Being a minority party is a harsh disadvantage. As with all disadvantages, it does come with some unique opportunities. So far Colorado Republicans are not optimizing these opportunities. The strongest opportunity is the “We don’t have much to lose” position which allows the party to review the electorate and champion conservative ideas that have broad support.

I have identified 14 opportunities Democrats are either ignoring or inhibiting. For this letter I will share just one: Pledge to reduce emissions from electric energy 90% by 2055 with a smaller ecological footprint and impact than now. This plan would keep rates that are no higher than today (inflation adjusted).

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The only way to meet these goals is to center electric generation on nuclear with supplemental generation from natural gas. The larger, more dense population centers should be powered by nuclear with natural gas to provide surge capacity. More rural ares will use natural gas as these plants can be easily scaled to fit the local conditions. The mix will be approximately 80% nuclear and 20% natural gas. This 30-year build-out of nuclear allows the current installed sources to run through the planned lifespans and for nuclear to ramp up in a steady, safe and economical way.

Colorado residents approve of the use of nuclear energy at 60% without any political party or any organization even promoting and educating the public. It is very realistic to get approval to 65% to 70% with the right message. Of course any promotion of nuclear will generate new push-back, but the Colorado electorate has shown itself able to discern best policies most of the time. This allows Republicans to be “for” something.

We are viewed by the electorate as an “against” party. Older, less-educated, narrow-minded, unscientific and, honestly, no-fun and grumpy. With just this one initiative, Colorado Republicans would be the “for” party with an idea supported by the electorate based by scientific fact. This will generate a more positive view for the Republican Party and is simply the best path forward to electric generation for Colorado.

Fred Ludlow

Aurora

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