May 14, 2012 09:51 PM UTC

Conservation Wins Again in the Colorado Legislature

• 0 Comments
• by: ColoradoConservationVoters

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

May 9th marked the end of the 2012 General Session of the Colorado Legislature.  We said in January that this session was about creating jobs — and the conservation community delivered by creating an estimated 2,500 jobs and keeping thousands of tons of hazardous electronic waste out of our landfills with the passing of the bipartisan Electronic Recycling Jobs Act.  We helped Colorado continue to develop innovative jobs by securing funding for renewable energy and passing legislation to increase electric vehicle stations.

Where Colorado’s water, air, land and public health was threatened, conservation groups joined together to defeat more than a dozen bills that would have rolled back Colorado’s progress on renewable energy and oil and gas drilling rules.  

This included:

• HB 1172, 1171, and 1102 — A trio of bills to   gut the Clean Air, Clean Jobs Act and hinder State efforts to address climate change.

• SB 88 and HB 1356 – Measures pre-empting local governments from regulating drilling and punishing any effort to use local authority to oversee drilling by restricting severance taxes.

• HB 1322 – A bill forcing the federal government to sell treasures such as the Colorado National Monument and Maroon Bells to the State, in the process costing taxpayers millions of dollars and ending access to over 23 million acres of public land.

The conservation community worked with the administration and legislative leaders to secure long term dedicated funding for the Governor’s Energy Office, maintaining the state’s leadership in renewable energy. Colorado has created an estimated 21,000 new sustainable jobs and led the nation in solar jobs per capita.  

With the conclusion of the 2012 session, the conservation community will work closely with leaders in the legislature and our allies to maintain hard fought gains.  As our priorities are implemented, we will also begin to look towards the 2013 session to continue to help create innovative jobs, secure our renewable energy future, and protect Colorado’s public health, landscapes, water, and wildlife.

And stay tuned for CCV’s announcement of our 2012 endorsements – and remember to show your conservation values at the polls!