Tag: Western Skies Coalition

Oil and gas companies doing business in Colorado have dropped a mind-blowing $10 million into Amendment 58 — a statewide initiative that would cut their state severance tax and raise roughly $321 million a year for college scholarships, wildlife habitat and other programs. But when it comes to whether big oil may be pumping in cash to help Republicans retake control of the state Senate, well, they're just not saying. And in fact, they don't have to.

It’s as clear as the Western Skies: Nonprofit 501(c)4s are the new 527s of the Colorado political scene, the latest way that shadowy special interest groups are tapping into seemingly unlimited undisclosed special interest cash to attack or support candidates who can further their agendas. Take, for instance, the Western Skies Coalition, a conservative group claiming to be a 501(c)4 nonprofit dedicated to “promoting issues that make our nation great.”

The Western Skies Coalition, a conservative advocacy group incorporated in Virginia but with an office in Littleton, touts former Colorado Gov. Bill Owens and former U.S. Secretary of Education and George H.W. Bush drug czar Bill Bennett as two of the noted members of the organization’s “constantly growing” executive committee.

The Western Skies Coalition, a conservative Virginia corporation with an office in Littleton, is allegedly being used by state Sen. Josh Penry (R-Fruita) to raise funds from oil and gas companies in a bid target several key Colorado state Senate races and win back a Republican majority in 2010, according to several sources.

A conservative Colorado political group allegedly backed by big-oil money and calling itself the Western Skies Coalition has targeted key state Senate races, apparently bent on portraying pro-oil Republicans vying for those seats as champions of alternative energy.