Ritter, Assembly members speak at ag classic

By Larry Dreiling

Gov.-Elect Bill Ritter and members of the Colorado General Assembly were the headline speakers at the Colorado Ag Classic, held recently at Denver.

More than 300 people attended the two-day session, sponsored by the state's wheat, corn, sorghum, sunflower and seed industry groups.

A round table discussion by four legislators kicked off the meeting, with Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, along with Senators Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus; Jack Taylor, R-Steamboat Springs and Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont offering their opinions on what they saw would be hot button issues for 2007.

Gardner, to start, described how he was only one of five of the 100-member General Assembly whose primary district focus is east of the I-25 corridor. To tie into that focus he said he would introduce two pieces of legislation dealing with renewable energy.

One bill would create a regional electric transmission authority permitting state funding of electric transmission lines from renewable electricity projects to main transmission lines.

"One of the major impediments to building wind energy farms on the Eastern Plains is that we don't have transmission line capability to do it. We can have a wind farm, but not have the money to building a transmission line to the grid," Gardner said. "That's one way we can create the capital to build those transmission lines."

"Ethanol bill on steroids"

The second piece of legislation Gardner is set to propose is a multi-pronged approach to increasing profits for producers. The bill would fund research at Colorado State University into limited water ecosystem research to assist dryland farmers to move into producing crops capable of conversion into biodiesel.

The bill would also create tax credits for Coloradans who use geothermal heat pumps or wood chips for heating their homes, and give tax breaks for installation of above ground storage tanks to supply stations to pump E-85 and biodiesel fuels.

"This is what I call an ethanol bill on steroids," Gardner said.

Isgar said agriculture made headway in the 2006 General Assembly, particularly to change the way the Colorado State Fair is funded to help make it a more profitable enterprise and with the passage of a three-year $500,000 grant program to fund value-added renewable energy projects.

"We want to make sure that people have an equity interest in new energy projects and help them with their up-front costs," Isgar said. "We need to do more to make sure the money stays in the local communities. We're going to have to find new ways of funding since we've cut so much over the years."

New severance tax?

Some new sources of funding, Isgar mentioned, were severance taxes on mineral production, including oil and gas.

"It's the best place to go for funding renewable energy and water development," Isgar said.

Taylor wants to make sure Colorado agriculture remains intact through legislation that would make certain clean air standards are based on scientific evidence.

"The environmentalists are going after grape vines and dairy cattle flatulence," Taylor said. "California groups are looking at diesel emissions and that means Colorado could likely be next."

Shaffer gave a suburban view of agriculture.

"Longmont is on the cusp between rural and urban Colorado," Shaffer said. "We have a lot of issues regarding surface water use."

Shaffer said he was spending time in the previous summer brushing up on Colorado water law in order to fully understand it in case any legislation comes his way.

"It will be interesting to see where the conversation at the Capitol takes us," Shaffer said. "I want to be a part of the conversation as we look for solutions.

Amendment 41 rapped

Legislators were then probed by the attendees on a variety of topics; the most stimulating became a conversation about a recent change to the Colorado Constitution to reform ethics in government.

All four legislators expressed concerns the new amendment would have far-reaching consequences, forcing officials into retirement because of what they all consider were onerous rules about conflicts of interest.

"I don't think people realize how Amendment 41 will affect people in small towns," Isgar said. "Think of all the small counties where both a husband and wife work. There may be conflicts there where one may have to quit to keep from breaking the law.

"I know a daughter of a county commissioner who earned a scholarship from the Colorado Cattlemen's Association. She can't afford to go to school any other way. The commissioner told me he's likely going to have to resign so his daughter can keep her scholarship, because to do otherwise would be a conflict of interest."

Taylor said lobby groups often pay for travel throughout his expansive Western Slope district because he could not afford to do so otherwise.

"It shouldn't cost me $10,000 a year out of my pocket on a job that pays just $30,000. The way this is now set up, I'm guilty until proven innocent," Taylor said. "It's insane enough we have to pay so much for campaigns," mentioning that he believed there was at least one legislator who spent $1 million in 2006 for their re-election campaign.

"But supporters say that's exactly what they want," Isgar said. "I think this is part of something created by people who know nothing of what it costs to be a rural legislator, when so many people in Denver can just drive downtown. They forget about us for whom a trip to Denver can sometimes take two days."

A new energy economy

Ritter, who grew up on a small Arapahoe County wheat farm east of Aurora, said that economic development in the state means more than caring about what happens along the Front Range and that each part of the state extending from the I-25 corridor is unique.

"The Eastern Plains economy is an ag economy," the Denver Democrat said. "That means we pay attention to things that are important to farmers and ranchers, making sure they do more than just survive."

Ritter said small profit margins in production agriculture means assisting in value-added operations, of which the clearest focus should be on a new energy economy.

"That means focusing on the development of wind, solar and biofuels and utilize farm areas to build up the area, then we combine that with our traditional sources of energy to make Colorado a leader to produce renewable fuels and show the rest of the world how to add value to the ag economy," Ritter said.

The way to relieve the addiction America has to foreign oil is to use renewable sources developed in Colorado.

"What better people to grow this new economy that the people in this room. It's something I'm committed to as governor."

Ritter promised legislation to offer new incentives to build out this new economy.

"We want to add value to your crops and look for ways to take land out of the CRP and put into productive use for biofuels."

Ritter said he sympathized with producers who saw their irrigation wells shut down as part of a court order from several Colorado municipalities. Ritter told the group he would look at expansion of Chatfield Reservoir and the possible construction of a reservoir near Parker as a way to "slow the water down before it leaves" as a way to give producers some relief from their return to dryland operations.

"Two of our largest industries are tourism and agriculture," Ritter said. "They both depend on a significant amount and specific form of moisture. We want to make sure there's enough for all."

Larry Dreiling can be reached by phone at 785-628-1117 or by e-mail at ldreiling@aol.com.

Date: 12/27/06

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