Moffat County Commissioner John Kinkaid took his concerns about the welter of federal regulations hitting his rural Colorado community to Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
Kinkaid met with representatives of the Office of Management and Budget, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
“I told them we feel like we are ground zero for the federal government,” Kinkaid said.
Craig and surrounding Moffat County are on sage grouse preservation and proposed pollution rules on the Craig power plant. The Colowyo coal mine is also for a new environmental assessment.
Kinkaid said he told the federal regulators that the county “depends on energy for our economy and our community vitality.”
Joining Kinkaid were representatives from the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, which runs the Craig power plant, and staffers for Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, Republican Sen. Cory Gardner and U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez.
“We were glad we could help arrange the meeting,” said Adam Bozzi, a Bennet spokesman. “We want to make sure that the very real concerns of these communities are heard and considered by the administration.”
The EPA’s proposed aims to cut emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from power plants.
Tri-State staff attended to assist county officials with background on operations at the Craig power plant, which employs 300 people, said Tri-State spokesman Lee Boughey.
In a statement, Gardner said the meeting “will help the administration fully understand the real-life impact its policies have on northwest Coloradans.”
The administration officials just listened, Kinkaid said.
“I understand that is typical,” he said. “We’ll see what comes out of it. That’s when we’ll get down to brass tacks.”
Mark Jaffe: 303-954-1912, mjaffe@denverpost.com or twitter.com/bymarkjaffe
