Colorado Governor Unveils Climate Action Plan

In support of his New Energy Economy Initiative, Gov. Bill Ritter introduced last week a statewide action plan to expand renewable energy opportunities and reduce the impact of climate change.

 

Two key components of the plan include R&D for coal, natural gas and renewable energy and fostering an educated workforce. Under the plan, the state will partner with research institutions and industry to expand R&D in these areas and develop clean-coal technologies. No additional funding is requested in the governor’s fiscal year 2008-09 budget proposal for these initiatives; however, the key departments involved in the action plan have committed to using existing funds to implement the action items.

 

The plan also calls for promoting the R&D of new energy resource technologies through the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory -- a partnership between the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Colorado’s three science research universities established in 2006. Gov. Ritter signed HB 1322 last year, allocating up to $2 million per year for three years to the partnership. 

 

The Governor’s Jobs Cabinet, consisting of business leaders and representatives from higher education and K-12, was created last year to develop a well trained workforce for the New Energy Economy. The plan calls for partnering with higher education to train the workforce needed for the New Energy Economy and partnering with K-12 educators to develop and teach sustainability criteria.

 

Gov. Ritter calls on the federal government to “step up its obligation and provide national leadership on this front.” Recommendations for federal support include providing funding for the following:

• Loan guarantees to research clean coal technologies that capture carbon dioxide and move from the pilot phase to full-scale commercial use;
• R&D for biofuels, particularly cellulosic ethanol; and,
• Expanded funding for the key federal scientific research institutions in Colorado, including the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research and National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration that are working on cutting-edge climate change research.

In his FY08-09 budget submitted to the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee last week, Gov. Ritter recommends $2 million for rebate and incentive programs for the installation of solar panels and replacing existing state vehicles with E-85 and hybrid vehicles for a reduction of the budget by approximately $443,000. For geothermal research relating to the Colorado Geological Survey and for carbon sequestration, the governor recommends $72,000 per project.

 

The Colorado Climate Action Plan is available from the governor’s office at www.colorado.gov/governor/.

 

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