Welcome to Yosemite, the new Pyrocene Park
Binge-burning of fossil fuels has put afterburners on our millennia-long process of ending the Pleistocene, its ice and its mammoths. Welcome to the Pyrocene.
How Kevin Priola became a reliable vote for climate & energy legislation in Colorado
This Colorado legislator plans to remain a Republican. But in climate and energy matters, he stands with Democrats. He traces that to a January morning in 2015.
A moderate Republican’s take on what constitutes sensible climate policy for Colorado
State Sen. Don Coram often crosses the aisle to work with Democrats but says Colorado’s decarbonization goals cannot be achieved. He calls them asinine.
Rocky Mountain energy gleanings
New Mexico oil and gas industry pushes back on regulations to reduce emissions, PacifiCorp plans to get out of Wyoming coal by 2039, and Farmington hopes for hydrogen research
Colorado energy gleanings
Comanche 3 lawsuit, Guzman solar farm near Cortez, new owner of Vestas wind tower factory, hyperloop test track in Pueblo, fleet electrification, Bye Aerospace, broadened mission for state agency, and more gleanings from Colorado
Our new age of fire
As wildfires explode in the West but even in Greenland, fire expert Steve Pyne helps us understand the “pyrocene,” the planetary age of fire, one that we have created.
Hydrogen fueling station in works for metro Denver
by Allen Best A partnership has been struck that is expected to yield a hydrogen fueling station along Interstate 25 in Denver’s southern suburbs by late 2022 or early 2023. AAA Colorado has promised to have a tow truck and two support vehicles, such as are used for...
No more mountain and no more rural in the name of Colorado’s largest electrical cooperative
Colorado’s largest electrical cooperative has a new name, Core, reflecting its enlarged turf and expanded mission. Formerly it was Intermountain Rural Electric Association.
After a century, no more coal burning in downtown Colorado Springs. But what comes next?
Coal-burning will end at Colorado Springs’s Drake coal plant, the first of many in Colroado this decade. But how exactly will utilities get to 100% renewables?
Mountain resort communities can expect to get warmer, maybe even hot
Parallel studies for Colorado’s Eagle and Summit counties show a worst-case scenario of extreme heating in the 21st century if global emission cannot be tamed.
The Colorado River is sending us a message
Declining levels in Lake Powell pose difficult choices, including whether to let farms and ranches dry up to maintain reservoir levels.
Will green hydrogen research at Craig be part of the answer to the big question?
To get to 100% renewables, utilities need multi-day storage. Possible green hydrogen research at Craig could help deliver an answer. Xcel also has interest.
When wildfire keeps coming back
As we fiddle, the domes become hotter and Western forests become more fire prone. Today’s young will pay the heaviest cost for our inaction.
Colorado energy gleanings
Aerial fight to document methane emissions, organics in Durango, Eagle’s 100% net-zero goal, movement on transmission, environmental justice, natural gas case.
Two Western states act to control methane
New Mexico and Colorado are reining in methane pollution from oil and gas producers. Other states should, too, because piecemeal regulation just doesn’t cut it.
Gleanings about energy in the Rocky Mountains
Experts dubious about Wyoming nuclear hopes, why New Mexico’s utility merger would be good, a rebuke to electrify everything, why so little solar in Wyoming?
Marathoner, mother and now a legislator on how she sees her work for Colorado
Colorado State Rep. Tracey Bernett in her first session was deeply engaged in transformative energy legislation. In this essay she explains what drives her.
Wildflowers and the warming Alpine and Arctic
Wildflowers in mountain meadows and above treeline, too, have been dazzling this summer. But the increased heat arriving with global warming will not be good.
Can Tri-State and other G&T’s serve a useful purpose in the fast-changing world of energy?
Tri-State G&T is closing coal plants and making other big changes. But some critics, including its largest members, say it needs even more fundamental change.
Social cost of methane changes the equation for Colorado utility policy
In a nation-leading step, Colorado now applies the social cost of methane in regulatory cases involving utilities and in other cases. What will be the impact?
