Lawmakers in Colorado make an impressive deviation from their long losing streak on energy issues.
Colorado Sun (3/29/24) reports: "A bill to ban new oil and gas drilling in Colorado after 2030 — which sparked a spate of industry TV ads with dire warnings — was rejected Thursday by a bipartisan majority of the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee after a marathon hearing. The legislation, Senate Bill 159 — sponsored by two Democratic senators, Kevin Priola, of Henderson, and Sonya Jaquez Lewis, of Boulder County — would have required state oil and gas regulators to stop issuing new drilling permits starting in 2030, with those permits to be used by 2032. Faced with projections of potentially severe impacts of climate change and the Front Range’s continuing struggles to curb ozone pollution, the bill was a necessary step to transition to cleaner energy, Priola said. In an attempt to deal with the growing risk of wells being abandoned, or orphaned, as small companies go out of business, the legislation also included a section giving the state the power to go after former owners of the wells for cleanup costs. The bill, however, faced pushback at the hearing from the industry, local and country governments, which depended upon severance taxes to fund schools and services, business groups, such as the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, and individuals, many of whom live and work in oil and gas areas."
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"There is no 'need' for the EPA’s vehicle electrification program if most consumers actually want what the agency will force automakers to sell. But most consumers do not want to buy an EV, which is why unsold EVs are piling up on dealer lots despite significant federal, state, manufacturer, and dealer incentives."
– Marlo Lewis, Jr.,
Competitive Enterprise Institute
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