Sen. Gardner’s two faces on the environment»
Recently, at the urging of advocates throughout the country, Congress and the White House reached a deal to permanently and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund; without doubt, our nation’s most important program to conserve irreplaceable lands and water. Sen. Cory Gardner played a role in persuading President Donald Trump to reverse course from virtually zeroing out funding in his last two budget proposals. This action was rightfully acknowledged by everyone that cares about the conservation of Colorado and the nation’s treasured public lands.
Nevertheless, it seems that many Coloradans are being blinded by this very unexpected event and overlooking the bigger picture that is Gardner’s full environmental record since he took office. The reality is that over his tenure, Gardner has largely contradicted his claims to be Colorado’s conservationist. His record shows he has consistently opposed public lands and failed to safeguard our clean air and water.
Let’s review the public evidence:
Gardner voted to confirm David Bernhardt — a former oil and gas lobbyist — as Interior secretary. As we expected, Bernhardt is dismantling a century’s worth of advancement on environmental protection, trampling on human health and wildlife protections, and allowing corporate interests to dictate federal policies — like rollbacks to the Endangered Species Act, handouts to the oil and gas industry, and slashing of public lands protections.
Gardner voted yes on a proposed amendment to fast-track drilling on public lands with less local input. He voted for a resolution against the Bureau of Land Management’s Planning 2.0. This repeal permanently eliminated rules intended to include communities and the public in conversations about oil leasing decisions. And he voted to fast-track pipeline construction across public lands by circumventing environmental reviews. These decisions have led to roughly 15% of Colorado’s federal land being left open to drilling with about 3.7 million acres under current oil and gas leases — including spots targeted right next to our national parks.
Gardner is waffling on the CORE (Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy) Act — a bill that would conserve important wilderness in Colorado. The legislation even includes a firstof-its-kind protection — a National Historic Landscape — to honor Colorado’s military legacy and do more to stop new oil and gas destruction in areas important to ranchers and sportsmen and sportswomen. While there is broad local support for preserving these areas, and the recreation and economic opportunities they provide, Gardner chooses to side with Trump in opposition of the bill.
Further, Gardner is the only Colorado senator since 1964 — the year the historic Wilderness Act became law — not to sponsor a single bill that protects nature as wilderness. He has yet to even voice support for safeguarding Colorado wilderness in the Protecting America’s Wilderness Act.
While we acknowledge that Gardner and his ally, Trump, pushed the Land and Water Conservation Fund forward, neither should be getting a free pass for what has been an overwhelming anti-environmental record. Both maintain strong alliances with the oil and gas industry and have helped them achieve unprecedented drilling access on public lands. We must see Gardner and Trump’s sudden conservation shift essentially for what it is: a politically-calculated decision.
At a re-election rally, hosted by Trump in Colorado Springs, Gardner mentioned the great Rocky Mountains and said, “As we look up at that great Rocky Mountain horizon we see the optimism of Colorado.” If Coloradans are forced to wait for Gardner and Trump to protect our public lands whenever it’s most politically convenient, there might not be any more beautiful horizons of optimism.