The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The 2011 legislative session marked the first time in several years that there were not clear, pro-conservation majorities in both chambers. This new political dynamic meant that while the conservation community continued to champion and pass critical, proactive bills, there were also more attacks on past conservation victories than in recent years.

The good news is that Coloradans once again reminded legislators that there is strong and deep support for our state’s spectacular environment. Clean air and water, protecting open spaces, improving our public health, and valuing the job creation associated with clean energy investment are all core values in Colorado.

The Colorado legislature passed an historic Regional Haze State Implementation Plan (SIP) that moves the State dramatically forward in improving air quality and public health. The approval of the SIP was the final phase of the Clean Air, Clean Jobs Act passed in 2010, and included the accelerated retirement of several metro-area coal plants. While ensuring that Colorado’s electricity will now come from a cleaner mix of resources including more renewable energy and efficiency, the Colorado legislature also again remained committed to making sure natural gas is developed responsibly to protect air quality across the state as it plays a role in our energy future.

In addition, legislators unanimously passed two important water bills. While we did not score these bills because they both passed the House and Senate unanimously, they are worthy of mention. HB 1083 adds hydroelectricity and pumped hydroelectricity to the list of technologies that the Public Utilities Commission may give fullest possible consideration to when considering generation acquisitions for electric utilities. HB 1274 continues important funding to the Colorado Water Conservation Board.

We were also successful in laying down another building block to keep the New Energy Economy growing. HB 1199 will guarantee fair pricing for solar permit fees, which is essential to ensure Colorado’s solar industry continues to develop and create valuable jobs.

The less good news: As a result of the changed political dynamic at the capitol and split partisan control of the legislature, fewer bills, whether environmental efforts or otherwise, made it through both the House and the Senate. Conservation bills addressing energy efficiency and recycling were introduced but did not become law.

Defensive victories: Numerous bills were introduced that would have moved our state backwards in environmental protections and rolled back bi-partisan, common sense solutions that have made Colorado a leader in the New Energy Economy.

For example, HB 1271 would have prohibited Xcel Energy from using a tiered rate structure. This not only would have led to increased energy consumption and therefore more pollution but would have increased electricity rates for 70% of Xcel’s customers, including those most vulnerable to price increases.

Further attacks included efforts to strip the Public Utility Commission from considering environmental impacts and job creation when making regulatory decisions. Other detrimental bills introduced would have rolled back the Renewable Energy Standard to only 10% and would have changed or eliminated portions of the state implementation plan for regional haze, therefore jeopardizing the state’s comprehensive emissions reduction strategy. Three bills were introduced that would have dismantled FASTER, a critical bill passed in 2010 that provides vital transportation infrastructure improvements and promotes increased public transportation.

Finally, a bill was introduced to change the composition of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC). The bill would have returned the COGCC to the era when it was an imbalanced entity, disproportionately favoring the oil and gas industry without designated voices to speak for public health and the environment.

Thanks to the efforts of our legislative champions, coalition allies, and Coloradans in general, the conservation community successfully blocked more than a dozen bills to move backwards on policies that have created jobs, protected our air and water and made Colorado a national conservation leader. These proactive and defensive victories lead The Denver Post to declare the Conservation Community one of the “winners” of the 2011 legislative session.

In addition, the conservation community worked hard with the Joint Budget Committee and allies to be part of important fiscal conversations and ensure that budget cuts were not made at the expense of Colorado’s air, land and water.

Committee and Leadership Recognition

This scorecard captures recorded floor votes, which are a fundamental, measurable gauge of where legislators stand on the key conservation issues of the day. While these scored votes are the baseline of any effort to quantify a legislator’s actions, committee activity and behind-the-scenes leadership are also important elements of protecting the environment at the state capitol.

This year, more than in recent past years, much of the critical work done to better our environment happened at the committee level. Following are some, but certainly not all, of the legislators who were instrumental in committee and otherwise in 2011.

Senators Bob Bacon, Betty Boyd and Rollie Heath. Many of the most egregious attacks on Colorado’s environment were killed in the Senate State, Military, and Veterans Affairs committee. These three senators consistently defended Coloradans’ public health and the New Energy Economy by stopping anti-conservation bills.

Representatives Kevin Priola and Marsha Looper worked on critical conservation issues and were able to work effectively with others in their Party to mitigate flawed energy proposals that would have limited the Public Utility Commission’s ability and authority. In addition, Rep. Priola worked closely with conservation leaders to ensure a bill to limit large commercial diesel truck idling was successful in protecting air quality.

Speaker Frank McNulty and Senate Majority Leader John Morse set aside partisan political differences in order to pass the Colorado Haze State Implementation Plan to implement groundbreaking air quality legislation.

Senate President Brandon Shaffer exercised strong leadership in working with his caucus and standing strong even when under significant political pressure. His leadership was critical to the passage of this year’s air quality, diesel idling standards, and pro-solar power legislation and in killing numerous anti-environment bills.

Representative Randy Fischer has been dedicated to solving Colorado’s electronic waste problem. Instead of recycling our computers and television screens, much of our e-waste ends up in landfills or shipped overseas. In 2009, Rep. Fischer worked on legislation to create the Electronic Device Recycling Task Force. This year he introduced HB 1244 to require electronics manufacturers to be a responsible player in recycling their products. The bill was ultimately defeated in the House. Senator Gail Schwartz, a long time conservation champion who has led the charge on many bills on clean energy and green jobs, also introduced an e-waste recycling bill. Her bill, SB 269, passed the Senate but was later defeated in the House Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee. The work of both Representative Fischer and Senator Schwartz has laid the groundwork for future bills on this critical issue.

Representative Keith Swerdfeger and Senator Angela Giron from Pueblo worked hard across the aisle on numerous issues to protect public health and the environment. Both worked diligently to build consensus on a smart clean energy storage proposal, worked hard on a water bill to allow for small scale, hydro power and were leaders in brokering a bipartisan compromise on air quality modeling.

Department of Wildlife and State Parks Merger

The legislature passed SB 208 this session. The measure combines the Divisions of Wildlife with Parks and Outdoor Recreation and has a goal of increasing efficiencies and cost savings while still providing the same, or better services. Some in the conservation community, including many sportsmen, voiced concerns about the proposed merger. Concerns centered on the lack of perceived benefits to wildlife and doubts about whether efficiencies could be realized without major disruptions to or loss of important wildlife programs. Also, some felt that due to the compressed timeline of the bill, alternative options for creating efficiencies were not fully explored. In addition, a key concern voiced was the threat of a “diversion” of game cash dollars (paid for hunting and fishing licenses) from wildlife uses. If such diversions were to take place, it would result in the loss of more than $20 million yearly in federal aid grants.

Moving forward, sportsmen and the entire conservation community are focused on ensuring that the transition process be transparent and provide robust opportunities for stakeholders and the public at large to provide input with a goal of helping the merger to be a success.