The U.S. House passed a sweeping energy package Thursday that Alison Gannett, a farmer in the North Fork Valley, said puts “oil and gas companies first and Coloradans last.”
BOULDER — There are a lot of opinions on how far hydraulic fracturing should be from schools. One resident near a drilling operation a few hundred yards from Red Hawk Elementary School in Erie said he was probably the only one on his block who didn’t mind the noise or environmental and health risks Encana Corp.’s project brought with it. Still, in a perfect world, he said he’d prefer it were a mile away.
Depending on how things go in Colorado’s primaries June 26 and in the general election in November, this will either be the year that congressional challengers were able to buy their way into office or the year in which challengers spent millions of their own money only to say in the end that they gave it their best and lost anyway.
President Obama’s announcement in the White House Rose Garden today that he was shifting U.S. immigration policy through executive order effective immediately brought howls from anti-illegal immigration Republicans, who suggested Obama was trampling the power of Congress to make laws. Iowa U.S. Rep. Steve King said he planned to sue the president. The transcript of the announcement released by the White House includes interruptions made by an attendee at the event determined to voice the view that Obama was “importing” immigrants who would take jobs from American citizens.
As concerns mount over oil and gas rigs inching closer to several Colorado schools, legislators are looking toward 2013 to sort out whether local controls should take a backseat to state regulations.
Today, Democratic congressional candidate Sal Pace blasted Third District incumbent Republican Scott Tipton for voting against a 10 percent cut in the congressional franking budget, which pays for communications conducted with constituents by sitting members of Congress.
Colorado U.S. Rep. Jared Polis’ amendment to strip $25 million in subsidies for oil shale passed the House today on a 208-207 vote. The money will be redirected to deficit reduction. The measure failed earlier in the day by a 192-222 vote but went to a second vote when a member whose vote hadn’t been counted asked for a new vote, a source told The Colorado Independent.
It is a common refrain in this Republican House of Representatives that Congress should not “pick winners and losers” in the energy marketplace. The comment is usually made while debating subsidies for alternative energy. Today, though, Congress may go against the odds to try and pick a winner by voting on a measure that would allocate $25 million to oil shale research and development.
ERIE — Flaggers in orange vests stopped traffic on the parkway as a convoy of semi-trailer trucks rumbled toward Red Hawk Elementary this week hauling sound barriers to muffle a gas extraction project in this once quiet neighborhood that has left many parents, teachers and residents vexed.
A unanimous federal appeals court ruling issued in Boston today found the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional in that it discriminates against same-sex couples. The ruling is a victory for the Obama administration and supporters of both gay rights and states’ rights and a blow for the national anti-gay marriage movement and for Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, who filed a controversial and critics say confused amicus brief in the case last year in support of the embattled federal law.
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
rss