Controversial Colorado Open Records bill draws calls for veto

The bill was never really debated in the Senate where it was introduced, then it was tacked on to a House bill amid the blizzard of activity that marked the last days of the Colorado legislative session. Government watchdog and elections groups on the right and left are now asking Gov. John Hickenlooper to veto it, arguing the bill would deny citizens the right to inspect voter ballots and “gut” the state’s Open Records Act.

Colorado civil unions shot dead in GOP-controlled special session committee

DENVER– The gay-rights civil unions bill at the center of a special legislative session called by Gov. John Hickenlooper died as expected on a party line vote Monday in the Republican-controlled House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee.

‘Flexibility’ the hallmark of preferred, controversial Colorado roadless rule

The preferred plan to manage 4.2 million acres of roadless forests in Colorado will allow for more flexibility than the national rule. That additional flexibility will allow local communities to protect themselves from wildfires, ski areas to expand and coal mining companies to construct venting for methane in the North Fork Valley.

Report: Colorado oil, gas regulators ‘inadequate,’ not enforcing rules

A new report blasts the state agency charged with regulating the oil and gas industry for failing to enforce its own rules.

Environmentalists blast Colorado’s new drilling task force as Trojan horse

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper’s intervention in the debate over whether the state or local jurisdictions should regulate oil and gas drilling is rankling environmentalists who, two days earlier, called him out for making misleading statements on groundwater contamination.

Colorado Senate rejects GOP drill bill to preclude local authority over oil, gas

Colorado’s Democrat-controlled Senate rejected a predominately Republican attempt Thursday to roll back the rights of cities and counties to regulate oil and gas drilling in their own back yards.

Senate Bill 88 would have bestowed omnipotent oversight of the industry…

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper’s climate change rhetoric continues to cool

The governor’s stance on climate change continues to retreat like so many of the world’s glaciers.

How close is too close? Proposed law would increase oil and gas setbacks to 1,000 feet

Colorado Democrats have introduced a bill in the State Legislature that would require hydraulically fractured oil and gas wells to be set back at least 1,000 feet from any school or residence.

Obama clean energy push draws partisan reaction from Colorado lawmakers

President Obama’s call to increase domestic energy production Tuesday received a rosy reception from Colorado’s lefty lawmakers but was all but ignored by its conservative congressional delegation who are still smarting from the commander-in-chief’s recent blocking of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

State rep on school setbacks: ‘Good enough for pot shops, good enough for fracking’

State Representative Matt Jones on Thursday linked the highly controversial oil and gas drilling process of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to the recent federal government crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries within 1,000 feet of schools in Colorado.