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Coffman won't chair lobbying group for Roan drilling

Gargi Chakrabarty and Todd Hartman, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 3, 2007 at midnight

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Secretary of State Mike Coffman abruptly backed away today from plans to chair a lobbying group that will campaign for drilling on the Roan Plateau.

Two months ago, Coffman, a Republican, accepted an offer to become chairman of the board of Americans for American Energy, a nonprofit based in Denver. The position was voluntary.

But Coffman pulled out suddenly today — 45 minutes after being interviewed by the Rocky — citing time constraints and his desire to focus on his job. He added that he remains "extremely supportive of AAE and its goals."

"I served in the U.S. Marine Corps, the first Gulf War and recently in Iraq, and I am very concerned about energy independence of the country," Coffman said. "Senator (Ken) Salazar, Governor (Bill) Ritter and others feel a need to throw a bone to radical environmentalists, and Roan Plateau is that bone. And I don’t think that’s appropriate."

Ritter’s spokesman, Evan Dreyer, said Ritter "never said that he is opposed to drilling on the Roan. What he has said is he would like more time to review the proposed management plan. ... His concern is we utilize the best technology available so we do as little harm to the environment as possible."

Coffman’s decision to quit AAE came after the Rocky called several sources to get their opinion on the ethics of his spearheading the lobbying campaign.

Jenny Flanagan, executive director of public interest group Colorado Common Cause, said Coffman put himself and his office in a dicey position.

"The chief election officer really has to hold the confidence of being the most objective, nonpolitical officer in our state because he has the role of overseeing all our elections," Flanagan said.

But GOP consultant Katy Atkinson said his actions were aboveboard. She noted that while the secretary of state is affiliated with a political party, voters entrust the officeholder to set aside politics when supervising vote-counting.