Newsroom

A push to protect 1.4 million acres of land as wilderness in Colorado, California and Washington advanced in Congress on Wednesday, one of the biggest efforts in a decade to save wilderness that could give the public more opportunities for hiking, rafting and camping away from roads and other development.

There's good news and bad news out of the breaking news Wednesday that the U.S. House passed the Colorado Wilderness Act on a 231-183 vote.

The good news is it got that far. The bad news is that's probably as far as it'll get.

The White House and Republicans, who control the U.S. Senate, have aligned against the set aside of almost 1.4 million acres in Colorado, California and Washington.

Given the divisiveness of our politics these days, it may seem hard to believe that protecting our environment hasn't always been such a highly partisan issue.

In fact, just a half a century ago, members of Congress from both political parties — and from all corners of our country — came together to pass a landmark piece of legislation that gave Americans the ability to challenge a major federal project if it threatened to harm our environment.

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette on Wednesday slammed the chiefs of five e-cigarette companies over their role in enabling an estimated 5 million youths — 28% of all high school students — to vape in the past year.

"E-cigarette manufacturers have been negligent at best or intentional at worst in attracting young people to their options," DeGette said at a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, which she chairs. She added that companies used slick marketing campaigns and flavors to "lure" young people.