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Endless nonsense about the high price of gasoline
This commentary originally appeared in Big Pivots. What a lot of complaining I hear about gas prices. I’ve done some myself. I also see a lot of blaming, especially of President Joe Biden. “It’s all his fault.” Hmm, could Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have just a little bit to do with the latest surge in […]
This energy investment rivals I-70 and others in Colorado history
This commentary is republished with permission from Big Pivots. Colorado will soon embark on a change with few rivals in the last 100 years. Think of the dismantling of geography by construction of Interstate 70 through the tunnels, over Vail Pass, and through Glenwood Canyon. Think of Denver International Airport. Think of the arrival of […]
Will Colorado electricity supplies keep pace with the warming climate?
A version of this commentary originally appeared in Big Pivots. A late-June coolish spell in Colorado is unusual. The trend is toward hot and hotter. Denver in June matched a record set just a few years ago for the earliest time to hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Grand Junction last year set an all-time record of […]
How can a me-first terrorist be made into a hero?
This commentary comes to Newsline via Big Pivots. A confounding aspect of the climate change challenge has been disagreements about the most basic of facts, namely human complicity. We had the same fact-based problem with the last presidential election. Then there’s what happened in Granby, the Colorado mountain town that continues to be at the […]
What will come of these hot, dry winds licking at winter’s back door?
This commentary originally appeared in Big Pivots. Ponds on a ranch in northwestern Colorado earlier this month were full, a rare treat in recent years for horses that have gathered like at a spa. It was a good winter there, cold and snowy. Now, a ranch owner had begun planning for a fiery summer. “It’s […]
This fossil-free technology heats homes in frigid Fraser
The coldest temperature this winter at the new home of Joe Smyth and Kristen Taddonio was 17 below. They live in Fraser, the Colorado town that used to get far, far colder. Still, that February night was cold enough to test the design and technologies employed in construction of the couple’s 1,176-square-foot house. They insulated […]
Will this coal plant deliver electricity during a 2030 heat wave?
This commentary originally appeared in Big Pivots. For all electrical utilities, R is the first letter of the alphabet. Reliability, keeping the lights on, comes before A, affordability. Colorado’s utility regulators soon will decide the role of Comanche 3, the state’s youngest but most unreliable coal-fired power plant, in ensuring reliability, and whether more natural […]
An unsolved math problem on the Colorado River
This commentary originally appeared in Big Pivots. Spring runoff last year in the Colorado River Basin was a bust, with snowpack of almost 90% of average reduced to a 30% inflow at Lake Powell. Nobody yet predicts another bust this year. Maybe a meteorological March madness will compensate for last year. While we wait, water […]
Electricity today is like Colorado’s road network a century ago
This commentary originally appeared in Big Pivots. Imagine life in Colorado before direct flights to ski towns, before the interstate highways or even two-lane paved highways. In 1922, the most expedient way to drive from Denver to Grand Junction was through Buena Vista. In winter, even that was impossible. No Continental Divide crossings were plowed […]
In Colorado, end almost in sight for the natural gas bridge
A version of this story originally appeared in Big Pivots. Natural gas a decade ago was being called the bridge fuel. Burning it produces half the emissions of coal, yet it can be tapped to ensure reliable delivery of electricity. It was the bridge to a low-emissions future. Today, natural gas is where coal was 10 or 15 […]
The perplexity of a useless boat ramp at Lake Powell
A version of this story originally appeared in Big Pivots. As the sun slipped behind the canyon wall earlier this month, I lingered at the bottom of a concrete boat ramp just outside Page, Arizona. I was there to study the disappearing Lake Powell. We expect the sun to vanish. Not so the giant reservoirs […]
How Kevin Priola became a reliable vote for climate legislation in Colorado
A version of “How Kevin Priola became a reliable vote for climate legislation in Colorado” first appeared in Big Pivots. Kevin Priola was at his home north of Denver early one afternoon in January 2015 when he noticed the snow that removed any lingering doubts about climate change. “I saw these big, fat snowflakes falling. […]