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COGCC officials to be briefed on oil and gas health study ahead of setbacks decision
Colorado oil and gas commissioners will be briefed by state officials on the potential health risks of drilling ahead of a critical rulemaking decision, after all. Kristy Richardson, Colorado’s state toxicologist, is scheduled to deliver a presentation on a landmark public-health study to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Thursday afternoon, as commissioners prepare […]
Racial inequities in Colorado’s tax code highlighted as Proposition 116 fight looms
When Denver voters begin filling out their ballots next month, they’ll decide whether to approve two new 0.25% sales tax hikes to help the city tackle homelessness and climate change — and if both pass, they’ll become the fifth and sixth increases to Denver’s sales tax rate in the past two years, raising the total […]
Trump administration rule would ‘streamline’ oil and gas drilling in Colorado’s national forests
When officials at the Bureau of Land Management sold the rights to drill for oil and gas on nearly 5,000 acres of land in Colorado’s White River National Forest in September 2018, it was the culmination of years of careful planning. Though environmentalists protested the lease sales, the six parcels in question had been offered […]
Study projects high ridership for proposed Front Range Passenger Rail
A state board developing a plan for passenger rail service along the Front Range estimates that the proposed line could carry nearly 10,000 passengers on a typical weekday, officials said last week. That adds up to nearly 3 million riders per year, and this “notable demand” — based on extensive modeling using survey and census […]
Colorado Supreme Court declines to hear lawsuit over mask mandate
The Colorado Supreme Court has declined to hear a legal challenge filed this week by two prominent Colorado conservatives against Gov. Jared Polis’s mask-wearing mandate and other state orders aimed at combating the spread of COVID-19. The lawsuit, announced by conservative personality Michelle Malkin and Colorado House Minority Leader Patrick Neville on Aug. 26, named […]
‘Local control’ becomes battle in Colorado oil and gas rules overhaul
Betsy Leonard and her husband have lived in Battlement Mesa, a planned community northeast of Grand Junction, for 15 years. But not long after moving into their retirement home, nestled in the scenic desert bluffs of the Colorado River valley, the Leonards found themselves at odds with an unwelcome new neighbor. In 2009, Denver-based Antero […]
‘Desperate’ need for more federal COVID-19 aid, Colorado advocates say
Nearly a month after the expiration of a key federal aid program and two weeks after the U.S. Senate adjourned without passing new COVID-19 relief legislation, many Coloradans’ financial situations are growing more dire by the day, a panel of community advocates said Tuesday. Unemployment payments have dropped sharply. Rents and mortgages are going unpaid […]
Bennet, Senate Democrats call for Pendley’s removal at BLM after withdrawn nomination
Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet and all 47 of his Democratic colleagues in the U.S. Senate are urging the removal of William Perry Pendley from his leadership post at the Bureau of Land Management, following the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw the conservative firebrand’s formal nomination to lead the public-lands agency. A former head of the […]
Oil and gas commission launches major overhaul of state drilling regulations
Reaching for a way to describe the challenge facing the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission at an Aug. 24 hearing, agency director Julie Murphy picked a Colorado-appropriate metaphor. “The only way that I could think about summarizing what the last decade, or year, or month has been for so many of us … is […]
Colorado lawmakers join calls to Polis administration for faster climate regulation
Two sponsors of the landmark climate-change legislation passed by Colorado Democrats in 2019 have joined a growing chorus of criticism against Gov. Jared Polis’s administration over what environmental advocates say are unacceptable delays in implementing the new law. In a statement issued Aug. 21, state Sen. Faith Winter and state Rep. Dominique Jackson charged the […]
Colorado unemployment claims tick up again, remain far above 2019 levels
Nearly 19,000 Coloradans filed initial claims for some kind of unemployment assistance last week, as workers across the state continue to feel the devastating economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. In a press release, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment said that 6,942 regular unemployment claims had been filed in Colorado in the week ending Aug. […]
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 […]