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Victory for smart growth
Environment Colorado’s first victory of 2007 came with the passage of SB 98, sponsored by Senate President Joan FitzGerald and Rep. Al White. SB 98 will allow counties to go to their voters to ask for a sales tax increase in order to fund open space programs.
“As Colorado’s open spaces and agricultural lands continue to rapidly vanish, counties are searching for dedicated revenue streams to protect and preserve their valuable resources,” said Environment Colorado Land Use Associate Pam Kiely. “This legislation will provide an essential tool to tackle this problem.”
This legislation has made it as far as the governor’s desk the past two sessions as well, but this year SB 98 was signed into law.
Also fighting its way through the Legislature for a spot on Gov. Ritter’s desk is HB 1246, sponsored by freshman Rep. Claire Levy. This legislation would remove an obsolete provision in statute that says a city or a county master plan must be “advisory only,” and provides them with an additional tool to promote smart planning.
An adopted, rather than “advisory only” plan, would provide a measure of predictability and reliability when making land use decisions, and would respect the public’s vision for their community.
Green buildings get go-ahead from state
Colorado is poised to take a step closer to joining the 40 other states across the country that have a statewide energy efficiency code for commercial and residential construction. TheHouse and Senate have both approved HB 1146, Energy Conservation through Building Codes sponsored by Rep. Claire Levy and Sen. Ken Gordon.
HB 1146 requires any city or county that has already enacted a building code to incorporate provisions that meet or exceed the standards laid out in the 2003 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC).
“Excess energy use comes with a high price,” said Environment Colorado’s Pam Kiely, “and here in Colorado we are using more energy now than ever.”
Adopting the IECC would save energy and money for homeowners, renters and commercial building occupants. According to the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, “HB 1146 could save consumers and businesses $500 million, assuming that it affects 20 percent of new homes and commercial buildings built in Colorado between 2008 and 2020.”
Energy efficiency brings real environmental benefits. Our existing energy supplies will go further, lessening the demand for new power plants. |
