Obesity in Pitkin County

“Pleasantly plump,” is how one speaker described the proposed limits to exterior energy use at homes around Aspen. With the metaphor established, the comments rolled.

In Aspen, a town that exalts those thin and muscular, there was much talk about obesity yesterday afternoon. Human physiques were not in question. The Pitkin County commissioners were discussing the energy used for luxury outdoor features such as hot tubs, swimming pools and heated driveways.

One speaker, Suzanne Caskey, told the commissioners that the proposed measure to place a maximum on outdoor energy use in new buildings wasn’t in the least big onerous. The energy budget accorded new homes would leave its users “pleasantly plump,” she said, instead of “morbidly obese.” She was, to be clear, referring to energy use, not bellies and butts.

Once the metaphor was introduced, it had a life of its own.

It was OK to go on a diet, advised John Dougherty, the chief executive of CORE, (Community Office for Resource Efficiency).

County Commissioner Kelly McNicholas-Kury likened the choices of builders and buyers of new homes to diners. “We are not asking anyone to not eat off the menu, but (instead) just select a few things off the menu.”

To continue the metaphor, the menu will remain ample. The cap adopted by the commissioners on a 3-2 vote will leave somebody building a house up Castle Creek, for example, with authority to use up to nine times as much energy for exterior uses as is average.

Commissioner Francie Jacober hemmed and hawed, worrying about the process for appeals but finally delivered the deciding vote. She cautioned that this was just nibbling around the edges of the extravagant energy consumption of Aspen’s clientele and likely many of its residents. “Skiing and air travel are tremendously impactful environmentally,” she said.

Greg Poschman, the chair of the commissioners, called the limit on exterior energy use “the tip of the iceberg. It has taken us four meetings to get to this baby step of what we need to do.”

Pitkin County in 2019 adopted a resolution proclaiming a climate emergency, a fact mentioned frequently in the two-hour-plus discussion.

Why support Big Pivots?

You need and value solid climate change reporting, and also the energy & water transitions in Colorado. Because you know that strong research underlies solid journalism, and research times take.

Plus, you want to help small media, and Big Pivots is a 501(c)3 non-profit.

Big grants would be great, but they’re rare for small media. To survive, Big Pivots needs your support. Think about how big pivots occur. They start at the grassroots. That’s why you should support Big Pivots. Because Big Pivots has influence in Colorado, and Colorado matters in the national conversation.