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Oil and gas groups block briefing for officials on health impacts of drilling
Colorado’s five new oil and gas commissioners were set to hear a presentation from state officials on the health impacts of drilling this week — but oil and gas interest groups objected, and the commission agreed to cancel the briefing. Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission chair Jeff Robbins noted the decision at the beginning […]
Colorado to pay $300 weekly unemployment boost by mid-September
Most Coloradans who are collecting unemployment benefits can expect to see a sizable increase in their payments by mid-September, officials with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment said Wednesday — but it remains unclear exactly how much of a boost they’ll get, and how long it will last. An extra $300 per week in […]
Wildfire updates: 130,000 acres burned as hot, dry weather continues
Four major wildfires have burned an area of more than 130,000 acres across Colorado in recent weeks, causing evacuations, highway closures and potentially hazardous levels of smoke and other forms of air pollution in many parts of the state. Amid hot, dry weather that has left 100% of the state under an official drought classification […]
Polis administration faces second lawsuit over delayed climate regulations
A second environmental group has filed a lawsuit against the state of Colorado over a landmark 2019 climate-change law, alleging that Gov. Jared Polis’ administration has flouted a key deadline for proposing new greenhouse-gas emissions rules. The lawsuit, filed by the Environmental Defense Fund on Aug. 5 in Denver District Court, names the state’s Air […]
Gov. Polis visits two Western Slope wildfires as two others ignite, spread rapidly
Gov. Jared Polis visited with local officials and firefighting crews at command centers near two wildfires on Colorado’s Western Slope on Friday morning, as two other blazes grew rapidly in Larimer and Grand counties. Speaking to reporters in Eagle, a few miles east of the 14,000-acre Grizzly Creek Fire, Polis said the blaze was the […]
‘Extremely active and fast-moving’: Western Slope wildfires continue to grow
A pair of major wildfires on Colorado’s Western Slope have spread rapidly in recent days and are expected to continue to grow on Wednesday amid extremely hot, dry and windy conditions. Located about 50 miles apart, the Pine Gulch Fire and the Grizzly Creek Fire have both been supercharged by the severe drought conditions that […]
Pine Gulch Fire poised to crack state’s top 10 largest wildfires
Two major wildfires burning on the Western Slope have forced evacuations, shut down Colorado’s main east-west interstate and are poised to blanket the Front Range in a thick layer of haze. Dramatic images captured Monday showed the early stages of a fire burning along Interstate 70 near Glenwood Springs. Named the Grizzly Creek Fire — […]
Confusion, concern follows Trump COVID relief orders
Before issuing a series of executive actions relating to coronavirus relief at his New Jersey golf club on Aug. 8, President Donald Trump suggested to reporters that the move “will take care of pretty much this entire situation.” But Colorado officials have quickly joined their counterparts in other states in panning Trump’s orders, which they […]
100% of Colorado is under official drought classification
For the first time since 2013, the entire state of Colorado is experiencing drought conditions, according to the weekly update of the U.S. Drought Monitor — and state climatologists don’t expect those conditions to improve any time soon. Despite some relief in the form of monsoon rains in southwest Colorado, more than a quarter of […]
‘Hit the reset button’: Colorado group calls for return to stay-at-home order
“Shut it down, start over, do it right.” That’s the message from a national coalition of health professionals and advocacy groups who say that it’s time for state and local governments — including in Colorado — to return to strict social-distancing measures like stay-at-home orders and travel restrictions to combat worrying trends in COVID-19 case […]
Higher fees on Colorado oil and gas production approved amid falling revenues
Facing a revenue shortfall amid plummeting prices and production levels, Colorado regulators have approved a plan to increase the fees paid by oil and gas operators — and, after scaling back their proposed rate hike, did so with the reluctant support of fossil-fuel industry groups. Members of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission voted […]
Sales tax hike to fund climate change efforts now up to Denver voters
Denver voters will decide in November whether to approve a 0.25% sales tax hike to better fund the city’s efforts to combat climate change. In an 11-1 vote, Denver City Council members gave final approval on Aug. 3 to a bill referring the tax measure to the November ballot, potentially giving the city a new […]