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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 Solar Industry’s Insatiable Appetite for Subsidies

    • March 3, 2011

    With a quivering voice, Jim Walsh, owner of Bella Solar Energy, described his business troubles to the Senate Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Energy Committee. His message, if not his tears, was repeated yesterday morning by six other solar power representatives. They presented a compelling case that “the New Energy Economy is dead,” in the morbid

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  • How Xcel Avoids the Rate Cap on Green Energy

    • March 1, 2011

    The problem with “green” energy is that it costs more than conventional energy. We can all agree that a solar powered future would be great, but most of us also agree that we’re not willing to pay five to ten times what we pay now for energy in order to try to achieve that future.

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  • Primer on Colorado’s Solar Mess

    • March 1, 2011

    On February 16, Xcel filed a request with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to reduce its Solar*Rewards payment, a subsidy for on-site solar photovoltaic installations, from $2.35/watt installed electricity generating capacity, to $1.25/watt. The next day, Xcel suspended the program, pending the PUC’s decision on its request. Last Friday, solar industry supporters descended on the

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  • Phantom carbon tax still haunts ratepayers

    • February 21, 2011

    Xcel Energy testified today in the House Agriculture Committee that its resource acquisition projections DO include a $20 per ton “phantom carbon tax” as allowed under language from HB 08-1164, but the tax DOES NOT affect ratepayers.  The Denver Business Journal reports: But Karen Hyde, Xcel vice president of rates and regulatory affairs, said the potential

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  • The Conservative Case for HB 1240

    • February 18, 2011

    Republican lawmakers in the General Assembly will have a rare opportunity to repeal an energy tax this Monday, when the House Agriculture, Livestock, and Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to take up Representative Spencer Swalm’s HB 1240. Rep. Swalm’s bill targets a surreptitious energy tax that was authorized by the General Assembly in 2008 with

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  • The Progressive Case for HB 1240

    • February 18, 2011

    Progressives in the General Assembly will have a rare opportunity to eliminate a corporate subsidy to Xcel Energy this Monday, when the House Agriculture, Livestock, and Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to take up Representative Spencer Swalm’s HB 1240. HB 1240 would eliminate the Public Utilities Commission’s authority to allow Xcel to incorporate a $20/ton

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