Colorado Lawmakers to Consider Pro-Nuclear Bill
Colorado lawmakers are set to consider their first nuclear energy bill of the 2024 legislative session later this week. SB24-039, dubbed “Nuclear Energy as a Clean Energy Resource,” is scheduled to go before the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee for first reading on Wednesday. The bill seeks to level the playing field for carbon-free energy […]
Bootleggers, Baptists, and the Clean Energy Transition
Independence Institute has a long track record of warning against the unhealthy incentives that can arise from the relationship between monopoly electric utilities and green policymakers. Once viewed as rivals of one another, the two sides realized a few years back that coexisting as fellow travelers on the road to the so-called clean energy transition […]
Jake Fogleman Talks Energy Bills at the Capitol, Nuclear Energy on the Jimmy Lakey Show
Policy analyst Jake Fogleman joined the Jimmy Lakey Show on 600 KCOL to talk about his article on the Democrats at the legislature killing a Republican-led clean energy bill. They also discuss how policymakers can keep energy affordable for Coloradans and what the future holds for the reliability of the state’s electric grid. Listen to […]
Members of New Joint Committee to Investigate Utility Rates Announced
The state has announced the official makeup of a new legislative committee dedicated to investigating rising utility bills. Comprised of lawmakers of both parties from each legislative chamber, the members of the six-person Joint Select Committee on Rising Utility Rates will be as follows: From the Senate- President Steve Fenberg (D.) Lisa Cutter (D.) Minority […]
Colorado Communities for Climate Action, Boulder County Line Up to Oppose Nuclear Energy Bills at the Capitol
In one of the strangest ironies of the modern climate debate, those who ostensibly care the most about combatting climate change are often the most vociferous opponents of nuclear energy. I’ve documented in a previous post how the community that nominally would have the most to gain from embracing the country’s single-largest source of carbon-free […]
Building Energy Code Board Members Announced
The Colorado Energy Office (CEO) has released the names of the final members of the state’s new Energy Code Advisory Board tasked with implementing the recently passed HB 22-1362, a cost raising piece of the legislation that seeks to encourage building electrification. Here’s the final make up of the board, per the CEO website: Board […]
Regressive Fees Fund Transportation Bill
Despite being awash with funds from improved revenues and billions of dollars in federal pandemic aid to the state, Democrat legislators have chosen to fund their transportation priorities with regressive new fees that disproportionately impact the poorest Coloradans. The $5.3 billion transportation bill (SB 21-260) working its way through the legislature this week will create approximately $3.8 billion in new […]
How The Colorado Transportation Bill Circumvents TABOR and Proposition 117
Year-after-year, voters continue to send a message to Colorado politicians that they want a chance to vote on tax increases regardless of whether legislators call them “taxes” or “fees.” With this year’s transportation bill (SB 21-260), legislators have found multiple creative ways to disregard the will of the people. Their legal gymnastics to get around […]
The Forgotten Stakeholders: “Green” Transportation Will Be Funded by Underpaid Workers
By Tegan Truitt Fourth blog in our series on the Colorado Green New Deal The indirect, and in some cases the direct consequences of the Colorado Green New Deal will not be pretty. Among the bills comprising this stream of environmental legislation is Senate Bill 239, which Governor Jared Polis signed into law on May 31, […]
Are More Government Regulations Really Necessary?
Third blog in our series on the Colorado Green New Deal After reading House Bill 1231, one cannot help but wonder, do the members of our state Legislature really have enough time to micromanage businesses and individuals? The stated intent of 1231 is to “protect consumers and businesses against manufacturers who would otherwise sell, in […]
Democrats Demand More Electric Vehicles
Second blog in our series on the Colorado Green New Deal Colorado’s Democrat party-controlled government has decided to manufacture, or at least play a part in generating the demand for zero emission vehicles, known also as electric vehicles (EV). Increasing the number of EVs on the road is a vital component of the Colorado Green […]
Majority Rules
The introduction to our mini-series on the Colorado Green New Deal In America’s two-party system, when both legislative chambers and the executive branch are controlled by one party, the minority’s opinions are, or in the very least seem like nothing more than an inconvenience to the majority. Need proof? Just ask Colorado’s Republican residents and […]
