As one of the fastest growing states in the country, Colorado is one of the most important places to pass plans to move its housing, transit, and industry off of fossil fuels. While CO has committed to hitting 50% clean energy by 2030, it remains one of the largest oil and gas producing states. Electing more climate champs could lead to better protection from oil & gas, and ensure strong enforcement of its existing climate laws under a new Governor next year! We’re backing:

• State legislature:
  • Chela Irlando for Senate District 34: For more than a decade, Irlando has worked to strengthen Colorado communities in expanding opportunities for working people, protecting the environment, and building systems that serve families with dignity. She currently serves as Executive Director of the environmental nonprofit the Next 100 Coalition and previously held leadership roles at the Hispanic Access Foundation, Latino Outdoors, and the Colorado Democratic Latino Caucus. If elected, she wants to ensure the state quickly transitions away from fossil fuel production by fully funding Colorado’s Office of Just Transition and its just transition action plan.
  • Iris Halpern for House District 6: Halpern got her start as an organizer for the SEIU, and went on to serve on the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, where she became known for groundbreaking litigation on behalf of transgender employees, sexual harassment victims, and librarians and teachers fired for refusing to implement book bans. 
• Adams County Commission: Adams County is the 2nd largest oil producing county in the state and the worst county for abandoned and orphaned oil wells and, as pollution has disproportionately impacted its residents, its commissioners have gotten stronger on rejecting industry permits and criticizing the industry. The County passed some of the strictest regulations in the state in 2021 increasing setback distances for new drilling to 2,000 feet from homes, schools, daycares, environmentally sensitive areas – but current commissioners are working to weaken them which is why we’re backing:
  • Tyler Quick for Adams County Commissioner District 4: Quick is an organizer and academic who has helped progressives and Democrats win tough elections in Colorado, spent over a decade working as an educator, and negotiated the best tuition deal for undergraduate students in a decade as an executive of the CU Student Government. If elected, he’ll focus on continuing to invest in renewable energy as a county, stopping the ongoing assault on fracking regulations by current commissioners, forcing oil companies to pay to clean up abandoned wells leaking methane, and beginning a just transition plan for the Suncor refinery. 
• Arapahoe County Commission: Arapahoe County Commission recently passed some of the state’s best municipal regulations on the oil and gas industry increasing oil & gas setbacks and mandating air and water quality reporting. That effort’s champions are currently being challenged by candidates backed by the industry – which is why we’re defending:
  • Jessica Campbell for Arapahoe County Commission District 2: Campbell has fought for progress and democracy in the state legislature, and as the Voter Protection Director for the state Democratic Party. As a County Commissioners, she championed the strictest oil and gas regulations in the state, advocated for continuing subsidization or free public transit tickets during summer months, and helped make the Centennial Airport the first airport in Colorado and the only ever to offer unleaded AV gas until earlier this year.
  • Leslie Summey for Arapahoe County Commission District 4: Summey is Navy veteran who raised her family in Arapahoe and helped lead the fight for a six-month moratorium on new oil and gas permits and regulated the industry to protect residents from the worst of its pollution. If reelected, she’ll protect those wins and continue to fight for the environmental health of her constituents and the climate.