Energy & Environment

Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) today introduced H.R. 643, the Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District Land Exchange Act, which would facilitate a fair exchange of lands on the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest between the US Forest Service and the Sugar Loaf Fire District. The bill, which Polis first introduced in 2009, passed the House last July, but failed to move in the Senate before the end of the 111th Congress. Senators Mark Udall (D-CO) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) have also re-introduced compan... Read more

The members of the House of Representatives Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition (SEEC) sent a letter today to House Republican leaders urging them to prioritize congressional action on the recommendations of the Presidential Commission on the BP Oil Spill. The Commission’s report, released last month, made several recommendations to the Congress to strengthen regulation and oversight of the offshore drilling industry, and indicated that congressional action was necessary in order to avoid... Read more

Today members of the House of Representatives Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition (SEEC) blasted Republican draft legislation to repeal Clean Air Act standards for carbon, methane, and other pollution. SEEC leaders said that this “Dirty Air Act” would gut important pollution controls and roll back American clean energy progress in favor of bigger profits for Big Polluters. “All this bill would do is give dirty air to America and clean energy jobs to China,” said SEEC Co-Chair Rep. Jay Ins... Read more

Today, Congresswoman DeGette joined with Congressmen Henry Waxman and Ed Markey in releasing the first findings from the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s year-long investigation into the energy exploration practice of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The congressional investigation found that oil and gas service companies have injected over 32 million gallons of diesel fuel or hydraulic fracturing fluids containing diesel fuel in wells in 19 states between 2005 and 2009. In addition, the ... Read more

Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO), and Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) are leading a group of 46 House of Representatives members in support of public disclosure requirements for chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing on public lands. In a letter to U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, the group described the disclosure requirement as a "critical step forward in encouraging the oil and gas industry to be more transparent and responsibly address the potential i... Read more

Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) issued the following statement today in response to the passage of H.R. 4853 – the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. Today’s vote was a victory for President Obama and America’s middle class. President Obama showed leadership in crafting a package that is the only way to ensure that taxes on working families don't increase and that unemployment insurance doesn't run out for those in search of work. In addition to prot... Read more

After meeting with renewable energy advocate and Boulder native Tom Weis today in his Washington, DC office, Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) went for a spin in Tom’s futuristic-looking "rocket trike" through the halls of Congress to show his support for renewable energy. “Our nation has a serious addiction to fossil fuels,” said Polis, “and it’s going to take innovative initiatives like Tom’s rocket trike to break the habit. By moving to renewable forms of energy we will create millions of jobs,... Read more

An expiring yet critically effective clean energy tax provision cleared a key hurdle Thursday, garnering praise and a sigh of relief from Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO). With growing concern that the Treasury’s 1603 Grant Program would not be continued, Polis called for the program’s renewal in a letter to Leadership with several House colleagues. After initial word that it was on the chopping block, the provision was included in the draft Senate bill unveiled late Thursday night. “The continuat... Read more

Mr. Speaker I rise today in strong support of approving a continuing resolution to maintain a level and consistent funding stream for our government. It is one of our primary constitutional responsibilities as Members of Congress to keep the Federal government running through the passage of appropriations legislation. This continuing resolution will ensure that all necessary and vital functions of government will continue uninterrupted until both Chambers of our legislature have completed their ... Read more

Today, U.S. Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet, and U.S. Representatives Diana DeGette, Jared Polis, John Salazar, Betsy Markey, Mike Coffman and Ed Perlmutter joined together to send a bipartisan letter to the Obama Administration, asking reconsideration of a decision that greatly limited the number of former Rocky Flats employees covered under a compensation program for workers suffering from job-related illnesses. During the Cold War, thousands of workers at Rocky Flats and other sites wo... Read more