DENVER—The Colorado Legislature’s report card is in from the session that ended last month and lawmakers’ grade was “green.”
That’s the score from several environmental groups. The Colorado Conservation Voters released a report Wednesday saying that lawmakers were pro-conservation 77 percent of the time.
That’s the best score the group, with input from several Colorado conservation organizations, has given lawmakers in the last five years. The lowest was 60 percent in 2003.
“Colorado voters are being well-served by the state lawmakers they elected,” said Carrie Doyle, executive director of the Conservation Voters.
Doyle called the session “the most pro-conservation legislative session in our state’s history.”
Her group based its analysis of how legislators voted on 10 key bills that covered such issues as renewable energy, wildlife, oil and gas development and water quality.
Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter and the Democratic-controlled Legislature teamed up to promote expanding use of renewable energy and conservation. They also approved bills revamping the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which regulates the oil and gas industry, to include the state’s top health and environmental officials and members of the public.
But Colorado Conservation Voters said the pro-conservation bent was bipartisan. The vote by Republican lawmakers increased 14 percentage points from last year.
In the Senate, 17 of the 35 members got scores of 100 percent, having voted for all 10 bills. In the House, 32 out of 65 members voted for all the bills.
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