Is 2025 the Year that Colorado Goes Nuclear? Hopefully!
The Colorado House Energy and Environment Committee passed HB25-1040, “Adding Nuclear Energy as a Clean Energy Resource,” to the House floor on an 8 to 5 vote. Testimony went long and late into the evening. I couldn’t stay the entire time and submitted my written testimony online. I’ve provided it below, along with brief explanations […]
Woodstock for Microgrid and Energy Geeks
Save the Date! Join us for the first ever Colorado Microgrid Summit on Friday, November 8th! We don’t want to be like California. Really. We don’t. The stories and headlines coming out of Golden State are frightening after the nation’s biggest utility Pacific Gas & Electric cut off power to more than a million people […]
My Climate Pledge: Strikers encouraged to take real action to reduce their own carbon footprint
The Coalition of Ratepayers and Independence Institute’s Energy and Environment Policy Center are partnering with My Climate Pledge, a project of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, to encourage Climate Strike participants to do more than just strike. They should actively demonstrate their commitment to our climate and do so every day. My Climate Pledge […]
PUC Sunset Review: ‘The Turducken Act of 2019 (With a Slice of PUC-in Pie)’
On the last day of the 2019 legislative session State Representative Hugh McKean (R-Loveland) moved the most appropriate amendment of the session to rename SB19-236 the PUC Sunset Review bill to the “TURDUCKEN ACT of 2019 (With a Slice of PUC-in Pie). A Turducken is a chicken stuffed into a duck, stuffed inside a turkey. […]
California’s failed EV mandates; no one wants them
California’s electric vehicle mandates aren’t working admits Mary Nichols who heads up the powerful California Air Resources Board (CARB), according to a recent Reuters report. “‘The strategies that we’ve used up until now just haven’t been effective,’ Mary Nichols, the head of the California Air Resources Board.” The stunning confession comes as Colorado’s regulatory agencies […]
The socialization of Colorado’s auto market
With the swipe of their pens, Governor John Hickenlooper started, and Governor Jared Polis is completing what is essentially the socialization of Colorado’s automobile market. Through two executive orders, the Governors have directed the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and the Air Pollution Control Division (APCD) to follow California’s emissions standard that includes mandating […]
How far will California drive Colorado public policy?
“It’s a scientific fact that if you stay in California you lose one point of your IQ every year.” Truman Capote Colorado is two states and a thousand miles from Sacramento, but based on recent public policy, you’d think Colorado residents were living along the Pacific Coast Highway instead of the Front Range of the […]
The Fight for the Best Charter Schools in the Nation
The recently released book by Cara Stillings Candal, The Fight for the Best Charter Public Schools in the Nation, examines the case of charter schools in Massachusetts. Candal is an education policy expert and a senior fellow at the Pioneer Institute with an extensive background in education policy. In her book, she discusses the success […]
How Do We Stop Bullying and Violence in Schools?
Most of us remember where we were on the day of the Columbine massacre—almost two decades ago. How Do We Stop Bullying and Violence in Schools? Like so many of the challenges within K-12 education, it is a complex subject. The Independence Institute recently hosted a presentation by two organizations that are making a difference. […]
New Colorado Report Reveals Public School Open Enrollment Trends
Colorado has been a leader in public school choice for decades. Legislative bills to allow students to cross neighborhood school zones and school district boundaries were first introduced in the late 1980s. Legislation passed in 1990 and 1994 to open the doors to a new public school choice frontier. Ready Colorado, an education reform organization, […]
Don’t be dull, embrace microgrids
By Casey Freeman First article in our series about microgrids Xcel Energy and Black Hills Energy are Colorado’s two regulated electric monopolies. Xcel is the larger of the two and provides retail service to the greater Denver Metro Area, Greeley, and Grand Junction, while Black Hills services Pueblo and the surrounding area. These utilities operate […]
New Teacher Evaluation Systems are Improving Student Outcomes
[This article was originally posted by little Eddie on our education blog, EdIsWatching.org] An October 2018 report examines how initially controversial teacher evaluation systems have led to improved student outcomes. The report, Making a Difference: Six Places where Teacher Evaluation Systems are Getting Results was published by the National Council on Teacher Quality. The study […]
