Good evening, fans of Colorado. As I posted yesterday, there were activities today here in Estes Park, with new US House Representative Joe Neguse holding a town hall meeting at the Estes Park library this afternoon and going on now, the Estes Valley Democrats holding their first meeting of the year, also in the library.
In signing up for the various mailings from the state’s US Congressmembers, I came across this press release from Scott Tipton (CO-3) in Western Colorado. The full text is at tipton.house.gov/...
CORY GARDNER, SCOTT TIPTON BRING NEW “GOOD SAMARITAN” BILL TO ADDRESS ABANDONED MINES AND STOKE SOLUTION FOR $50B PROBLEM
December 7, 2018 In The News Congress has been debating for decades how to deal with the $50 billion problem of abandoned mines across the U.S. The Colorado SunColorado’s U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner and U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton on Thursday introduced the latest version of a so-called “good Samaritan” bill to address abandoned, leaking mines in the U.S. with hopes of breaking roughly two decades of congressional gridlock on the topic.
With just weeks left before the end of the year, the legislation offered by the two Republicans has a near-impossible path toward passage, but is meant to set the table for broader conversations in 2019.
The bill would let environmental and conservation groups prove the good Samaritan concept by working with the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up 15 abandoned mines, most of which are leaking toxic waste.
The measure is called good Samaritan legislation because those good-will groups would be exempt from strict clean-water standards that typically come with addressing historic mining sites, Those rules currently keep do-gooder groups from completing remediation work.
“Across Colorado and the West we have needed a permanent solution to the dangerous problem of abandoned mines,” Gardner said in a written statement. “The opportunity to clean up the environment around these sites is crucial and this pilot program will finally allow for the long overdue process to begin.”
Gardner said he understands changes to the bill might be necessary and that he looks “forward to working with my colleagues and stakeholders to evaluate their feedback.”
A sign of likely future holdup is lack of a Democratic sponsor on the legislation — namely Colorado’s Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, who has also been pushing for a good Samaritan bill. Bennet and Gardner worked on a draft version of a similar bill in 2016.
“Abandoned mines across Colorado and the West need to be cleaned up,” Bennet told The Colorado Sun in a statement. “We are willing to work with anyone to pass good Samaritan legislation with appropriate environmental safeguards. We have a strong history of working together in our delegation and have made a lot of progress on a bipartisan and comprehensive solution to address this issue. We should restart the conversation in that spirit.”
Also, environmental groups are leery of this type of legislation because they worry it could create more pollution and would not do enough to solve the enormously complex issue of abandoned mines.
There are estimated to be hundreds of thousands of abandoned mines across the U.S., 23,000 of which are in Colorado alone.
For more, click on tipton.house.gov/...
I’m just putting it here to spark discussion. I wouldn’t trust Republicans to not gut environmental legislation if it saves one of their contributors a plug nickel, but the release does mention Bennett is also looking to do something so this may come up again as legislation.
I admit I felt a little dirty signing up for Republican emails, but we’re stuck with those folks for two more years so if I’m to know the propaganda for Colorado, I have to do that.
I didn’t see any announcements of any other politicians holding town hall meetings, either in person or over the phone, but are you planning your actions for contacting and communicating with your elected representatives at any level? Please share with the group any interactions you’ve had or any plans you may have.
As always, the floor is yours...