Boulder Congressman Jared Polis, the 7th richest member of Congress, told a Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry panel today that residents in his district are not interested in jobs in the energy economy.

As reported by the Denver Business Journal‘s estimable Ed Sealover on Twitter:

Polis has been feuding with the oil and gas industry recently, after a neighbor to one of his vacation properties sold their mineral rights to an oil company that began drilling. The Congressman sued to stop the drilling from occurring because he claimed it, among other things, “caus[ed] mental suffering, annoyance and the loss of use and enjoyment” of his vacation property.

He even went so far as to claim his family were turned into “refugees” due to his neighbor exercising their mineral rights.

What makes this latest statement from the spoiled Congressman even more tone deaf is the fact that Polis has had millions of his own money invested in the oil and gas industry.

Apparently it’s okay for him to make money off of fracking, but not his constituents?

UPDATE: Congressman Polis weighs in, saying he wants oil and gas money in his district, just not the jobs. Oh, and he incorrectly thinks Broomfield doesn’t have fracking going on.

 


But, as Denver Post reporter Jeremy Meyer noted, fracking is going on in Broomfield County.


UPDATE 2: It’s worth noting Polis’s position puts him to the left of even the extreme left-wing Congresswoman Diana DeGette: