Colorado Energy Policy Under Attack as State Targets Oil and Gas Industry

On March 7, 2024, Bob Boswell, Dusty Johnson, Karen Levine, Lauren Fix, and Paula Sarlls joined the show. Exposed Governor Polis’s 49-point greenhouse gas reduction plan and HB 24-159, which threatens to halt all oil and gas development in Colorado by 2032, devastating an industry that employs 300,000 workers Outlined her deregulation-focused approach to state government, emphasizing the need to strip away harmful legislation rather than add to. Colorado’s Regulatory War on Energy Independence Start listening at 31:01 – Hour 1 Bob Boswell details Governor Jared Polis’s 49-point plan to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, warning that proposed legislation could devastate Colorado’s economy. House Bill 24-159 threatens to halt drilling permits by 2029 and ban all new oil and gas development by 2032. The industry contributes $48 billion annually to Colorado and employs 300,000 workers directly and indirectly. Boswell dismantles the climate crisis narrative, noting that CO2 levels at 400 parts per million fall well below the 1,000 ppm where plant life thrives. He points out that the industry has reduced methane emissions by 70% over the past decade while anti-energy groups manufacture crises to raise funds. Germany and Denmark serve as cautionary tales, where wind and solar reliance has tripled electricity costs and caused brownouts. “There are only 12 states in the union that export oil and gas. So the other 38 states are dependent upon those 12 states.” Bob Boswell, CEO of Laramie Energy Fighting Overregulation from the State Capitol Start listening at 17:58 – Hour 1 Dusty Johnson, candidate for Colorado House District 63, brings eight years of political experience to her campaign, including work at both federal and state levels. Her seven-county district spans Morgan, Logan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington, Yuma, and portions of Weld County in northeastern Colorado. Johnson’s legislative priorities center on reducing government burden rather than adding to it. She targets the impractical agricultural labor bill and healthcare billing practices that allow surprise charges years after service. With 19 Republicans in the House and 13 in the Senate fighting against the Democrat supermajority’s 589 proposed bills, she emphasizes the need for principled advocacy at the committee level. “I’d rather be stripping bills or a lot of the regulation away. I don’t want to be the member that says I’ve passed this many bills. I want to say I helped kill or get rid of this many.” Dusty Johnson, Candidate for Colorado House District 63 Construction Defects Law Killing Homeownership Start listening at 64:05 – Hour 2 Karen Levine reports from the Colorado Association of Realtors Legislative Policy Committee, which faces an avalanche of bills threatening homeownership and property rights. A conversation with Wheat Ridge City Manager Patrick Goss revealed that development near the new Lutheran hospital has produced only rental housing, not ownership units. The construction defects legislation has made liability insurance prohibitively expensive for developers building condominiums. Levine observes a deliberate policy push toward rental housing, eroding the traditional path to property ownership that has defined the American Dream. “The cost of insurance for these developers to build condominium units has been astronomical, and they can’t bring a product...