New Energy Future In the News
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International protest showcases momentum of anti-oil movement
- Colorado Independent (new window)
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2010-06-28 |
| DENVER– Saturday, tens of thousands of people held hands in hundreds of places around the world. They did it mostly on beaches. In towns without oceans, people gathered at lakes and creeks. Here in the mile high city, a hundred or so people met at Rocky Mountain Lake, near 46th and Lowell. People met in eight other Colorado communities as well, all of them gathering as part of an international protest against off-shore oil drilling. | |
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Ritter’s legacy clean on energy
- Grand Junction Daily Sentinel (new window)
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2010-06-20 |
| Gov. Bill Ritter says he doesn’t care what his legacy will be when he leaves office in January, but it’s clear what that is. The new-energy economy. So it was fitting earlier this month, on the last day Ritter had to sign the final bills of his administration, that the governor chose to enact legislation dealing with renewable energy and job-training programs related to the emerging industry in the state. | |
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Fair to put price on pollution?
- Denver Daily News (new window)
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2010-06-01 |
| Concerns are being raised by the local mining industry that President Obama is using the Gulf oil spill to lobby for an overhaul of the nation’s entire energy policy. Obama on Wednesday called for “putting a price on carbon pollution,” referring to tough climate change legislation that would include a so-called “cap and trade” system for carbon pollution permits. The pollution permits would be traded and would include a price on carbon dioxide emissions, according to the legislation sponsored by Sens. John Kerry and Joseph Lieberman. That price would rise over four decades. | |
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Colo. legislature's 2010 session best yet for renewable-energy
- Denver Post (new window)
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2010-05-31 |
| The 2010 legislative session proved to be the clean-energy sector's biggest out of a four-year stretch in which Democrats led by Gov. Bill Ritter focused on promoting his "New Energy Economy." Colorado has set national benchmarks, raised the bar for clean-energy standards and brought renewable technologies to neighborhoods while Ritter built what he considers a major part of his legacy. | |
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Conservation Effort Successful in Legislature
- Pagosa Springs Daily News (new window)
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2010-05-14 |
| Earlier this week, leaders from the conservation community gathered to celebrate another successful legislative session that establishes Colorado as the “Best in the West” on a host of conservation issues. With the passage of over 30 pro-conservation bills, including one of the highest renewable energy standards (RES) in the country, a first in the nation bill to shut down the dirtiest power plants along the Front Range, and an innovative water-smart homes requirement, the conservation community came together to pass bills that will grow the New Energy Economy, create thousands of green jobs, clean up our air, and create huge water savings every year. | |
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Sportsmen, Colorado conservationists question some aspects of climate bill
- Colorado Independent (new window)
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2010-05-13 |
| Nearly a year after the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act last June, Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., Wednesday finally rolled out their much-anticipated American Power Act. Notably absent from the bill’s introduction was Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who withdrew his support when comprehensive immigration reform jumped to the front of the legislative line. His backing was seen as key to wooing other Republicans in order to get 60 votes and avoid a filibuster. | |
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Levy’s rural electric election, solar gardens bills both headed to Ritter’s desk
- Colorado Independent (new window)
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2010-05-10 |
| A pair of energy bills sponsored by Boulder Democrat Claire Levy have cleared both houses of the State Legislature and are headed to Gov. Bill Ritter’s desk for signatures. Levy’s rural electric association (REA) election transparency bill (HB 1098) and solar gardens bill (HB 1342) both enjoyed wide-ranging support from Colorado’s environmental community. | |
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Ritter signs historic renewable energy bill, increasing standard to 30% by 2020
- InDenver Times (new window)
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2010-03-22 |
| House Bill 10-1001 – sponsored by Rep. Max Tyler and Sens. Gail Schwartz and Bruce Whitehead – will create thousands of new jobs, lead to 100,000 solar rooftops over the next decade, and help protect consumers and ratepayers. “Today we continue to chart a new course for Colorado’s New Energy Economy and America’s clean energy economy,” Gov. Ritter said, signing the bill at SolSource Inc., a Denver-based solar installation company. “Colorado is giving every state and the entire nation a template for tomorrow. This is a game-changer. We are transforming the future of Colorado and our country.” Gov. Ritter also thanked Excel Energy for its continued leadership and partnership in building Colorado’s New Energy Economy. | |
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Solar garden legislation passes to full House
- Colorado Springs Business Journal (new window)
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2010-03-12 |
| Solar gardens - solar panel clusters owned jointly by 10 or more people - could soon receive the same rebates and renewable energy credits that individual homeowners receive. House Bill 1342 passed the Transportation and Energy Committee earlier this week and requires public utilities to extend the rebates to solar gardens. | |
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Colorado State Senate Passes Increase to Renewable Energy Standard, Legislation Aims to Repower Colorado’s Economy
- Summit Daily News (new window)
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2010-03-06 |
| DENVER — The state Senate approved legislation Friday that would increase the state's renewable energy standard to 30 percent. House Bill 1001, sponsored by Sen. Gail Schwartz (D-Snowmass) and Sen. Bruce Whitehead (D-Hesperus), passed on a vote of 21-13. The bill calls for large utilities in the state to generate 30 percent of their electricity from renewable sources like wind and solar power by 2020. The legislation has now passed both chambers of the General Assembly and is headed to the governor's desk. Gov. Bill Ritter is supportive of the measure. | |
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Study: Renewable-energy mandate bill could create 23,000 jobs in Colorado
- Denver Business Journal (new window)
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2010-03-02 |
| Environmental advocates supporting a bill in the state Legislature that would require Xcel Energy to get 30 percent of its power from renewable sources released a report Tuesday saying the higher mandate could create 23,000 jobs in the state’s solar industry over the next 10 years. The study, “Investing in the Sun,” was compiled by Environment Colorado, a Denver-based environmental advocacy group, and Vote Solar, a San Francisco-based grassroots organization focused on solar power. The study is available here. | |
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More renewable energy creates jobs, lowers bills
- The Pueblo Chieftain (new window)
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2010-03-02 |
| DENVER — A bill promoting renewable energy generated close to home will be heard by a state Senate committee today, and its supporters say it will bring jobs and lower energy bills to Colorado residents. Vestas, which is bringing an estimated 500 jobs to Pueblo for its wind-tower manufacturing plant, was touted by supporters as a harbinger of how new energy options can supercharge the state's economy under the bill. | |
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State lawmakers consider boost to renewable energy
- Summit Daily News (new window)
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2010-01-27 |
| DENVER — Large utility companies in Colorado could be held to a higher standard when it comes to renewable energy. State lawmakers are crafting legislation that would require large electricity suppliers to generate at least 30 percent of their electricity from renewable sources, such as wind and solar energy. The proposed legislation would apply to Xcel Energy, which provides electricity to Summit County. | |
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Ritter: State poised to get back on ‘solid footing’
- Grand Junction Daily Sentinel (new window)
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2010-01-17 |
| DENVER — Gov. Bill Ritter focused on jobs and economic recovery in his final State of the State address to the Colorado General Assembly on Thursday. Ritter, who recently announced he would not seek re-election, said the state is well poised to recover from the recent recession better than most states, but he quickly added more can be done. | |
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Colorado lawmakers say they are cutting budget to the bone
- Durango Herald News (new window)
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2010-01-11 |
| DENVER - House Speaker Terrance Carroll likens lawmakers' work this session to sometimes-painful surgery. “We're cutting past the bone. We're cutting bone marrow," Carroll, a Denver Democrat, said of the $1.5 billion gap in next fiscal year's $18 billion budget. “Bone marrow is where the body gets immunity. You limit the body's ability to heal itself. But we have to go there." | |
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Faster renewable-energy push under way
- Denver Business Journal (new window)
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2010-01-01 |
| When it comes to energy matters before the 2010 General Assembly, environmental groups are most concerned about expanding the state’s use of renewable energy and making it more affordable to more state residents, and ensuring that Colorado’s new rules governing oil and gas operations remain in place. | |
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Colo. Dems rally behind climate bill
- Denver Daily News (new window)
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2009-10-01 |
| Colorado Democrats and environmental groups are rallying behind tough climate control legislation introduced yesterday in the Senate. Following House passage this summer of controversial cap-and-trade legislation aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions, Democrats in the Senate yesterday introduced similar legislation that goes beyond the so-called Waxman-Markey bill. | |
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Green groups praise report
- Denver Daily News (new window)
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2009-09-10 |
| Environmental groups are using a national study as fodder for pushing federal legislation that would enact a cap and trade system for greenhouse gas emissions. Citing a report by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, Environment Colorado yesterday said strict legislation to combat global warming would create jobs and consumer savings. | |
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Study: Climate bill could create 7,100 jobs in Colorado
- Denver Business Journal (new window)
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2009-09-09 |
| Colorado could see 7,100 new jobs — and consumer savings of $158 per household per year — by 2020 under provisions of the climate-change bill approved by the U.S. House of Representatives in June, according to a national report Wednesday. The Senate is expected to take up the bill this fall. | |
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Groups support climate statute
- Durango Herald News (new window)
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2009-09-04 |
| DENVER - Supporters of a climate-change bill before Congress are urging Colorado's Democratic senators not to weaken the legislation. Members of groups including Environment Colorado and the Denver Area Labor Federation, as well as former residents of New Orleans, will gather outside Sen. Michael Bennet's office to back the bill and mark the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. They also plan to visit Sen. Mark Udall's office. | |
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Official supports rights to wind
- Denver Post (new window)
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2009-07-09 |
| Coloradans used to owning their homes, but not necessarily the water and mineral rights associated with them, may have another commodity to call their own in the future. State Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, has asked the nonpartisan staff at the Capitol to help research a measure that would create a "wind right." The bill would be introduced when lawmakers return to work in January. | |
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The Colorado Promise Three years later
- Face the State (new window)
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2009-07-08 |
| During his 2006 campaign, Gov. Bill Ritter established his platform in the "Colorado Promise," a 54-page document containing dozens of pledges to Colorado voters. In his third year as governor, experts and pundits are weighing in on his progress and shortcomings thus far. | |
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Salazar decision ruffles political feathers
- Glennwood Springs Post Independent (new window)
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2009-07-05 |
| When U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., voted against the American Clean Energy Security Act that recently, and narrowly, passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, he surprised some of his constituents, including fellow Democrats and environmental activists. The bill, which among other provisions, would set up a “cap and trade program” for utilities to buy and sell “allowances” or “credits” to offset CO-2 emissions, has been roundly criticized by the power industry. It was approved by the house on June 26 by a vote of 219-212, and now goes to the Senate. | |
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Climate bill only halfway home
- KDVR Fox 31 (new window)
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2009-06-27 |
| DENVER - Colorado's junior U.S. senator offered no guarantees Saturday that a bill limiting pollution linked to global warming would emerge from the Senate in a form resembling its passage one day earlier by the House of Representatives. "I think that anybody that predicts either the success or the failure of the bill, standing here right now, probably has a crystal ball that is a lot better than mine," said U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet. He made his remarks while touring the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory at the Colorado School of Mines, in Golden. | |
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America needs to show leadership on climate
- Denver Post (new window)
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2009-06-26 |
| The Denver Post has let the perfect become the enemy of the good, and with this much on the line, that's irresponsible. Nothing less than Colorado's future is at stake. Global warming threatens our water supplies, would create longer and more intense wildfire seasons, ruin wildlife habitat, and harm our agricultural and outdoor recreation industries. For as many times as The Post has supported strong action on global warming, it's disappointing that at the first real chance we have to make change, The Post chooses to throw up its hands. | |
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On eve of signing deadline, Ritter OKs bills for truckers, movies, restaurants
- Denver Business Journal (new window)
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2009-06-04 |
| Colorado truckers, film-industry workers and restaurateurs are among those expected to benefit from a slew of bills signed into law Thursday by Gov. Bill Ritter. But economic developers and investors must continue to wait to see if the governor will come to their aid before Friday’s deadline to sign or veto legislation. Ritter began the day at the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado Center in downtown Denver, signing three bills that he said will continue to build the state’s “New Energy Economy.” | |
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Green groups in Colorado change strategy
- Denver Post (new window)
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2009-05-11 |
| Faced with a tight state budget and tighter-fisted state lawmakers, environmental groups had a quieter session at the Capitol than in years past, though they still proclaimed the session a success. | |
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Legislators make last push for 'green finish line'
- The Colorado Statesman (new window)
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2009-05-01 |
| The wind blew softly and the sun shone brightly on Wednesday afternoon, offering the perfect setting for members of the Legislature, Environment Colorado and other advocates of the renewable energy industry to make a last-minute push to put environmentally sound legislation over the green finish line. | |
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Charting a clear course for clean energy
- Denver Post (new window)
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2009-04-26 |
| For every new president the preliminary measure of success is the infamous "First 100 Days." But maybe this year it's time to set a new benchmark. Perhaps President Obama should be the first American president to be assessed against the "First 92 Days" measuring stick, which fell on Wednesday, April 22, better known as Earth Day. | |
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Excitement builds prior to President signing economic stimulus bill
- Denver Post (new window)
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2009-02-17 |
| Watch a Denver Post video of local politicians, activists, and Environment Colorado staff prior to President Obama's signing of the economic stimulus package at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. | |
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