January 30, 2010 02:53 AM UTC

Hickenlooper Upstages McInnis on Home Turf, Penry Seethes

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• by: Colorado Pols

Priceless, as the Denver Post reported this morning:

What was supposed to be a reception honoring the new Colorado Oil & Gas Association president turned into a political brouhaha after Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, the Democratic candidate for governor, addressed the crowd.

President Tisha Conoly Schuller announced that Republican contender Scott McInnis also had been invited but had another engagement, but that didn’t stop Republican lawmaker Josh Penry from firing off an angry e-mail to oil and gas officials.

Penry, the Senate minority leader, was furious that Hickenlooper got to schmooze the industry Wednesday night at the Sheraton.

“Mayor Hickenlooper is a geologist and he gives a great, ‘Aw shucks’ speech, but he was in Copenhagen with Hugo Chavez talking about climate change. He supported Amendment 58, the largest tax increase on energy in the history of Colorado,” said Penry, R-Grand Junction.

“He is not a friend of the industry.”

The mayor, when asked about the attack, provided his own ammo.

“Aw shucks,” Hickenlooper said. “Look, lawyers and lobbyists have their roles. I was just glad to speak directly with people from an industry I’ve worked in and one that’s important to creating jobs for Coloradans.”

Penry declined to share his e-mail, but said the gist was “the new president was more than a little naive to give Hickenlooper a stage without questioning him on how he’s been consistently silent or dead wrong on the issues facing this industry.”

Of course, Colorado appears to have issued more drilling permits than our neighbors in the last year while Josh Penry was forecasting Democrat-engineered doom and gloom. Since it’s likely that a lot of people from COGA are aware of this, maybe it’s time for a better naysayer?

And hey! We just realized who Hickenlooper meant by “lawyer and lobbyist.” Nice return service.