Aspen Maroon BellsThis morning, the Colorado Senate Republicans announced a new committee called the Energy and Environment Committee.  According to a press release, the new committee, chaired by Republican state Senator Ray Scott from Grand Junction, “would be free to hold hearings on a wide range of energy and environmental issues facing Colorado, especially in light of expected policy changes from the Trump administration.”

As you may recall, PeakNation, Governor Hickenlooper decided to charge ahead with the Clean Power Plan, or a Colorado version, despite 22 states suing the federal government to ask whether it’s even legal. Hickenlooper issued an executive order to, at the very least, move forward with a Colorado version. With the change in direction a given now that Donald Trump, not Hillary Clinton, is president-elect, there is an opportunity to change the conversation on the intersection of oil and gas development and the environment.

According to Republican state Sen. John Cooke, who will sit on the committee along with newly-elected state Sen. Kevin Priola:

“Energy is one of the two or three top economic engines driving Colorado’s economy, so we must find a way to support those jobs and revenues while also protecting the natural places that make Colorado special. Reliable and affordable energy are too important to Colorado’s energy consumers and business climate to not pursue a truly all-of-the-above approach, which includes coal, oil and gas, renewables and maybe even nuclear. It’s time to put Colorado energy consumers first by embracing energy policies guided by practical reality, not extreme ideology.”

So, see, fractivists, you can be pro-energy development and pro-environment. The two aren’t mutually exclusive, at least not when the GOP is in charge.