What a delightful start for the new regime.
As the state legislature kicks off this morning, former State Representative-turned-eco-lunatic Joe Salazar wasted no time embarrassing incoming Democrat Governor Jared Polis. Salazar, who earlier this week was named executive director of Colorado Rising (the group responsible for Proposition 112, the 2018 ballot measure that would have banned oil and gas development in Colorado but for the good sense of the voting public), stood on the steps of the Capitol and got super pissy about his fellow Democrats’ apparent reticence to nuke the state economy via the abolition of the oil and gas industry:
From the donkey’s mouth:
“The Governor’s office doesn’t belong to one individual, no matter how much he paid for it. It doesn’t belong to him. It belongs to the people of the state of Colorado. And Colorado Rising is here to give them that reminder on a daily basis if we need to.”
You see, Salazar is one of those keep-it-in-the-ground types. He thinks traffic lights and home heating are evil byproducts of the monstrous energy industry… you know, the industry that has lifted more people out of poverty across the globe than any other over the past half-century. He’d rather we all freeze to death this winter, presumably. A logical, totally well-adjusted fellow who is probably a joy to be around during the holidays.
What’s got to be most upsetting to Salazar is the incoming Democratic leadership’s newfound demurrals relative to oil and gas regulation. K.C. Becker, the new Speaker of the House, actually endorsed Proposition 112 last fall, but here’s what she said just yesterday:
“I don’t think a setback is necessarily the right way to go. It’s a one-size-fits-all solution that doesn’t address where this state needs to go.”
LOL.
Now that the Democrats have complete control over the legislature and the governor’s office, it seems to be dawning on them that the oil and gas industry and its 232,900 jobs and $31.4 billion in annual economic impact for the state is actually worth keeping around. All their grandiose promises do, in fact, cost money, so ripping away one of Colorado’s foremost economic drivers is probably the wrong way to subsidize the other “free” stuff coming our way in the months to come.
In the meantime, should you visit the Capitol between now and May, you’ll likely see Salazar on or near the West Steps, beanie-on-head, megaphone-in-hand, screaming inanities at passersby. Feel free to give him a dollar or a spare smoke and tell him you’re praying for him.