Issue Position: Protecting Our Environment

Issue Position

Coloradans understand the importance of addressing climate change and creating a new energy economy. We aim not only to protect our health, our environment and our security, but also to promote 21st-century jobs. We need a national commitment to this cause.

Ten years ago, in my first address to the Colorado House as its Minority Leader, I challenged my colleagues to make our state a world leader in "the production and use of clean, efficient and renewable energy." I endorsed a successful initiative to get 10 percent of Colorado's electricity from alternative sources and helped double that goal three years later. I fought the Bush Administration's attempts to weaken environmental standards. I sponsored bills to conserve open space and farmland, promote water conservation, enhance energy efficiency and recycling, and protect homeowners' rights.

I also backed measures to:

Protect the quality of Colorado's air and water.
Defend water, land and mineral rights, and other private-property interests.
Spur large-scale solar projects, biomass development, and geothermal research.
Map renewable-resource areas and expedite the construction of transmission lines.
Bring wind power to schools.
Help low-income families weatherize their homes and pay their heating bills.
Give households, farmers, ranchers and businesses credit for the energy they produce on site.
No one will work harder to advance America's energy independence, reduce our reliance on foreign oil, and preserve our natural resources and agricultural heritage. As a member of Congress, I will fight to:

Accelerate the research and development of alternative energy sources and energy-efficient technology.
Improve the power grid to deliver energy more efficiently and to facilitate the use of wind, solar and other renewable energy sources.
Strengthen the protection of public health and the enforcement of air, land and water laws, including the monitoring and reporting of emissions and waste storage and disposal.
Make the government a leader by example, by reducing energy use in the construction and operation of federal buildings.

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