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.

In January, the Democrat-dominated Senate approved the appointment of environmental activist Matt Baker to to the  Public Utilities Commission over the heated objections of Republicans who said the appointment placed ideology above consumer protection. Baker had a long-standing reputation of opposing the use of low-cost coal in generating electricity despite the fact it provides 80 percent of the state's power.

Brophy said today's vote to approve Houpt in particular was a shot at an industry that not only is desperate to increase supply but that also has brought significant economic development, including high-paying jobs, to his eastern-plains district. He pointed to Houpt's "very clear record of hostility and out-and-out opposition" to the oil and gas industry.

"This (Houpt) is arguably the worst choice," Brophy said. 

Other Republicans queued up at the podium to drive the point home.

 "(The governor) appointed the No. 1 opponent of the oil and gas industry on the Western Slope," said Grand Junction Republican Sen. Josh Penry.  Added the GOP's Sen. Shawn Mitchell, of Broomfield, "This is very bad for Colorado."  

Senate Republican leader Andy McElhany, of Colorado Springs, said Houpt's glowing reviews from Democrats today on the Senate floor did not jibe with what lawmakers have been hearing for months.

"Her reputation is that she will be a divisive force on the commission," McElhany said. Even Senate Democrat Agriculture and Energy Committee Chairman Jim Isgar, of Hesperus, conceded that while he supports Houpt, he probably would not agree with her "in all cases."

Brophy warned that the disputed appointments approved by the Senate, along with legislation passed last year that opens the door to new rules--still pending--on energy exploration, could lead to much longer delays in approving oil and gas permits. In remarks after the floor debate, Brophy said energy companies would leave the state the turnaround time on permit applications grew from weeks to months or even a year.

Steamboat Springs Republican Sen. Jack Taylor, a veteran voice on energy issues, announced to fellow lawmakers he knew of at least one energy company that decided not to step up its Colorado operations because of the changing climate for oil and gas exploration.