Hicknelooper endorses global climate Paris Accord, committing Colorado

DENVER | Colorado’s Democratic governor has added his state to a dozen others endorsing the Paris global accord on climate change as President Donald Trump withdraws the nation from the agreement. Gov. John Hickenlooper said Tuesday the state would also set a goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions from electrical generation while keeping energy affordable, citing cheap natural gas and declining costs of wind and solar power. He says Colorado will reduce vehicle pollution by adding charging stations for electric cars and use state-owned buildings to showcase energy efficiency. Hickenlooper acknowledged that at least some Republicans would oppose his plan but predicted many would come around thanks to the prospect of job creation in the renewable energy industry. The Governor received some early GOP support from Aurora, when the city’s top Republican official, Mayor Steve Hogan, introduced Hickenlooper at the event in Morrison Tuesday. “To me, it doesn’t matter who’s the President and it doesn’t mater who’s advocating for what in Washington D.C. as it relates to much of anything anymore — all they do is fight and nobody does anything,” Hogan said in a phone conversation after the event. “So to have the Governor ask if I would be willing to stand up as a Republican mayor and say that there are things that we can and should do on a state level to help ensure the quality of life that we have, I was happy to do it.” Hogan pointed to several eco-friendly projects and initiatives in Aurora, the majority of which were approved by an overwhelmingly Republican city council. “Whether it is Prairie Waters, or winning the National League of Cities Mayor’s Challenge For Water Conservation three years in a row, or whether it is adding electric vehicles to our fleet, or supporting solar energy efforts, or establishing (Aurora) Solar Technologies, which is still one of if not the largest solar research and development facility in the country — all of those things have been done by a city council over the years, where not just a majority, but a preponderance of the elected officials were Republicans,” he said. Going forward, Hogan said he would like the city’s Intergovernmental Relations Policy Committee to “investigate … how we can assist not just the Governor’s office, but the Colorado Municipal League and potentially the (Denver Regional Council of Governments) in terms of getting them involved.” Current Aurora city council member Bob Roth is the president of the DRCOG board of directors and Councilwoman Barb Cleland is a past president of the CML board. “It seems to me that we ought to take advantage of those connections,” Hogan said. Still, Hogan was once again chilly to the notion of signing a document asserting his own city’s commitment to the Paris accord. “The Governor can sign the piece of paper for the state of Colorado — I didn’t sign it,” Hogan said. “And my conversations with the Governor’s office before I said yes were to make it clear that I was going to talk about how we do things rather than how we sit there and sign a piece of paper, and they agreed. So that’s why I was there.” Colorado Democrats, too, largely applauded Hickenlooper’s announcement. “I applaud the Governor for sending a strong message that Colorado would continue to be a nationwide leader in combating climate change and advancing in the new energy economy,” said state Senate Minority Leader Lucia Guzman, D-Denver. “Colorado has a moral obligation to tackle climate change not only for the preservation and health of our planet, but for the health and safety of our families as well.”