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Environmental group scores lawmakers

Sen. Ellen Roberts ranks high for GOP

DENVER – Conservation Colorado on Thursday released its annual scorecard on environmental votes for state lawmakers, ranking Sen. Ellen Roberts of Durango high in comparison to her fellow Republicans.

Roberts received the second-highest score for the 17-member Senate GOP caucus, earning a rating of 50 percent. The only Senate Republican to surpass her was Sen. Bernie Herpin of Colorado Springs, who scored 60 percent.

“Conservation issues are important to my district, and to me personally,” Roberts said. “It’s not necessarily a surprise to me that it turned out that way. I don’t pay attention to the scorecards in terms of when I’m doing my job, but it’s always interesting to see how it falls out.”

The ranking was based on votes concerning a wide berth of environmental issues, including defending renewable energy, creating a paint-recycling program and increasing the reuse of water supplies.

The average score in the Senate was 61 percent. Fifteen of the 35 members received perfect scores – they were all Democrats.

Another Republican representing Southwest Colorado, Rep. Don Coram of Montrose, did not do quite as well as Roberts, according to the scorecard. He only ranked at 20 percent.

Rep. Mike McLachlan, a Democrat from Durango, received a perfect score from Conservation Colorado, joining another 34 House members.

The average score in the House was 63 percent.

Conservation Colorado highlighted several successes this year, including Senate Bill 192, which enacted new regulations on uranium processing, despite cries from Coram that the measure would crush mining towns.

Another measure praised by environmentalists this year was House Bill 1356, which strengthened penalties against gas and oil companies for violations.

“The conservation community worked to protect Colorado’s unparalleled environment and our unique quality of life in the 2014 legislative session,” said Pete Maysmith, executive director of Conservation Colorado. “We worked with our legislative champions to protect Colorado’s air, land, water and public health while fighting back against big polluters and those who don’t believe in the value of our public lands.”

pmarcus@durangoherald.com



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