Architect of Denver’s Global Warming Plan Seeks to Benefit Financially

Denver’s new global warming “Climate Action Plan,” is compromised from the top. The co-chairman of the task force, Benita Duran, is also an executive with the global firm CH2M HILL. Headquartered in Denver, CH2M HILL’s businesses include carbon offset consulting, renewable energy services, and supply- and demand-side energy management. The firm had over $4.5 billion in revenues last year. CH2M HILL is also a “major donor” to Mayor John Hicklenlooper’s political campaign giving $1,500 on April 30, 2007.

Mayor John Hickenlooper is making the “Climate Action Plan” a city priority.

FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe commented, “Clearly, allowing executives from a multi-billion company to design new government rules that will increase business for their firm directly is very problematic. Especially when the same firm happens to be a ‘major donor’ to Mayor Hicklenlooper’s re-election campaign.”

“The Climate Action Plan appears compromised by well-connected insiders and political donors who could directly benefit from these new regulations. Rather than helping the environment, the Climate Action Plan appears to be more about enriching a corporate donor at the expense of the average Denver resident. As Denver reviews this new plan over the coming months, FreedomWorks calls on CH2M HILL to fully disclose its involvement in the creation of the “Climate Action Plan”, including the amount of new business it expects to generate through this mandatory plan it helped design.”

http://denvergov.org/Portals/98/documents/Campaign/Campaign2007/HickenlooperMAJC0430.pdf

http://www.ch2m.com/corporate/