February 09, 2012 07:10 PM UTC

Doug Lamborn: Useless

• 9 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: But wait, there’s more!

It seems Lamborn has his own legislation in which he proposes to lease federal land for oil shale development in order to fund transportation projects. But as The Grand Junction Sentinel notes, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that Lamborn’s plan would not produce a single cent in the 5-year time period he proposes, in large part because nobody has any idea how to develop oil shale:

The Congressional Budget Office scoring shows leasing of oil shale would reduce the deficit by $5 million in 2016, but would generate no revenue until then [Pols emphasis]. It would cost $5 million in 2022, the edge of the time frame for the budget office.

To recap, Lamborn won’t support extending wind energy tax credits that have already been proven to create jobs and revenue, but he’s pushing his own energy-related legislation that won’t do a damn thing.

It’s hard work being this useless.

—–

Kelcie Pegher, an intern in Washington DC writing for the Durango Herald, reports today:

Members of the Colorado congressional delegation are calling to extend the wind-energy production tax credit as part of the payroll tax extension.

Eight members of the delegation, including Democratic Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennett, as well as Democratic Reps. Diana DeGette, Ed Perlmutter and Jared Polis signed a letter to the chairmen of the conference committee.

Also included are Republican Reps. Cory Gardner, Scott Tipton and Mike Coffman. Coffman joined the other members of the delegation late Tuesday in their letter. The wind-energy production tax credit gives wind-energy farms a 2.2 cents-per-kilowatt credit on their taxes each year for the first 10 years and will expire at the end of the year.

That’s both Colorado U.S. Senators, all three Democrats in the congressional delegation, and even three conservative Republicans. So who’s missing? Colorado Independent:

U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado, is the lone holdout in the state’s bipartisan push.

Lamborn clarified that he supports wind energy as part of an “all-of-the-above energy plan” but that he is in favor of removing regulatory barriers for the industry as opposed to encouraging its development via tax breaks.

“My preference is to help industry grow by reducing federal regulations and mandates as opposed to carving out special interests in the tax code,” Lamborn wrote in an email to the Colorado Independent on Tuesday.

The thing is, we strongly suspect that if you ask the three Republicans who did support the wind power tax credit, they would tell you their preference is also to “grow the industry” by slashing regulation like Lamborn says. Despite this, Reps. Cory Gardner, Scott Tipton, and even Mike Coffman (though after a bit of polling deliberation) signed on in support of extending the wind power tax credit. After all, the oil and gas industry still gets all of their tax credits. Republicans, especially in Colorado, have no rational basis with which to oppose wind energy tax credits–and many reasons to support them. As in, our economy:

Colorado generates the third highest percentage of power from wind of any state in the nation and is home to several major wind energy developers and wind turbine manufacturing facilities.

Estimates show that wind energy employs upwards of 6,000 workers statewide.

Once again, Rep. Doug Lamborn proves the lengths to which a safe seat can be abused, and occupied by a representative openly hostile to the interests of the state he represents. As you can see, this is now an argument that can be made on an objective, nonpartisan level.

J’accuse, Colorado Springs.