SOLAR TODAY Blog

By Seth Masia
SOLAR TODAY deputyeditor

We've been complaining recently that politicians listen more closely to campaign contributors than they do to the public. For instance, national polls say that 75% of American voters want Congress to legislate a carbon cap, but the Senate instead has caved to the coal and oil businesses.

We got a great example of this thinking in Colorado this morning, when Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes sat down for a half-hour interview on one of the local NPR stations, KCFR. Host Ryan Warner asked Maes for specific examples of programs he would cut in order to close the state's severe budget shortfall. Maes cited education and the Governor's Energy Office, noting that renewable energy shouldn't enjoy state subsidies. Instead, the state should make sure that natural gas developers get free rein to put up more drilling rigs in the mountain counties.

Warner pointed out that Colorado voters, in passing Amendment 37, had expressed a strong desire for renewable energy. Maes said, no, it was a Democratic majority in the legislature and a Democratic governor who had done that.

Warner was incredulous. He explained that Amendment 37 was passed by the voters overwhelmingly, and called for a 10% renewable portfolio standard, and the legislature has since increased the RPS to 30%. Maes didn't remember any of that, but backtracked: if it was the will of the voters, he said, then we have to support it.

Maes has a short memory indeed. Here are the facts: In 2004, Colorado voters approved the RPS by a 53% to 47% margin, against strong opposition from utility companies. At the time, Colorado's governor was Republican Bill Owens, and Republicans held a majority in the state senate.

Maes does seem to remember that gas drillers want more permits to pollute the air and water.