Environment
Colorado squeezing water from urban landscapes
Like weekly haircuts for men, a regularly mowed lawn of Kentucky bluegrass was long a prerequisite for civic respectability in Colorado’s towns and cities. That expectation has begun shifting. A growing cultural norm blesses a broader range of respectable landscapes, which require not much more water than what occurs naturally across most of Colorado. Denver, […]
Do not let polluters sabotage our climate future
Developing solar power to facilitate more fracked gas production, as a recently reported project on the Western Slope will do, is not a gain for climate. This is so even if the connected utility can claim climate points (as it intends to do) toward meeting Colorado’s greenhouse gas reduction goals. In fact the International Energy […]
The power of design in sustainable, equitable solutions
When it comes to addressing the imminent threats of climate change, discussions often swirl around stark scientific data, carbon footprints, and global agreements. Yet, in these data-driven dialogues, a potent weapon in the climate action arsenal is often overshadowed — design. As Richard Farson eloquently noted, design has the capacity to mend the broken threads […]
How global warming shakes the Earth
This commentary originally appeared in The Conversation. As oceans waves rise and fall, they apply forces to the sea floor below and generate seismic waves. These seismic waves are so powerful and widespread that they show up as a steady thrum on seismographs, the same instruments used to monitor and study earthquakes. That wave signal […]
As industry struggles, federal, state offshore wind goals could get tougher to meet
Good news or bad news first? Because there was plenty of both this week for the fledgling U.S. offshore wind industry. On Halloween, the Biden administration announced that the nation’s largest planned offshore wind development, Dominion Energy’s 2,600 megawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, received its last major federal approval. The same day, however, Danish […]
Earth thundering toward planet unfit for humans, report finds
This story originally appeared in the Oregon Capital Chronicle. The Earth is barreling toward “uncharted climate territory” and on track to become uninhabitable for 3 to 6 billion people by the end of the century, a new report found. The research, led by Oregon State University scientists, casts dire warnings, saying big changes are needed […]
$35M in green infrastructure funding awarded to Colorado state, local governments
More than $35 million in funding from the 2021 federal infrastructure law has been awarded to Colorado for programs focused on forestry, recycling and energy efficiency, in what state leaders are touting as a win for a new initiative to help local governments navigate competitive grant processes. The grants were awarded recently by federal agencies, […]
Can a single Colorado agency oversee both fossil fuel and clean energy production?
This story originally appeared in Capital & Main. Colorado is racing to set up new rules to regulate climate-friendly energy industries, including carbon capture and geothermal projects, and hopes to be among the first states in the nation to achieve this. But it is doing so using the same agency that also regulates fossil fuel production. […]
Colorado targets 82% EV sales by 2032 but delays decision on full gas-powered car phaseout
More than 4 in 5 new cars sold in Colorado in 2032 will be required to be electric vehicles, but the state — at least for now — won’t follow California’s lead in effectively banning sales of traditional gas-powered vehicles by 2035, under a rule approved Friday by state air quality officials. In a unanimous […]
Denver considers hiring contractor amid opposition to build tiny home shelters for the unhoused
Denver is considering whether to pay a subsidiary of Clayton Properties Group, a Maryville, Tennessee-based contractor, up to $6 million to build about 300 tiny home shelters for some of the city’s homeless population. The contract, also known as a master purchase order, is with Oakwood Homes, a local subsidiary of Clayton Properties Group. It […]
Fatal train derailment in Pueblo leads Colorado lawmakers to call for more safety measures
A group of Democratic Colorado lawmakers said Sunday night that they were “disappointed but not surprised” to learn of a major train derailment that left one person dead and shut down Interstate 25 north of Pueblo. The derailment occurred at about 3:30 p.m. Sunday as a southbound BNSF coal train crossed a bridge a mile […]
Colorado lawmakers eye oil and gas, lawn equipment role in ozone pollution
Efforts to tackle northeastern Colorado’s long-running ozone pollution problem can be complicated. But after another failing grade from the federal government, state policymakers are rallying around a simple goal. “We generally observe peak ozone values at about 80 parts per billion,” Mike Silverstein, executive director of the Regional Air Quality Council, told lawmakers in a […]