"All of the Above" that's the rallying cry from our Colorado representatives.
Last Saturday I attended the Club 20 Fall meeting in Grand Junction Colorado. It is a bipartisan lobbying organization for the Western Slope of Colorado but the members are predominately Conservative Republicans. The speakers - from both parties- craft their messages to that base.
Here are some of the things I heard from the speakers and from the audience.
Representative Tipton (R) cited the Senate 181 Public Lands bill (which sends 50¢ per acre of federal land back to local companies aka ski and mine companies - not to local governments) and the Rare Earths bill from Michael Rubio. He said we could develop rare earth elements from Coal. He said the West Slope had a "lower per capita income" but never said lower than what. He went further to say the "New Green Deal" had no meat on it's bones and would eliminate airplanes and cattle. We need an "all of the above" energy plan, coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear, and solar (with the caveat that building a solar farm may give you 400 jobs during the build but only 4 jobs long term- something I have yet to find a source for or verify)
Responses from the audience included "7000 fossil fuel jobs lost in Colorado" I have yet to find any source for this statement.
Attorney General Weiser (D) spoke about the opioid law suit, the Google sales tax law suit (no results searching for that on Google- I'm shocked I tell you- shocked), reforming cash bail, Crowley County selling their water rights, and then dipped into the controversial territory of a Red Flag bill firmly linking it to everything *above* 15 rounds (crickets from this audience). He walked on the wild side commenting on the sports gambling ballot question (% of sports gambling revenue for water). No one answered if that revenue is going to pay for diversions to the front range, dams, reservoirs or bothered to define what "voluntary demand management" of water really means.
Senator Gardner (R) was by far the most personable speaker of the day and he needed to be. He's considered a moderate by the Republican base (rated 5th most bi-partisan Senator) and his seat is in jeopardy. The biggest applause of the day was for the relocation of the BLM from DC to Grand Junction- a personal initiative by Senator Gardner. Of course there was no mention that Congress hasn't allocated money for the move even though the space has been leased as of November 1 or that by moving out of the DC power base it moves the department "out of sight out of mind". The BLM will be located in the same building as Chevron. I'll let you connect the dots on that. This was closely followed by touting the Public Lands Act (which leaves out the Thompson Divide) $17 million for I70 improvements in Glenwood and Glenwood Canyon (given the almost $2 Billion budget for CDOT I'm not feeling the Western Slope love.) Reinventing the Obama era strategy of choking Russian oil and gas dependence by supplying natural gas to Europe by talking about our "new" natural gas customers in Taiwan and Japan to choke Chinese oil and gas dependence. "We shouldn't rely on foreign nations for supply and energy!" As we try and make other nations dependent on us and simultaneously send troops to Saudi Arabia. (My head hurts) Although Rep. Tipton said "lower per captia income" on the West Slope Senator Gardner said we have a $5000 per family wage growth in Colorado (again- no sources for either statement).
I missed the big Pharma panel. (needed more coffee and a break) and got back in time for the Governor.
Governor Polis (D) Talked mostly about reducing health care premiums. It's no wonder this got a cool response since Grand Junction's #1 economic driver is Health Care. For the rest of us relief is certainly needed since health care premiums in the Roaring Fork Valley are the highest in the nation but it needs to be emphasized that this reduction (41% in Vail) is for individuals not for companies or group insurance. We are predominately small businesses on the West Slope and in order for these small businesses to thrive there needs to be an insurance solution. Without that everyone becomes and independent contractor in this "right to work" State. I certainly would have liked more information on "no new diversions" for water and if that included the diversions in the State Water Plan... but the focus was on health care.
Insurance Commissioner Conway (D) - the back up band for the insurance message.
The Special Guest served up with the pork roulade (someone in the kitchen has a sense of humor) was Rifle Colorado native Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt (R). His message was how important Senator Gardner's "bi-partisan" efforts were, how great it was to have the BLM move to Grand Junction so that staff could see what sage brush looked like, how "all of the above" was the best policy for public lands, how quickly President Trump has been able to make good on all his campaign promises and then took credit for the Sage Grouse initiative and the partnership with grazing (ignoring the fact that this was an Obama 2010 initiative and the Trump Administration spin is to open the Sage Grouse habitat to oil and gas companies)
My luncheon companions then told me how I could use vanadium to power my Tesla and I would be able to stop at any gas station and "fill up" my battery with vanadium. (I could not keep the image of "Back to the Future" out of my head.)
Dan Prenzlow and Dan Gibbs, from Parks and Wildlife and Dept of Natural Resources respectively, wrapped the meeting. The audience response was more direct to this presentation perhaps since it was the last one. This included a reference to controlling the wolf population "follow the science before wolves get on the ballot" and the pressure of people on wildlife having adverse effects on the hunting season. "Follow the Science" seemed a particularly ironic choice of verbage.
That was my Saturday in Grand Junction Colorado. It left me as hollow as the previous day's Climate Strike had left me hopeful.
What is lacking is discernment. What is really lacking is the ability- or even the desire - to listen to rural concerns without pandering or playing to the lowest common denominator.
J.M.O.
Last Saturday I attended the Club 20 Fall meeting in Grand Junction Colorado. It is a bipartisan lobbying organization for the Western Slope of Colorado but the members are predominately Conservative Republicans. The speakers - from both parties- craft their messages to that base.
Here are some of the things I heard from the speakers and from the audience.
Representative Tipton (R) cited the Senate 181 Public Lands bill (which sends 50¢ per acre of federal land back to local companies aka ski and mine companies - not to local governments) and the Rare Earths bill from Michael Rubio. He said we could develop rare earth elements from Coal. He said the West Slope had a "lower per capita income" but never said lower than what. He went further to say the "New Green Deal" had no meat on it's bones and would eliminate airplanes and cattle. We need an "all of the above" energy plan, coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear, and solar (with the caveat that building a solar farm may give you 400 jobs during the build but only 4 jobs long term- something I have yet to find a source for or verify)
Responses from the audience included "7000 fossil fuel jobs lost in Colorado" I have yet to find any source for this statement.
Attorney General Weiser (D) spoke about the opioid law suit, the Google sales tax law suit (no results searching for that on Google- I'm shocked I tell you- shocked), reforming cash bail, Crowley County selling their water rights, and then dipped into the controversial territory of a Red Flag bill firmly linking it to everything *above* 15 rounds (crickets from this audience). He walked on the wild side commenting on the sports gambling ballot question (% of sports gambling revenue for water). No one answered if that revenue is going to pay for diversions to the front range, dams, reservoirs or bothered to define what "voluntary demand management" of water really means.
Senator Gardner (R) was by far the most personable speaker of the day and he needed to be. He's considered a moderate by the Republican base (rated 5th most bi-partisan Senator) and his seat is in jeopardy. The biggest applause of the day was for the relocation of the BLM from DC to Grand Junction- a personal initiative by Senator Gardner. Of course there was no mention that Congress hasn't allocated money for the move even though the space has been leased as of November 1 or that by moving out of the DC power base it moves the department "out of sight out of mind". The BLM will be located in the same building as Chevron. I'll let you connect the dots on that. This was closely followed by touting the Public Lands Act (which leaves out the Thompson Divide) $17 million for I70 improvements in Glenwood and Glenwood Canyon (given the almost $2 Billion budget for CDOT I'm not feeling the Western Slope love.) Reinventing the Obama era strategy of choking Russian oil and gas dependence by supplying natural gas to Europe by talking about our "new" natural gas customers in Taiwan and Japan to choke Chinese oil and gas dependence. "We shouldn't rely on foreign nations for supply and energy!" As we try and make other nations dependent on us and simultaneously send troops to Saudi Arabia. (My head hurts) Although Rep. Tipton said "lower per captia income" on the West Slope Senator Gardner said we have a $5000 per family wage growth in Colorado (again- no sources for either statement).
I missed the big Pharma panel. (needed more coffee and a break) and got back in time for the Governor.
Governor Polis (D) Talked mostly about reducing health care premiums. It's no wonder this got a cool response since Grand Junction's #1 economic driver is Health Care. For the rest of us relief is certainly needed since health care premiums in the Roaring Fork Valley are the highest in the nation but it needs to be emphasized that this reduction (41% in Vail) is for individuals not for companies or group insurance. We are predominately small businesses on the West Slope and in order for these small businesses to thrive there needs to be an insurance solution. Without that everyone becomes and independent contractor in this "right to work" State. I certainly would have liked more information on "no new diversions" for water and if that included the diversions in the State Water Plan... but the focus was on health care.
Insurance Commissioner Conway (D) - the back up band for the insurance message.
The Special Guest served up with the pork roulade (someone in the kitchen has a sense of humor) was Rifle Colorado native Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt (R). His message was how important Senator Gardner's "bi-partisan" efforts were, how great it was to have the BLM move to Grand Junction so that staff could see what sage brush looked like, how "all of the above" was the best policy for public lands, how quickly President Trump has been able to make good on all his campaign promises and then took credit for the Sage Grouse initiative and the partnership with grazing (ignoring the fact that this was an Obama 2010 initiative and the Trump Administration spin is to open the Sage Grouse habitat to oil and gas companies)
My luncheon companions then told me how I could use vanadium to power my Tesla and I would be able to stop at any gas station and "fill up" my battery with vanadium. (I could not keep the image of "Back to the Future" out of my head.)
Dan Prenzlow and Dan Gibbs, from Parks and Wildlife and Dept of Natural Resources respectively, wrapped the meeting. The audience response was more direct to this presentation perhaps since it was the last one. This included a reference to controlling the wolf population "follow the science before wolves get on the ballot" and the pressure of people on wildlife having adverse effects on the hunting season. "Follow the Science" seemed a particularly ironic choice of verbage.
That was my Saturday in Grand Junction Colorado. It left me as hollow as the previous day's Climate Strike had left me hopeful.
What is lacking is discernment. What is really lacking is the ability- or even the desire - to listen to rural concerns without pandering or playing to the lowest common denominator.
J.M.O.
