No. 5: Shrinking river and reservoirs
Are the political institutional agreements and water infrastructure of the 20th century in the Colorado River Basin flexible enough for a hotter, dryer climate?
No. 6: What to make of the Marshall Fire?
How much of this fire, costliest in Colorado history, a climate change story? The answer is complex. But surely it will strongly influence state policy.
No. 7: Can Tri-State stay upright?
United Power dwarfs many members of Tri-State G&T. It wants to jump ship. Poudre Valley and La Plata may also. Can Tri-State survive if this happens?
A global warming miracle
Once we stop dealing in absolutes for limiting greenhouse gases and allow picking and choosing solutions, we must allow for everyone else to do the same.
Thank you donors to Big Pivots in 2021!
Contributions ranged from $2 upward, but all are acknowledged here. You helped make the second year of Big Pivots a big success.
End in sight for natural gas bridge?
Filings by Colorado’s two largest utilities reveal strong debate about how much longer natural gas will be vital to ensuring reliable electrical deliveries.
Wyoming and New Mexico energy gleanings
Coal rebounds briefly but long term trend clear, nuclear in Wyoming, Wyoming fails to land finalist but Colorado’s Innosphere does,; and yet more gleanings.
Colorado transportation gleanings
How Vail was ahead of its time with its first roundabout, why enviros cheer new transportation rules, and a new environmental justice advocate within C-DOT
Colorado energy gleanings
Colorado tights valves on methane, RMI says natural gas plants less competitive, Colorado decarbonization roadmap, Platte River Power’s solar bids, and more.
Colorado’s hot streak in 2021
It wasn’t even close. Colroado during he final 6 months of 2021 was the hottest ever when compared to records gong back 120 years.
Tearing our turf in Vail
After creating parks with grass, Vail landscape architect is now methodically removing it, a nod to growing water scarcity in the Colorado River Basin.
Shaving the peaks in southwest Colorado
La Plata Electric will install air-source heat pumps; new website for members of Tri-State cooperatives, and United Power’s EV fast-charging alliance.
Guilt-free flying out of Aspen
Guilt-free flying has arrived at Aspen-Pitkin County Airport, where all fuel sold is now offset with money spent for carbon-reduction projects around the world.
Settlement agreement raises Tri-State’s bar
Binding carbon reductions and new lenses for examining the future of existing fossil fuel plants are elements of a proposed agreement.
Reimagining the risk of wildfire in Colorado
Colorado will be seriously rethinking the risk of wildfire in locations where upwards of 80% of the state’s residents live as temperatures rise.
Fear, excitement over wolves in Colorado
In 2004, a wolf was smacked on I-70, the first known native wolf in Colorado in more than 50 years. Now, as we near reintroduction, we have reported cattle loss.
Manipulating from the margins: climate change and the Marshall Fire
Winds? Nothing new. Even prairie fires happen. So exactly what part did the warming climate play in the Marshall Fire, Colorado’s largest ever? Plenty!
Help from a boy who came from Searchlight, Nevada
I am grateful for the role of the late Harry Reid—a very large one, as the Senate majority leader—in getting Obamacare passed.
The perplexity of a useless boat ramp at Lake Powell
Declining levels of Lake Powell have left a boat ramp far above the water levels. It’s one concrete example of the perplexing challenge of a warming, aridifying climate in the Colorado River Basin.
A settlement, still many questions about Xcel’s giant pivot in Colorado
This is the energy transition, messy and complicated, with much to like—but also much about which to disagree.
