Former Governor Plays Politics With Clean Air

In a last minute, underhanded move, former Colorado Governor Bill Owens reappointed three members of the Air Quality Control Commission whose terms were set to expire on January 31st.

The former Governor made the reappointments in the waning minutes of his rejected Administration and without any public announcement. Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action was informed about the reappointments just this week, over two weeks after-the-fact.

Bill Owens has always put politics ahead of public health, but his latest effort is like a stick in the eye for Colorado citizens. Last November, people overwhelmingly voted Bill Ritter into office and with him, an agenda to promote clean air and healthy communities.

Owens' agenda has always been to promote polluters at the expense of clean air. The three reappointed commissioners--Bob Brady, Jim Evans, and Chris Neumann--all have close ties to industry. They favored industrial interests in their deliberations and usually voted for weaker clean air safeguards during their tenure. Chris Neumann has been outright hostile toward those seeking stronger clean air rules and greater polluter accountability.

The Air Quality Control Commission sets clean air policy for Colorado. With the reappointments, the pro-polluter agenda will continue to reign, against the will of Colorado citizens. The fact that Owens made these reappointments with no public notice or announcement makes this all the more outrageous and insulting.

The appointments now go to the Colorado Senate for confirmation, but it would really be a shame if they went that far. People voted for Bill Ritter, not Bill Owens. It's disturbing enough that Owens was able to reappoint members of the Air Quality Control Commission in secret and at the last minute.