Ray Scott, Colorado Representative from District 55 in Western Colorado, has a reputation of being a fierce advocate for energy industry jobs on the Western Slope. He has worked with various organizations, including those in the energy sector, to improve environmental standards and practices to make exploration and drilling viable in environmentally sensitive regions of the state, Representative Scott has also gained significant credentials as an authority in matters of water use and environmental conservation.
HB1223, offered up by Ray Scott in 2011, was designed to balance the representation of energy interests in Colorado by ensuring that the board of the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission (COGC) would have members from diverse regions of the state. This was not just a push for energy sector jobs in Western Colorado. HB1223 ensured that the differing environmental, agricultural, and economic needs in Colorado would be considered in important policy decisions by COGC.
Well into his second term in the General Assembly, Representative Scott’s balance and fairness regarding energy, jobs, and environmental conservation, has earned him recognition from the leaders of the opposition party. The Democrat Speaker of Colorado’s House of Representatives, earlier this month, appointed Ray Scott to the Council of State Governments-WEST (CSG-West) Water and Environment Committee.
According to a press release from Representative Scott’s office, the CSG-West Water and Environment Committee, “provides western legislators a forum to discuss growing and competing demands on Western water and the environment.” CSG-West collaborates with the Western Governors Association as well as other governmental and private organizations to plan and implement strategies for development that protect the environment and create jobs in the West. Representative Scott has made it clear with his appointment to this important committee that energy sector development and jobs, and environmental conservation and clean water are not mutually exclusive.