Sen. Salazar (D-CO) offered a decent turn around on renewable energy regulation. It comes after Sen. Allard (R-CO) and other Republicans unveiled part of their proposal to increase production of domestic energy, including oil shale development. One of Sen. Allard’s talking points is the lack of a regulatory structure is holding back development and somehow hurting our energy portfolio. Sen. Salazar wants to maintain the moratorium on lease development. Citing the need for renewable energy development, Salazar pointed out that renewables also face an uncertain regulatory environment. What’s good for the goose…. A small framing victory. I wish Dems would apply it to more issues.
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All three candidates running for the CO-02 seat (Jared Polis, Will Shafroth, and Joan Fitz-Gerald) said they disagreed with Rep. Udall’s vote on the FISA bill, which is a good thing. I disagree with the premise on which Rep. udall’s statement is based: there is currently no impediment to collecting intelligence on potential activities by “terrorists”. There is a current version of FISA in effect and it has done its job since its inception. Giving the Bush administration more than they wanted isn’t being an opposition party.
First, a story from Wednesday about drilling for fossil fuels in shale: Salazar blocking oil shale development. The second part of the headline is just as interesting: GOP Senators tell Fortune magazine. And although my previous post displayed my displeasure with Sen. Salazar’s overall job performance, I applaud him for standing up on this issue. This quote shows that, with regard to energy anyway, Sen. Salazar gets it:
“We need to face the reality that the American people have been living in a mythical world of energy. We cannot, in my mind, drill our way to energy independence.”
What does Sen. Salazar get for all of his work to establish a “bipartisan” working relationship when the hyperpartisan U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Supreme Court Justices were being confirmed?
Salazar, said Sens. Wayne Allard and Orrin Hatch, Republicans of Colorado and Utah, respectively, has turned the regulation process on its head and stymied development.
He gets unfairly attacked in the media, regardless of the medium. Which leads to another reason I will not support his reelection: Sen. Salazar and too many other Democrats haven’t figured out that modern-day Republicans don’t want to compromise with them. Republicans have been hard at work trying to permanently wreck the Democratic Party. You can only let someone attack your work so many times before you stop offering them the opportunity to do so.
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17 percent of Colorado’s bridges have significant deterioration or don’t meet current design standards. Ten percent were functionally obsolete in 2006. So said Gov. Ritter’s Blue-ribbon Transportation Panel. They have encouraged Colorado elected officials to locate funds to repair roads and bridges. The 2008 legislative session unfortunately did not secure a funding source. Republicans have continued to stymie viable solutions in the form of taxes in favor of selling our public infrastructure to private corporations. Will a bridge have to collapse in Colorado before the public requires officials to actually do something productive?
The number of U.S. homeowners swept up in the housing crisis rose further last month, with foreclosures up nearly 50% compared with a year earlier, a foreclosure listing company said Friday.
Nationwide, 261,255 homes received at least one foreclosure-related filing in May, up 48% from 176,137 in the same month last year and up 7% from April, RealtyTrac Inc. said.
One in every 483 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing in May, the highest number since RealtyTrac started the report in 2005 and the second-straight monthly record.
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Oil, gas drilling tax exemption closure opposed by Denver Chamber of Commerce. The closure exists as an initiative voters will be able to vote on this November. Something that’s not widely known: Colorado is the only state to grant such exemptions. The $200 million generated per year would go to college scholarships. If Sen. Allard wants to keep talking about things not moving being subsidized, let’s talk about the oil and gas corporations drilling in Colorado.
The chamber’s board of directors voted Thursday to fight the union-restricting measure, saying that existing Colorado labor law provides balance for businesses and unions. “Support of ‘right to work’ is not worth the risk to the health of our economy, our business climate and the competitiveness of Colorado,” Blake said.
Amendment 47 supporters quickly lashed out:
Kelley Harp, a spokesman for Amendment 47, blasted the chamber’s position. “It’s unfortunate that the Denver chamber bought into the unions’ threats and dissuasion campaigns and decided to put political expedience in front of principle,” Harp said.
I disagree that there is a balance right now between unions and businesses – unions are incredibly weak in Colorado. Harp’s comments demonstrate that spokesmen get paid to make ridiculous statements.
Gov. Bill Ritter yesterday marked the transition from a coal to a geo-exchange and woody biomass heating system for schools in Oak Creek, CO. The old coal heating system was one of the last of its kind in a school in Colorado. The woody biomass will be provided from wood pellets that came from trees killed by the mountain pine beetle epidemic. The Colorado Department of Local Affairs is providing $625,000 and the Colorado Department of Education is providing $1.5 million toward the overall project cost of $4.1 million. The project also includes the installation of additional energy efficiency and conservation components, such as new lighting. 977 fewer tons of carbon-dioxide will be emitted each year.
Gov. Ritter testified before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources regarding oil shale development last week. He renewed his call for continuing and completing the current research, development and demonstration process before the federal government issues commercial oil shale leases or publishes rules and regulations governing commercial oil shale development.
One barrel of light crude oil is now trading at $129.15, up $2.10 from yesterday.
As Colorado’s legislative session drew to a close, Gov. Ritter pointed out the following bills as noteworthy in the energy arena:
Homegrown Energy/ Net Metering – HB08-1160, cosponsored by Solano/Shaffer and Isgar
Utility Scale Solar Energy – HB08-1164, cosponsored by Solano/Schwartz
Go Green – HB08-1350, cosponsored by Buescher and Pommer/Keller and Morse
Low Income Energy Assistance – HB08-1387, cosponsored by Buescher/Veiga
Homeowner Association Energy Efficiency Measures – HB08-1270
Increase Energy Efficiency in State Buildings – SB08-147, cosponsored by Gordon/Hodge
Colorado Clean Energy Finance Program – SB08-184, cosponsored by Romer/Levy
Any of these are far better than what Republicans have accomplished recently: drilling more and issuing billions in corporate welfare hasn’t improved our energy portfolio or made this country safer. Thank goodness responsible adults have been in charge.
