Colorado’s environmental advocates were thrilled to tick sweeping renewable-energy policy off their priority list last legislative session.
Now they’re looking toward Gov. Bill Ritter to champion what they consider next year’s top order of business: global warming.
“We can be dragged along or we can lead the charge like we have with renewable energy,” said Pam Kiely with Environment Colorado. “We can be seen as the state that’s supplying the solutions.”
Ritter’s plan, developed in private meetings with scientists, technology experts and policy wonks, is expected in November.
Green-minded activists want cleaner-burning cars, communities built within walking distance of work and shopping, better public transportation, a state energy-efficiency code for buildings, and stricter emissions rules for power plants.
By some standards, Colorado has been slow to tackle global warming. Sixteen other states have targets for cutting greenhouse-gas emissions, and some have regional partnerships that allow power plants to sell carbon credits to one another.
Among the boldest is New Jersey, which aims to cut air- choking emissions 80 percent below 2006 levels by 2050. California wants emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, plus the state has aggressive vehicle standards to encourage sales of hybrids and near-zero- emission cars.
Still, Colorado environmentalists – boosted by a host of new state laws to jump-start the cleaner-energy options of solar and wind power – say the state has a chance to leap ahead nationally if Ritter delivers a stellar global-warming policy.
“We’re at the outset,” said Heidi VanGenderen, Colorado’s first czar on climate change. “We’re not going to apologize for that. Bill Ritter has been in office for nine months. The important thing is that we’re underway.”
Scientists and environmentalists have been buzzing about global warming since NASA scientist Jim Hansen testified before Congress nearly 20 years ago.
But public perception that a buildup of carbon dioxide and other gases is warming the planet reached a tipping point only in the last couple of years, thanks in part to Al Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Truth.”
The former vice president last week shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Colorado climate researchers. He has been at the forefront of a social and political movement to increase awareness of the issue of global warming.
“The public has awakened,” said VanGenderen, who drives a hybrid or walks to work at the Capitol.
She described the governor’s global-action plan as “aspirational,” adding that “the legislature has the responsibility to enact the policy.”
Lawmakers are brainstorming about global-warming-related legislation they plan to introduce when the session starts in January.
Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, is working on a bill that would offer incentives for land-use managers who plan communities to minimize vehicle travel, with streets designed for pedestrians and cyclists, not just cars. Schools, grocery stores, jobs and the light-rail train just around the corner.
The state would reward city and county planners who pull it off with transportation dollars.
“We just have to look at the whole way we’ve organized our lives,” Levy said. “The energy behind this issue comes a lot from the sense that we’re doing something good. For the governor to actually set a goal would be a very important and powerful statement.”
Rep. Judy Solano, D-Brighton, is working on a bill to promote concentrated solar-power technology – using sunshine on mirrors to heat water and create electricity.
Other ideas include copying California’s vehicle standards, pushing rural electric companies to encourage home solar panels or wind turbines, and creating an efficiency standard for light bulbs.
And Democrats aren’t hogging all the proposals.
“The environment is a non- partisan issue,” said Rep. Cory Gardner, a Yuma Republican who is working on bills about renewable energy and land conservation. “There may be different ideas of how to get from A to Z, but in between are good policies that both sides can agree to.”
Many say solutions to global warming will follow if Ritter sets a bold target for emissions reduction.
Scientific projections show Colorado needs a goal at least as aggressive as New Jersey’s or California’s, said Lisa Dilling, a professor and climate researcher at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
The governor’s policy announcement will follow a 70-point plan released last week by three Front Range mayors as part of the Colorado Climate Project.
“It’s definitely an issue that’s really on the radar here in Colorado,” Dilling said.
Jennifer Brown: 303-954-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com
