DENVER-
Colorado environmentalists Thursday declared this legislative session the most pro-environment in decades, praising lawmakers for passing bills promoting renewable energy and an overhaul of the agency that oversees oil and gas development.
The session opened in January with Gov. Bill Ritter and leaders of the Democratic-controlled Legislature teaming up to support several environmentally friendly bills and is winding down with many already signed into law or on their way to the governor’s desk.
“I think this is the most pro-environment legislative session in at least 30 years,” said Carrie Doyle, executive director of Colorado Conservation Voters.
The legislation, which reflects voters’ interest, was passed thanks to bipartisan support, Doyle added.
Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, agreed.
“I think the celebration can be claimed by both sides,” Gardner said.
A bill sponsored by Gardner and sent to Ritter would create a funding authority for transmission lines for renewable energy projects.
Another victory, environmentalists said during a news conference at the state Capitol, was the bill requiring the state’s larger utilities to generate 20 percent of their electric power from renewable energy sources by 2020. The measure, signed into law by Ritter in March, requires rural electric cooperatives to get 10 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by then.
The new law doubles the requirement approved by voters in 2004 that some utilities get 10 percent of the electricity they sell in the state from renewable energy by 2015.
Will Coyne, program director with Environment Colorado, called this legislative session “the tipping point” in making the state a leader in renewable energy.
Ritter, a first-term Democrat, campaigned last year on building a “new energy economy” based on such renewable energy sources as wind and biofuels.
Ritter also pledged to look at minimizing the impacts of Colorado’s natural gas boom on wildlife and public health. A bill developed by state natural resources chief Harris Sherman expands the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which oversees the industry, to nine from seven members. The directors of the Public Health and Environment and Natural Resources departments will sit on the panel for the first time.
The bill, on its way to the governor, also decreases the number of members who must have a background in the industry to three from five.
The commission has been criticized as weighted in industry’s favor. Industry officials have disputed that, saying they’re concerned about losing expertise on the panel.
“At the end of the day, we have to have a competent, functioning commission that can deal with issues that come before the oil and gas commission and that it can be done in a timely and cost-effective way,” said Greg Schnacke, executive vice president of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, a trade group.
Schnacke said the industry will make its voice heard as rules are written to implement the changes to the commission.
Doyle of the Colorado Conservation Voters said several groups and communities have lobbied for changes to the commission for a number of years.
Another bill awaiting Ritter’s approval requires the oil and gas agency to try to minimize the effects of oil and gas development on wildlife.
The Legislature also approved measures encouraging construction of transmission lines for wind energy, providing incentives for renewable energy and energy-efficient projects and expanding energy efficiency programs for natural gas and electric utilities.
