With a bi-partisan, pro-environment majority in both houses of the Colorado legislature and a pro-environment Governor, Colorado has been a leader on environmental issues for the past four years.  In Governor Ritter’s last year in office, the bar has been raised even higher.

With the legislative session two thirds complete, the environment has had three landmark victories.  If we had passed just one of these bills, environmentalists would look back on this session with a sense of pride and accomplishment.  To win three capstone victories in one session is exceptional.

Here’s what our pro-conservation majority, coupled with terrific leadership from Governor Ritter, has accomplished this session:

• Increased the renewable energy standard for large utilities to 30% by 2020.  House Bill 1001 gives Colorado the second strongest renewable standard in the country; in ten short years we will get nearly one third of our energy from the wind, sun, and other forms of renewable energy.
• Approved taking 900 MW of coal plants offline by 2017 or earlier.  HB 1365, passed with bi-partisan majorities, is already becoming a national model.  By taking a multi-pollutant approach we will be able to cut nitrogen oxide pollution by 80% while also addressing mercury, carbon, and other pollutants.
• Stopped the use of taxpayer dollars to pay for turning farmland into suburbia and strip malls.  HB 1107 reforms TIF, or Tax Increment Financing, to ensure it is used as it was designed – namely to encourage the re-development of blighted urban areas like Gates Rubber or the old Stapleton airport, instead paying to pave over farmland.

Even with these three major victories in the books, more work remains to be done.  With strong bi-partisan support, the Uranium Processing Accountability Act is common sense legislation that bans a company from processing uranium if they have old job sites that still need cleaning.  And as the state grows, we need to do all we can to use water wisely.  The Water Smart Homes bill would require commercial home builder to offer low water appliance options on all new single family homes.

The environmental community is justifiably proud of our accomplishments so far in 2010, but we’re working for a clean sweep – pro-conservation laws supporting clean energy, responsible uranium mining, and protecting our scare water supplies.