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Senate Republicans prevailed in tacking an amendment on accountability to one of the 36 bills introduced on the Colorado Recovery Plan that they say will help address conflict-of-interest questions on the Clean Energy Fund.
Senate Bill 230 would send $40 million in general funds part of the $800 million left over from the 2020-21 budget year to the Colorado Energy Office. The office would then send $30 million to its former chief operating officer, who now runs the Colorado Clean Energy Fund, which he set up while he was still in the state energy office.
The action has led to Republican accusations that the $30 million is a sweetheart deal for the office s former COO, Paul Scharfenberger.
Dive Brief:
Even as the Biden administration has centered climate change throughout the government and proposed billions in clean energy investments, state regulators said at a panel Tuesday they are still best equipped to handle emissions reductions at home. States rights are important … and states like New Mexico need to keep their own rules in place, said Sandra Ely, director of the New Mexico Environment Department, on a panel at the Colorado Energy Research Collaboratory s annual 21st Century Energy Transition Symposium. That is especially true given the policy swings between the Trump and Biden administrations, Ely added.
The best role for the federal government in promoting clean energy and transportation is funding, said Brad Crowell, director of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
Today
Rain early.then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. High 42F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%..
Tonight
Steady light rain this evening. Showers continuing overnight. Low near 35F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Updated: May 3, 2021 @ 9:59 am
Electric vehicles, the greenest and trendiest way of getting around, are also a charged political issue on the highways of Colorado.
Policymakers, led by Gov. Jared Polis and the Democrats who control the General Assembly, aren t easing off the accelerator anytime soon.
Immediately after taking office in 2019, Polis signed an executive order calling for 940,000 electric vehicles on the road in Colorado by 2030, roughly 43% of the passenger vehicle market.
That s a big jump: EVs are about 5% of the state s vehicle market.
It also won t be cheap. Try on more than $1.2 billion in the next decade shared by EV owners, businesses and the government.