Legislative declaration

(1) The general assembly hereby: (a) Finds that: (I) Coal provides more than half of Colorado's net power generation. There were approximately one thousand three hundred workers employed in Colorado coal mines at the end of 2018, and half of the domestic consumption of Colorado's mined coal is for power generation within the state. (II) Colorado's power sector, and the nation's, is moving away from coal as a fuel source based on consumer demand for cleaner power and the declining cost of natural gas and renewable resources. Electricity generated from renewable sources has doubled since 2010 to approximately twenty-five percent of Colorado's power generation in 2017. (b) Determines that: (I) In addition to the changing economics of power generation, there is a scientific consensus that greenhouse gas emissions, which are primarily the result of fossil fuel combustion, must be reduced in order to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. These effects are already being experienced by Coloradans in forms that include more extreme weather, snow pack melt, and higher temperatures. (II) The effects of coal plant closures on workers and communities have the potential to be significant if not managed correctly. The closure of coal-fired plants nationwide is also likely to have a serious impact on employment in the state's coal mines and the transportation and logistics supply chains that move coal from mine to market. Many of these jobs provide family-supporting wages and benefits. The communities that host retiring power plants may lose principal contributors to their tax base and revenue for vital local government services. The enactment of this part 5 will help alleviate these impacts. (III) While Colorado companies and policymakers have worked to drive new investment from the clean energy economy into transitioning communities and rural parts of the state, there does not exist at the state or federal level sufficient resources to assist workers and communities impacted by changes in Colorado's coal economy, and there does not exist sufficient coordinated leadership within Colorado's state government to align and deliver assistance to these coal communities and workers; and (c) Declares that: (I) A strong and comprehensive policy is also needed to invest new financial resources in coal communities that are seeking to diversify and grow their local and regional economies in a manner that is both sustainable and equitable; and (II) Colorado must ensure that the clean energy economy fulfills a moral commitment to assist the workers and communities that have powered Colorado for generations, as well as the disproportionately impacted communities who have borne the costs of coal power pollution for decades, and to thereby support a just and inclusive transition.