Colorado Legislative 2012CONSERVATION SCORECARD presented by 2012 Overview You care about Colorado’s The Conservation Community worked to protect our environmental Colorado way of life in 2012 by improving the economy and protecting public health and the environment. legacy. In 2012 the economy and the Protecting public health. environment both won. There were numerous bills that would Do your legislators? have rolled back Colorado’s protection As Colorado’s unemployment rate of our air and water. The conservation hovered around 8%, the conservation community killed these anti-environment community went into the legislative The scorecard highlights the priorities and anti-public health bills. session vowing to be part of the of the conservation community in the economic solution while protecting the • Colorado’s renewable energy 2012 legislative session. You will find environment. Numerous important pro- factual, nonpartisan information about standard has helped the state become conservation/pro-economy bills passed. less dependent on dirty coal and how each member of the legislature instead transition to using wind and voted on important issues that affect • E-Waste: Will keep toxic chemicals out solar. Weakening the renewable energy Colorado’s air, land, water and people. of our ground and water and create standard would have made our air We invite you to examine the scores of 2,500 jobs for Coloradans. dirtier and been a step backwards in your representative and your senator the effort to address climate change. and to see how well their votes match • Electronic Vehicles: Cut red tape to (HB 1121, HB 1160, HB 1172, HB 1351). allow local businesses to install charging up with your conservation values. We stations, making Colorado a place to • HB 1103 was a direct attack on air encourage you to call or write your grow the electric vehicle market. legislators and let them know you quality by exempting counties from ozone testing. follow their environmental scores. • Colorado’s economy is inextricably Phone number and email addresses of linked to our environment, supporting • HB 1161 threatened to undo a your elected officials can be found at tourism as our second largest industry decade worth of work to protect coloradoconservationvoters.org. and providing Colorado businesses with Colorado’s water quality by delaying an educated work force that lives here and weakening rules regarding nitrogen for the quality of life. This year several and phosphorus levels in our water. bills were passed to protect our forest and our wildlife. (HB 1032, HB 1150) Colorado Conservation Voters turns conservation values into 2 coloradoconservationvoters.org Colorado priorities. coloradoconservationvoters.org 3 House Bill 1258 Electric Vehicle Charging 2 Sponsors: Representative Energy Bills Brian DelGrosso and Senator Cheri Jahn House Vote: Passed 60 - 3 Senate Vote: Passed 33 - 0 Pro-Environment Vote: YES Governor Hickenlooper Signed into Law on: 5/3/2012 HB 1258 clarified that third-party charging stations for electric vehicles, House Bill 1028 House Bill 1351 such as your local coffee shop, shall not Low Income Energy Protecting the Renewable be regulated as an electric utility, and 3 Assistance 5 Energy Standard Amendment ensured that EV charging stations could Sponsors: Representative Cheri Gerou Sponsors: Senator Jeanne Nicholson use renewable energy generated on and Senator Pat Steadman site. The bill will lead to an increased Senate Vote: Failed 8 – 27 number of vehicle charging stations and House Vote: Passed 49-16 supports the expansion of the electric Pro-Environment Vote: vehicle market. Senate Vote: Passed 24-10 YES 2012 Scored Votes Pro-Environment Vote: YES Senator Jeanne Nicholson offered an amendment that required trash Governor Hickenlooper Signed into Law gasification projects to be greenhouse on: 3/24/2012 gas emissions-neutral and that air Top Priorities emissions be as clean as or cleaner than HB 1028 extends funding for energy- the emissions of natural gas plants. In 2012, two pro-active bills were top related assistance for low-income priorities for the conservation community. households through energy bill payment assistance and energy efficiency House Bill 1136 These bills are common sense solutions Electric Vehicle Charging that are good for the environment and improvements. 6 help our economy. Station Prohibition Sponsors: Representative Robert Ramirez House Bill 1351 and Senator Ellen Roberts Senate Bill 133 Gasification of trash in the Electronic Recycling Jobs Act 4 Renewable Energy Standard House Vote: Passed 37-28 1 Sponsors: Senator Gail Sponsors: Representative Jon Becker Schwartz and Representative Don and Senator Lois Tochtrop Senate Vote: Failed 2-3 in the Senate Coram Committee on State, Veterans and House Vote: Passed 35 - 29 House Vote: Passed 43-20 Military Affairs Senate Vote: Senate leadership laid over Senate Vote: Passed 28-6 the bill until after the conclusion of the Pro-Environment Vote: NO legislative session. Pro-Environment Vote: YES HB1136 would have prohibited electric Governor Hickenlooper Signed into Law Pro – Environment Vote: NO vehicle charging stations from being on: 4/20/2012 located on publicly-owned property, HB 1351 was an attempt to undermine creating a significant barrier to SB 133 bans large screen electronics Colorado’s renewable energy standard developing an alternative vehicle from landfills. Such a ban will protect by allowing energy generated from infrastructure in Colorado. our air and water by reducing the toxic the gasification of trash to count for metals contained in these electronics compliance, a process that is started from entering the waste stream. by burning natural gas. This would have Additionally, with the return of the helped utilities avoid making investments electronics into the market, 2,500 new in truly clean sources of energy. recycling jobs will be created. 4 coloradoconservationvoters.org coloradoconservationvoters.org 5 from mines is important, and this reviewed by a separate scientific advisory amendment made it possible for incentives committee before being approved. This to be provided without using renewable bill would further delay important cleanup energy tax credit. of our water by requiring another review of water pollution rules that have already Sponsor: Representative Matt Jones been extensively studied. House Vote: Failed 30 -33 Pro-Environment Vote: YES House Bill 1335 Representative Matt Jones offered an Restoring Oil and Gas amendment that would have qualified 12 Inspectors Amendment the capture of coal mine methane gas Sponsors: Representative Su Ryden and as an innovate energy solution instead of Public Health Bills Representative Nancy Todd a renewable energy. This solution would House Vote: Failed 31-34 have protected the development for wind and solar while also providing an important Pro-Environment Vote: YES incentive for the capture of coal mine The following bills and methane gas. Oil and gas is getting closer to amendments impact communities and critical water supplies, House Bill 1172 public health and our and public health impacts are just Prohibit Environmental beginning to be understood. Despite this, 9 Representative Jerry Sonnenberg offered Planning environment. an amendment to the state budget bill, Sponsors: Representative Spencer Swalm, HB 1335, to remove three inspectors from Representative Kathleen Conti and House Bill 1103 the Colorado Department of Public Health Senator Ted Harvey Clean Air Exemption and Environment (CDPHE) for air and House Vote: Passed 35 - 30 10 Sponsors: Representative water quality on oil and gas operations. Energy Bills The House passed the Sonnenberg Senate Vote: Failed 2-3 in the Senate Glenn Vaad and Senator Lois Tochtrop amendment. Representatives Su Ryden Committee on State, Veterans and Military House Vote: Passed 35-29 and Nancy Todd offered an amendment Affairs to strip Rep. Sonnenberg’s amendment House Bill 1160 Senate Vote: Failed 2-3 in Senate State Pro-Environment Vote: and restore the three additional oil and NO Veterans and Military Affairs Committee Coal Methane in the gas inspectors. CDPHE is currently woefully 7 HB1172 prevented state regulators from Renewable Energy Standard understaffed with only four inspectors. taking into account the federal regulatory Pro-Environment Vote: Sponsors: Representative Randy NO This means that facilities like oil and gas risks associated with carbon dioxide Baumgardner and Senator Gail Schwartz condensate tanks that release ozone into pollution, as well as other environmental HB 1103 allows county commissioners to the air are only inspected once every 27 House Vote: Passed 34 - 29 externalities, when evaluating utility plans exclude all or part of their county from years. The inspectors were restored to the for energy acquisition. vehicle emissions testing if their county Senate Vote: Senate leadership laid over budget by the Senate. the bill until the conclusion of the legislative does not violate national ambient air session. quality standards for carbon monoxide and ozone. Neither dirty air nor polluting House Bill 1335 Pro-Environment Vote: NO cars stay in one county so it is essential The conservation community worked to Adding Oil and Gas to test all cars, regardless if they are HB1160 allowed coal mine methane gas reestablish funding for the Governor’s 13 to count for compliance with Colorado’s registered in a county that meets clean air Inspectors Amendment Sponsor: Senator Morgan Carroll Renewable Energy Standard. While Energy