Only one person could upstage Gov. Bill Ritter on the day he announced his new job as director of Colorado State University’s new Center for the New Energy Economy.
Just three hours after Ritter announced his new gig in a subdued press conference at the state Capitol, Denver media outlets actually interrupted regularly scheduled programming to go live with the Dove Valley press conference announcing John Elway’s return to the Denver Broncos as executive vice president.
This isn’t Washington, D.C., or even Boston, where politics rule the day. Here, the Broncos own this one-horse town, and Elway is our favorite adopted son.
And while we wish the Duke of Denver well as he tries to right the football franchise’s listing ship and reconnect with the area’s once rabid fan base, we’ll confess to being a bit intrigued by Ritter’s new job as well.
It’s no secret that high-profile politicians land lucrative jobs once they leave office — often in their fields of speciality. Ritter, who leaves office Tuesday, made the new energy economy the cornerstone of his four-year term and signed 57 bills related to clean energy as he tried to lure green jobs to the state.
Part of Ritter’s new salary will be paid for by a foundation created in 2001 by Pat Stryker, who has spent millions creating a massive, high- tech infrastructure to help Democrats, including the governor, win office. It raises eyebrows.
But we’re hopeful Ritter will use his new job to build upon the new energy foundation he’s already laid for Colorado and not just cash in on his four years as governor, as other politicians have done. Ritter says he bypassed “lucrative” offers to accept this one, meaning he could have cashed in had he wanted to, but instead chose to follow his passion. It be should noted, of course, that his new job pays a more than handsome salary of $300,000 — a big jump from his gubernatorial salary of $90,000.
Ritter has been an earnest supporter of renewables and should be an asset to CSU, his alma mater, as the university tries to establish itself as a leader in the new energy economy.
Still, we have to wonder: Is he going to make the 140-mile, round-trip commute to his clean energy job in a dirty, gas-burning car kicking up pollutants along Interstate 25?
