I am grateful for the U.S. House passage of the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act, a massive public lands bill protecting about 400,000 acres in Colorado.

Our District 3 would gain more protection from the bill than any other in Colorado. The mind-bender is that Rep. Scott Tipton voted against it.

The Colorado Sun reported the legislation is a result of a decade of discussions in Western Slope communities.

Tipton’s pro-fossil fuel industry campaign donors may have influenced his vote. A controversial provision in the bill banned future oil and gas drilling on about 200,000 acres of public land along the Thompson Divide. In a world in which carbon emissions are rising steadily, we need to move toward clean energy options, not enable older polluting energy to excel. Protection of our public lands and atmosphere are not apparently part of Tipton’s agenda.

Jan D. DixonCortez