Colorado Politics

Tom Steyer-related group gives good grades to Polis on energy

Advanced Energy Economy, a group founded by liberal billionaire Tom Steyer, is giving high marks to Democrat Jared Polis’ ideas for Colorado’s future green power sources.

You’re shocked, I’m sure.

The Washington, D.C.-based group defines advanced energy as “sources, technologies and services that are affordable, clean and secure over the long-term.”

Polis set an early campaign goal of getting 100 percent of the state’s energy from renewable sources by 2040. He has said during debates with Republican Walker Stapleton that the pledge is a goal, not a mandate.

Stapleton and supporters of the oil and gas industry say tens of thousands of jobs, a billion dollars a year in tax revenue and $32 billion a year in economic impact are at risk.

Read the full report card by clicking here.

Advanced Energy Economy measured the policies it supports in gubernatorial races in nine political battleground states: Colorado, California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, New Mexico and Nevada.

AEE said Polis supports many of its goals, including to:

Stapleton, AEE reported, is “silent.”

The left-leaning group said it would follow the report card with digital ads.

“We want voters to understand what key policies can accelerate the growth of advanced energy and the jobs supported by the advanced energy industry, but also where the candidates for governor stand on those policies,” J.R. Tolbert, vice president of state policy for AEE, said in a statement.

Steyer, a generous funder of liberal politics, co-founded AEE in 2011.

Former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, Bill Ritter, Jr., who founded and serves as director of the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University, serves on the board of the Advanced Energy Economy Institute, a nonprofit focused on the economic potential of new energy sources.

 
Carolyn Kaster


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