORE
Fast Facts About Colorado’s Electricity Sector in 20240
- March 3, 2025
Note: This post represents the latest edition of Independence Institute’s annual analysis of federal electricity data distilled for Colorado. Click here to see past editions. While Colorado’s electric grid has been in flux for years, 2024 may come to be remembered as the turning point for Colorado’s energy future. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
READ MORE
Is 2025 the Year that Colorado Goes Nuclear? Hopefully!0
- February 14, 2025
The Colorado House Energy and Environment Committee passed HB25-1040, “Adding Nuclear Energy as a Clean Energy Resource,” to the House floor on an 8 to 5 vote. Testimony went long and late into the evening. I couldn’t stay the entire time and submitted my written testimony online. I’ve provided it below, along with brief explanations
READ MORE
Unpacking Colorado’s Electric Vehicle Triumphalism0
- December 9, 2024
Newly released electric vehicle sales data has Colorado policymakers patting themselves on the back for a job well done. The reality of the state’s vehicle market is slightly more complicated. According to a recent report from the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management, electric vehicles made up 25.3 percent of all new cars sold
READ MORE