Environment
‘Climate change is fundamentally altering the Colorado River,’ congressional panel hears
States in the Colorado River Basin are adjusting to the reality that their rights outstrip the available water by nearly one-third, state and tribal leaders told a congressional panel Friday. The situation is likely only to worsen as the climate changes, leaving states and tribes in competition for their most vital resource. Representatives from the […]
Protect Colorado’s public lands to help combat climate change
I’ll never forget the first time I hiked Longs Peak. I was 19 and had just finished working for the summer at the YMCA of the Rockies, right in the heart of Rocky Mountain National Park. For months it felt like all anyone ever talked about was when the weather would finally be warm enough […]
Head of embattled state air quality agency steps down
The head of Colorado’s embattled Air Pollution Control Division has stepped down, the agency confirmed on Tuesday. Garry Kaufman, who has served as the director of the APCD since 2017, has accepted a new role as the division’s deputy director for regulatory affairs, according to a statement from the Colorado Department of Public Health and […]
Nobel winners made possible predictions of global warming and modern weather forecasting
As a climate scientist myself, I was excited to learn that Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann and Giorgio Parisi have been awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize for Physics. I first met Manabe when I was a graduate student in the early 1970s, so I was particularly pleased that the prize recognizes the profound importance of Manabe’s […]
Greenhouse gas transportation standards meet opposition from some local officials
With a pair of sparsely attended hearings in rural Colorado this week, officials wrapped up a busy month of public hearings held across the state to solicit feedback on a proposal to apply new environmental standards to regional transportation planning processes. The proposed rule, which the 11 appointed members of the state’s Transportation Commission could […]
Colorado River drought conditions spur calls for better water infrastructure
WASHINGTON — Experts in government, agriculture, water management and the environment stressed during a U.S. Senate hearing on Wednesday the danger that droughts fueled by climate change pose in the West, including the Colorado River Basin. During a hearing before an Energy and Natural Resources Committee panel, witnesses said long-term solutions and an investment in […]
U.S. House plan for new mining royalties draws objections from Western senators
U.S. senators of both parties at a hearing Tuesday rejected House Democrats’ plans to impose billions of dollars in royalties and other fees on companies that mine for gold, copper, lithium and other minerals, largely in Southwestern states. Among the opponents was Nevada Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto, who said she objected to the House proposal […]
Wildlife crossings integral to Colorado’s transportation future, Gov. Polis says
Wildlife crossings and other strategies to protect big game must be a greater part of Colorado’s transportation system as the state grows in population, Gov. Jared Polis argued at a Wednesday news conference. “Our population continues to grow, along with infrastructure that supports it,” Polis said during the conference, held outdoors at Colorado School of […]
U.S. Senate confirms Stone-Manning as public lands chief, overcoming months of GOP attacks
The U.S. Senate voted along party lines Thursday night to make Tracy Stone-Manning the first confirmed director of the Bureau of Land Management since the Obama administration. The vote, 50-45, ended a contentious confirmation process for Stone-Manning, a senior adviser for conservation policy at the National Wildlife Federation who served as chief of staff to […]
‘Wildfire year’ meant record days at the highest preparedness level, Forest Service chief says
The U.S. Forest Service spent more consecutive days this summer at the agency’s highest level of preparedness for wildfires than in any previous year, Forest Service Chief Randy Moore told a U.S. House subcommittee Wednesday. Moore’s comments reflected the growing danger from more intense and harder-to-control fires that have swept Western and Midwestern states this […]
U.S. Senate to vote on Montana’s Tracy Stone-Manning as public lands chief
The U.S. Senate is set to vote as soon as Thursday on the nomination of Tracy Stone-Manning, a conservation advocate and former top aide to Montana Democrats, to lead the Bureau of Land Management, putting the end to her contentious confirmation process in sight. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer filed cloture on Stone-Manning’s nomination, setting […]
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. […]