Update: Thursday morning Senate Democrats released their list of witnesses for today’s meeting of the Republians’ select committee on energy and the environment (see the original post below):

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Buy your popcorn and Junior Mints and bring your interest in energy. This could get interesting.

As soon as the full state Senate adjourns Thursday morning, the Senate Transportation Committee will convene in room 352. And as soon as that committee is done, a Republican “select” committee on energy and environmental issues will convene. You’ll just have to hang out till it starts. The Transportation Committee has a lot to talk about these days.

An announcement from the Senate press office said:

Chairman of the new Select Committee on Energy and Environment, Senator Ray Scott (R-Grand Junction), wants the panel’s first meeting to provide lawmakers and the public with a big-picture overview of Colorado’s energy potential, presented in a fact-based, nonpartisan way. More detailed discussions and debates will come later, depending on topics the committee takes up.

“I think it’s important, in terms of this committee’s educational role, to start by taking a broad, factual, birds-eye look at the incredibly important role that energy, in all forms, plays in Colorado,” said Scott. “How we harness that energy potential for the benefit of all Coloradans, while also protecting the natural amenities and environmental values that also make Colorado such a special place, will be the subject of follow-up discussions as the committee’s work proceeds.”

Democrats and environmental groups contend the GOP committee is a ploy to push an agenda to trade away public lands, greenlight more drilling and mining and make soup out of cute puppies. OK, we’ll probably get to puppy soup by the end of the session.

Nothing the committee proposes or concludes will go unchallenged, it’s safe to say.

Brian Payer, consulting manager for IHS Corp., will make a presentation. The Senate press office said Payer’s company “conducts authoritative, data-based analysis on energy and other issues for clients worldwide.”

“Colorado is truly ‘resource rich’ due to its substantial energy resource mix, tremendous intellectual capital with 24 federally-funded scientific research laboratories, and its highly progressive energy policies and programs,” Payer told the Denver Metro Chamber in 2015. “These assets make the state one of the most diverse energy economies in the world.”