Ritter runs with Republican agenda, again

For weeks now, state Rep. Scott Tipton, a Cortez Republican, has been working to raise awareness about pollution coming out of the Four Corners Power Plant. He’s done the all the heavy lifting to draw attention to the issue, including the research and media outreach.

Tipton even asked Attorney General John Suthers to co-write a letter urging the Environmental Protection Agency and Interior secretary Ken Salazar to curb the pollution coming out of the FCPP. And the strategy was working. This week, Suthers agreed to help champion the issue.

But then, Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, got involved when he teamed up with Suthers to lobby the Federal government, thus leaving Tipton out of the equation. While it’s always nice to see Ritter supporting a Republican idea, it’s disheartening to see him swoop in at the last minute and try to claim credit.

At least Tipton was a good sport about it. “I’m very pleased to see that we got the governor’s attention,” he said. “I don’t believe this an issue he’s addressed before.”

This is not the first time Ritter has capitalized on a Republican idea. In his State of the State speech in January, he promised to put the state checkbook online. This was only after Rep. Don Marostica, R-Loveland, and Sen. Mike Kopp, R-Littleton, announced their intentions to run a bill that would do just that. The bill was dropped after Ritter’s announcement but resurrected by Rep. B.J. Nikkel, R-Loveland, who felt that putting government spending online should be done by statute, not executive order.

Evan Dreyer, Ritter’s spokesman, has confirmed Ritter is going to move forward with his transparency executive order. This move has Capitol insiders buzzing that Ritter is simultaneously working behind the scenes to kill Nikkel’s bill, allowing him to claim sole credit for the action.