May 12, 2015 12:18 PM UTC

Colorado Loves Conservation - Our Senate, Not So Much

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• by: ConservationColorado

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Until recently, Colorado had a long legacy of consensus on conservation, and it’s not hard to see why. Our state is home to stunning landscapes — many of us live with nationally-renowned lands in our backyards or just a quick drive away. When you are in that kind of constant contact with the grandeur of nature, it’s hard not to recognize the value of conservation. When you live in a place like Colorado, it only seems natural that a river has a right to be healthy and flowing, and that some places are too beautiful to be fenced off and developed.

Champs Fought Hard

Unfortunately, this spirit of common cause and reason was noticeably absent from the 2015 legislative session. We saw a disappointing amount of narrow-minded bullishness on all of our priority issues, from public lands to clean energy. It wasn’t all bad — our legislative champions certainly worked hard to protect Colorado’s air, water, and land. Leaders like Reps. Daneya Esgar, Jessie Danielson, and Faith Winter and Sens. Kerry Donovan, Mike Merrifield, and Matt Jones fought hard to push proactive measures and fend off bad ones.

No Room for Reason in Colorado Senate

Unfortunately, our champions faced some tough obstacles. Those came in the form of a Senate that, with a few exceptions, refused to pass common sense conservation bills. For example, an instream flow bill, which is essentially legislation that gives a river the right to be a river, was killed in the Senate. There is no political ideology that justifies opposition to rivers.

Selling Our Land to the Highest Bidder

For that matter, there is no political ideology that justifies the public land seizure bills we saw this year. A vast majority of Coloradans support maintaining our public lands as they are, and yet we saw continued efforts to sell out or carve up our most treasured landscapes. We all cherish these lands as an important part of our heritage, economy, and identity, and the efforts to threaten them are not just foolish, but reprehensible.

Voting Against Public Health & Diminished Cost

Those who voted for public land seizure might have looked less foolish if they had also voted for smart, innovative measures. But unfortunately, legislation with bipartisan support to incentivize increased energy efficiency in buildings was killed in the Senate. This would have been a step in the right direction for Colorado’s lower-income communities and communities of color, who are disproportionately impacted by poor air quality and substandard living conditions. It also would have saved small businesses and working families money. The Colorado Senate decided that improved public health and greater savings were not worth supporting.

Flip-flopping On Our Air, Land, and Water

To add yet another level of frustration to the mix, many legislators who voted against conservation measures had previously been in support of our issues. There is a name for this kind of behavior in politics: flip-flopping. And in more cases than not, it can be traced to the ugly underbelly of our political system: campaign finance. It is an unfortunate reality that many legislators are funded by special interests such as the Koch brothers, which pour money into candidates’ coffers to influence votes. It’s not a pleasant thing to talk or think about, but it is often the beast we’re facing.

Shining Moments

There were, however, some great moments in the 2015 session. Several legislators did reach across the aisle to support measures like legalizing rain barrels, supporting energy efficiency, and opposing public land seizure. We commend and celebrate those leaders and view them as proof that, in Colorado, conservation is less about politics than it is about doing what’s right for the state.

Leadership Matters

The bottom line is that elected leaders should represent their constituents, and we’re not seeing that principle being upheld in the Colorado legislature. The solution to this problem is frustrating but simple: we need to elect better leaders. When we don’t come out for conservation champions during elections, we face unfortunate situations like the one we’re in now.

So we will continue to look to the future and hold legislators accountable who aren’t prioritizing Colorado’s land, air, water, and people, and work to elect the ones who do.