Energy & Environment

Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) issued the following statement today in response to President Obama’s speech on the future of American energy. “The President today confronted the ridiculous assertion that his administration’s lands policies have led to high gas prices at the pump. The ‘drill baby drill’ mentality persists, but we simply can’t drill our way to lower gas prices or long term energy independence, because when it comes to drilling we’re already wide open for business. Complex issues l... Read more

Continuing their efforts to safeguard communities and increase transparency in oil and gas drilling, Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) along with Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Rush Holt (D-NJ) today introduced the BREATHE Act (The Bringing Reductions to Energy’s Airborne Toxic Health Effects Act)—sister legislation to the FRAC Act—that would close two drilling exemptions which currently exist in the Clean Air Act. "The sheer number of wells has grown exponentially in recent years, and this growt... Read more

Today Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) and members of the House of Representatives Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) expressed strong support for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed standards to protect public health from mercury, arsenic, and other toxic pollution emitted from power plants. When Congress passed the bipartisan Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, it directed the EPA to issue standards to reduce toxic air pollution. Today, twenty-one years later and ... Read more

Today, U.S. Reps. Jared Polis (CO-2), Diana DeGette (CO-1), and Maurice Hinchey (NY-22) introduced the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act (FRAC Act), a bill that provides for reasonable regulation of the natural gas drilling technique known as “hydraulic fracturing” or “fracking.” Fracking is a process used in almost all oil and natural gas drilling, whereby fluids are injected at high pressure into underground rock formations to blast them open to increase efficiency of th... Read more

U. S. Reps. Jared Polis (D-CO-02) and Ed Whitfield (R-KY-01) have joined to introduce bipartisan legislation which will help ensure former employees at certain Department of Energy (DOE) sites receive the benefits and care they have earned while also bringing transparency and oversight to the program charged with administering compensation. Polis and Whitfield have introduced the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program (EEOICPA) Amendment Act of 2011. The legislation would req... Read more

Adding star power to efforts to regulate the environmentally risky form of natural gas drilling known as hydraulic fracturing today were Gasland Director Josh Fox, and actor turned activist Mark Ruffalo. The pair joined Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO), Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), and Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ) in sounding the call for baseline federal rules and oversight that would protect against the contamination of drinking water and other broad scale environmental impacts. “We want ... Read more

Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) released the following statement praising Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) officials' proposal to re-open the planning and rule-making process related to oil shale. “The Department of Interior has taken a well reasoned approach to the future of Oil Shale on public lands with their announcement to take a closer look at how this form of energy could affect our precious and dwindling western water supplies," said Polis. "The Departmen... Read more

Madam Chairman, this spending bill is simply unacceptable on many levels. This is a bill drafted for a sound bite, not sound policy for the American people. Handcuffing the EPA is proof of that fact, and I have and will continue to oppose those attempts and propose amendments where possible. This CR arbitrarily kills jobs, hurts the public health, and is a slap in the face to protecting our environment and clean air. This CR will set our country back decades by curtailing scientific research si... Read more

Mr. Chair, Americans' top priority is creating jobs. But six weeks into the 112th Congress, the Republican leadership has yet to bring a single, solitary jobs bill to the floor. Once again, we are here today to exercise one of our primary constitutional responsibilities as members of Congress--to pass appropriations legislation to fund the many basic and essential programs the federal governments, on which millions of Americans rely. Today is an incredible opportunity, for Republicans and Democ... Read more

Last fall windswept fire ravaged Fourmile Canyon in the foothills just above Boulder for days, displacing hundreds of residents, causing millions of dollars in damage and making national news. The wildfire raised anew long-brewing concerns about how to prepare for such crises and has given new urgency to what would appear a simple national forest land transfer to bolster volunteer fire fighter efforts in the area. On Friday, Third District Congressman Jared Polis reintroduced a bill to facilitat... Read more