A couple of gubernatorial picks for a key commission ran into a hail of fire today from Senate Republicans, who charged the new appointees will undermine Colorado's largest and fastest-growing industry--energy--just as a recession approaches.

The Senate approved a total of six appointments by Democrat Gov. Bill Ritter to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, but it was two of those in particular that divided the upper chamber along party lines after stirring heated debate over the commission's new direction. Environmentalist Richard Alward and Garfield County Commissioner Tresi Houpt, both nominated to partisan Democrat slots on the commission, came under criticism for upending the commission's mission of balancing the need to tap Colorado's energy reserves with the need to protect the environment.

"We are teetering on the verge of a recession," said the GOP's Sen. Greg Brophy, of Wray, who led the charge against Alward and Houpt. "We face the prospect of damaging our biggest industry."

It was the second time in the 2008 session that Democrats pushed through a controversial appointment by the governor that Republicans said would jeopardize Colorado's traditional energy economy--and dampen the nation's hope of stabilizing soaring energy costs by boosting supply.