By Joan Fitz-Gerald 

The spike in oil and fuel costs has been catastrophic to many Colorado families.  Speculators on Wall Street and executives in Big Oil are getting rich at the expense of those that work for a living, and our nation is suffering as a result. 

Out of control gas prices have forced families to choose between paying for groceries, the mortgage, or gas to go to work.  No working family should have to make such a choice.  I am running for Congress to realign the energy priorities of this nation.

The results for Colorado are clear. I have been fighting to transform the energy industry in Colorado for years.  During my time as Colorado State Senate President, we passed a package of bills, including the first renewable energy standard requiring energy companies to have 20 percent renewable energy by 2020, a law to build transmission lines for renewable energy development, and a bill to expand energy efficiency programs and to reform the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.  Through our work at the legislature, we created hundreds of new good paying jobs through renewable energy.

The winds of change now blow on Colorado's energy industry and Colorado is now a nationwide leader in renewable energy, but there is only so much we can do on the state level.

Yes. We changed Colorado and we can change America by finding similar solutions to make our nation more energy independent and self reliant.

The top five oil companies have earned nearly half a trillion dollars in the past five years, doubling their profits compared to the previous past five years.  At the same time oil companies are making record profits, taxpayer dollars are providing them with billions in tax subsidies.  I will work to end corporate subsidies for Big Oil. 

With gas nearing $5 a gallon in some parts of the I-70 corridor, oil companies do not need taxpayers subsidizing their bottom line.  Instead we should redirect that money to renewable economy as the only way to break the cycle of dependence on foreign oil.

We must have a sense of urgency about changing the direction of our energy future. We need a representative in Congress who will find immediate solutions because the longer Congress waits to act, the more families will face hardships.

I worked to change the face of energy in Colorado, and I want to continue this fight in Congress.