Climate

Climate change is an existential threat

Senator Hickenlooper believes climate change is the defining challenge of our time and Colorado is on the frontlines.  That means we need a bold, science-based approach that expands clean energy and transitions away from fossil fuels. It also means reinventing America’s electric grid, shoring up our critical minerals supply chains, and training our workforce for tomorrow’s green jobs–And using American leadership to tackle this global challenge with our international partners.

Senator Hickenlooper was instrumental in passing the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate investment in the history of the world. Senator Hickenlooper played a critical role in moving the negotiations along for the bill, and helped break the logjam in the eleventh hour to win support for final passage. The Inflation Reduction Act jumpstarted our transition to clean energy, accelerated advanced energy technologies, reduced pollution, and upskilled our workforce in the process. 

Colorado has already received over $1.7 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act to boost our clean energy manufacturing, including wind turbine and solar cell manufacturing, and address environmental health disparities. Over 66,000 Colorado households are saving money on their energy bills by directly benefiting from tax credits to increase energy efficiency and install solar panels. The Inflation Reduction Act also included the COMPETES Act, a Hickenlooper bill to prevent oil and gas companies from leasing taxpayer-owned public lands for next to nothing, and $4 billion to help Colorado and Colorado River Basin address climate-driven drought. As the Trump administration and MAGA Republicans attempt to roll back these provisions, Senator Hickenlooper will fight to ensure these critical investments continue to be delivered to Colorado. 

Senator Hickenlooper also helped write the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which includes billions for clean energy generation, climate resiliency, and electric vehicles. His first bill to become law, the RECHARGE Act, helps boost our transition to clean transportation. Senator Hickenlooper also knows our transition to a clean economy hinges on improving our country’s outdated energy transmission system. He supports updating our permitting process to streamline building out the transmission system we need for our clean economy.

As governor of Colorado, he spearheaded historic first-in-the-nation limits on methane pollution. Now as senator, he successfully pushed for the United States to use Colorado’s success as a national model, with the Inflation Reduction Act setting the first-ever national methane fee for leaked methane from oil and gas operations. Nearly $100 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has been awarded to Colorado to cap orphan oil and gas wells. These standard-setting regulations are now being used as a model for new methane regulations in Europe. 

In December 2025, the Trump administration announced they would begin to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, which provides critical weather data for agriculture, natural disasters, national security, and more. In response, Senator Hickenlooper held up Trump’s spending package for weeks, introduced amendments, and mobilized a bipartisan coalition to fight back against these reckless attacks on Colorado and science. He has also been outspoken about damaging cuts to personnel and staff at our leading scientific institutions.

As a former geologist and current member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and the only peer-reviewed scientist in the U.S. Senate, Senator Hickenlooper will continue working to fight climate change and to advance meaningful solutions to address climate threats.