Diana Degette

Backers of the controversial FRAC (Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals) Act, including co-sponsor Diana DeGette (D-Denver), were quick to caution Thursday that a proposed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) study of hydraulic fracturing shouldn’t be seen as an alternative to legislation.

Colorado Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Polis’s bold move to pass health reform legislation that would include a public health insurance option has gained significant support in the week since he first began circulating among lawmakers and on the web a letter that he co-authored with Maine Democrat Chellie Pingree outlining the idea. Polis sent the letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today with the signatures of 120 Representatives attached.

Green investment groups representing shareholders in the cleaner-than-coal natural gas industry are pressuring the nation’s major drilling companies to come clean on the process of hydraulic fracturing, which is the subject of a controversial bill introduced last summer by Colorado Reps. Diana DeGette and Jared Polis.

Colorado Democratic Party Chairwoman Pat Waak told the Colorado Independent yesterday that ten would-be candidates for governor had been testing the waters for a gubernatorial run in the wake of Gov. Bill Ritter’s announcement last week that he would not seek a second term.
Today, Waak told the Colorado Independent the names of the candidates [...]

In a front-page story that positions Colorado as representative, the New York Times today reports that voters here “crave reform of health care and Congress.” Of course we do. The health-reform debate was ugly and preposterous and shot through with distortions and lies. Corporate interests steered the discussion and shaped the legislation. Sharp Colorado voters– [...]

Colorado oil and gas regulators have admitted to the Colorado Independent they’re spread too thin to handle a new set of EPA rules if proposed federal hydraulic fracturing legislation is passed by Congress, but a new ProPublica investigation suggests staffing may even be inadequate to handle current levels of state oversight.

Using chemical tracers to make sure hydraulic fracturing fluids aren’t contaminating groundwater supplies may be off the radar of Colorado officials who regulate the state’s natural gas industry, but the concept is contained in what could be a precedent-setting watershed plan crafted by the cities of Grand Junction and Palisade.

Environmental activists are calling on Colorado officials to require oil and gas companies to chemically tag the fluids used in hydraulic fracturing, an increasingly controversial natural gas drilling process. Many suspect that “fracking” may be contaminating ground water and chemical tags would make it possible for regulators to identify the source of any contamination. The idea is a hot topic among those favoring increased federal oversight of the process, but industry officials won’t even discuss the idea, and state regulators say it’s barely on their radar screens.

President Obama gave a long-awaited address Tuesday night at West Point Military Academy on his plan for the war in Afghanistan. It was a speech bound to disappoint and it did, it seems, at least partly on both the left and the right. Among the responses from the Colorado delegation in D.C., Sen. Mark Udall, one of the most supportive of the president’s vision, also felt obliged at one point to respond in advance to constituent dissent. “We must acknowledge the complex choices we face. It is important for us all to keep in mind that no one has all the right answers.”

Rep. Ed Perlmutter, who also offered support for the president’s strategy, said he planned to travel to Afghanistan in the coming months to gain additional insight of his own.

Full video of the speech and a roundup of responses after the jump.

The tea party political movement loves its stars. This week Singer/songwriter Lloyd Marcus (of “American Tea Party Anthem” fame) re-writes the lyrics of “My Girl” to pay tribute to women tea party leaders.
Fast and loose Colorado blogger Michelle Malkin, fresh off of a typical error-ridden tirade that called U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette an ignoramus [...]