E2 & Good Business Colorado - Climate Change Letter with Signatories
October 22, 2020
Governor Jared Polis 136 State Capitol Bldg. Denver, CO 80203
Dear Governor Polis,
E2 (Environmental Entrepreneurs) is a national, nonpartisan group of business leaders who advocate for policy that is good for the economy and good for the environment. E2 members have founded or funded more than 2,500 companies, created more than 600,000 jobs, and manage more than $100 billion in venture and private equity capital.
Good Business Colorado (GBC) is a statewide grassroots organization of over 300 values-driven business owners rejecting partisanship and advocating for a prosperous economy, equitable communities, and a sustainable environment. Good Business Colorado members believe that business success cannot be measured by profit alone and that true success means that our planet, communities, and bottom lines are all thriving.
Thank you for your work to date on establishing policies to reduce Colorado greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and for providing a space for public comment. Landmark bills from 2019 – SB 96 and HB 1261 – have given the Colorado government and its state agencies expansive authority and legally binding targets to make the critical decisions to tackle the reduction of GHG emissions. Unfortunately, the efforts that have thus far been taken are only a small step in the right direction and if continues at this pace, will fail to reach targets identified by Colorado law.
Our state’s drought and massive wildfire season are just two of many indicators demonstrating that we are already experiencing severe effects of climate disruption. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), summer 2020 was the hottest on record for the Northern Hemisphere, consistently 2 degrees Fahrenheit above average temperatures. Alongside extreme heat, Colorado experienced an intensive freeze between April 11-13, followed by drought-like conditions throughout the summer. Almost 95% of Colorado’s peach crop was lost during this freeze, resulting in about $35 million dollars in lost revenue. Climate disruption also severely affects Colorado’s $2 billion outdoor recreation industry, impacting the 229,000 workers.
At the beginning of 2020, Colorado had almost 12,000 eating and drinking establishments with restaurant sales exceeding $13 billion in 2019. Employing approximately 285,000 workers, over 75% of these businesses are independently owned. These numbers have dropped due to COVID and are threatened by the lack of stability in our agricultural systems.
The recently released Colorado Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction roadmap and the related report, Committing to Climate Action: Equitable Pathways for Meeting Colorado's Climate Goals together give guidance on how to achieve an equitable, sustainable future. We’d like to highlight the following policy recommendations:
● Faster reductions in the electric sector is the most affordable and cost effective way to meet our state goals, therefore, it is critical that we decarbonize the electricity sector by at least 90 percent by 2030, retire coal plants by 2025 or soon thereafter, minimize gas use, increase renewable energy, and make CO2 emission requirements for the utilities legally enforceable.
● Decrease transportation emissions by at least 35 percent by 2030 by continuing along the path to aggressively decarbonize the transportation sector through electrification and low-carbon fuels, ramping up LEV and ZEV standards after 2025, adopting the California Advanced Clean Truck regulation, robust and reliable access to electrified public transit, as well as incentivizing programs to reduce passenger vehicle miles traveled.
● Decrease emissions from the buildings sector by 10 to 13 percent from 2005 levels by 2030 by electrifying both residential and commercial buildings in a cost effective and equitable manner, accelerate adoption of energy efficient appliances, and increase adoption of more efficient building shells.
● Ensure policies that reduce consumer energy costs such as energy efficiency, rooftop solar, and other clean distributed energy resources can benefit low-income households who have not been able to afford or access these improvements.
● Curb emissions from oil and gas production by at least 54 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, including industrial point sources - oil and gas wells and other infrastructure - that are more highly concentrated in areas of the state with more people of color.
● Develop partnerships with NREL, universities, industry and other leading institutions to pilot and implement emerging clean hydrogen technologies.
● Develop a comprehensive renewable energy and efficiency strategic plan to ensure that each energy use is aligned with the best long-term solution, i.e distributed solar generation, where is hydrogen best suited, least cost efficiency technologies, etc..
● Incentivize a regional, equitable and resilient food production system that includes reduction of food loss and waste, and regenerative agriculture practices such as improved soil health through carbon sequestration.
● Adopt a contingency proposal that is enforceable and has financial penalties for violations set at levels to induce emission reductions rather than so insignificant that violators choose to pay the penalty.
As business leaders who are creating jobs and driving economic growth in Colorado, we strongly believe the only path forward to a thriving economy is to mitigate climate change. Failure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will only lead to a future of bankruptcy.
E2’s 2020 Clean Jobs report shows at the end of 2019, the clean economy employed 62,400 full time workers in the state and was projected to grow 5.4 percent in 2020. E2’s most recent job loss report shows since March, Colorado has lost 5,224 or 7.8 percent of the jobs in the clean economy. There is ample historical evidence that implementing policies to drive down our GHG emissions and co-pollutants will also build back jobs in the clean economy.
We have an opportunity to support Colorado businesses across the supply chain in a transition to a clean energy economy and the creation of a resilient state in which communities are able to thrive through responsible management of resources and innovation.
We ask you to take bold and swift action to put in place policies with adequate funding to reach the targets set forth in our state’s climate action plan. We feel the recently published GHG reduction roadmap for Colorado does not outline a clear plan to achieve these reductions, while also failing to capitalize on the ingenuity, strength and dedication of Coloradans to confront the causes of climate change.
Thank you for your service in support of Colorado, and we look forward to seeing a renewed emphasis within our government to secure our planet for future generations.
Respectfully,
140 Members of E2 & GBC
