Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter touted his efforts at attracting clean-energy jobs in a campaign e-mail sent Friday.
He also asked recipients to sign an online petition supporting his administration’s “ambitious new-energy agenda” pending in the legislature.
“This week alone, Colorado has seen three straight days of new job announcements, which will create more than 1,600 clean-energy and water jobs over the coming years,” Ritter said. “Add these to the thousands of new-energy jobs we have brought to Colorado since my administration took office in 2007.”
But Republican Josh Penry, who probably will challenge Ritter in 2010, ripped the governor, saying his policies have “triggered something just short of a political holy war between . . . environmentalists and the energy industry.
“It’s strangely out of touch for the governor to boast about the jobs outlook on the same day Colorado learned that unemployment has reached a 21-year high,” said Penry, the state Senate minority leader.
House Speaker Terrance Carroll defended the governor, saying Democrats have been the ones to push for an agenda to “create more jobs and move this economy forward.”
“This governor has done an excellent job navigating the economy through difficult times,” said Carroll, D-Denver. “What’s interesting is my friends on the other side of the political divide — much like their counterparts in D.C. — have failed to provide any alternative. They just like to say, ‘No.’ ”
Ritter is expected to face either Penry or former Congressman Scott McInnis, both of Grand Junction, in 2010.
When Ritter ran for governor in 2006, he pushed for a new-energy economy — and the efforts are paying off, he said.
“New-energy, clean-tech companies are attracted to Colorado’s driven workforce, thriving research corridor, world-class universities, and pro-sustainability government initiatives,” Ritter said in his e-mail, which included a “Bill Ritter for governor” logo. “We must not cede this competitive advantage to other states or other countries, so I urge you to sign my petition supporting an ambitious new energy agenda today.”
Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327 or lbartels@denverpost.com
