Colorado cannot afford for our state legislature to make a mistake here.
PALISADE, CO -The view of the Colorado River from Avant Vineyards is spectacular with Mt. Garfield in the background on April 20, 2016 in Palisade, Colorado. The wetlands below that run a mile along Colorado River. Last year, Donald Trump’s Supreme Court rolled back 50 years of clean water protections. Many of Colorado’s rivers, streams and wetlands now have no clean water protection.
They’re also carbon sinks, and release significant amounts of stored carbon back into the atmosphere when destroyed, contributing to a hotter, drier, more wildfire-prone climate. The two competing bills being heard by Colorado lawmakers offer vastly different solutions to this issue. HB24-1379, introduced by Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives Julie McCluskie, Representative Karen McCormick and Senator Dylan Roberts restores the protections that Colorado’s wetlands and streams lost, while SB24-127 falls short of addressing the threats to these essential waterways.
On the other hand, SB24-127 would not require ANY environmental review for development in 14 of the 15 types of wetlands in Colorado. Since becoming a state, Colorado has lost more than half of its wetlands. Now is not the time for lawmakers to lessen protections for these key ecosystems.
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