by Zoë Rom, High Country News
environment
News
30 Environmental Groups Ask Gov. Polis to Oppose Drilling Proposal
Thirty Colorado environmental groups wrote an open letter to Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO) this week, asking him to publicly oppose a plan to drill 166 oil and gas wells near Aurora communities. Energy company Civitas Resources wants to use hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” to extract oil and gas from underground shale formations beneath 32,000 acres of State Land Board property.
News
Biden-Harris Administration Investing $329M in Colorado to Reduce Air Pollution
On Monday the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) has been selected to receive $199,705,797 and that the Colorado Energy Office (CEO) has been selected to receive $129,008,738 in Climate Pollution Reduction grants. These grants, a part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, are given with the aim of implementing community-driven solutions to the climate crisis, to reduce air pollution, and to accelerate a national transition to clean energy.
News
The American Climate Corps Takes Flight, With Most Jobs Based in the West
by Brooke Larsen, High Country News June 6, 2024
News
EVRAZ Steel Wrote Pueblo Mayor’s Op-Ed Against Air Quality Bills, Then It Caught Fire
As black smoke billowed from a massive fire at Pueblo’s EVRAZ steel mill, city officials issued an air quality shelter-in-place alert: “Go or stay inside, please shut your windows and turn off your air conditioner.”
Opinions
Heat Pumps are Essential for Colorado’s Climate and Public Health
Access to affordable and energy-efficient cooling is necessary for relief from extreme heat.
News
Who Owns The West?
Increasingly, land is shifting into the hands of billionaires. By Jonathan Thompson, High Country News
News
Nearly Half of CO Oil & Gas Wells Barely Produce Anything While Leaking Gas That Causes Climate Change and Health Issues
July was the hottest month in Earth’s history, largely due to human-caused global warming. Coloradans dealt with unhealthy air quality all month long as the state issued 14 ozone alert days during July. The Front Range regularly has some of the worst air quality in the country during the summer months because of the high density of vehicles, high temperatures, and oil and gas activity in the surrounding area.
News
Drilled Dry: Boebert Pushes Gas Projects, Which Suck Millions of Gallons of Water From Her District
“When people ask what my top three issues are, I say water, water, water.”
News
CO Communities That Already Host Air-Polluting Facilities Could Suffer Under Proposed Air Quality Rule, Say Environmentalists
On Monday, Colorado air quality regulators released the latest draft of rules intended to hold polluters across the state accountable for releasing harmful toxins into the air. Environmental activists worry that communities facing the greatest threat — where many high-polluting facilities exist — might be unduly harmed by allowances in the rules for companies to shift greenhouse gas emission reductions to other facilities they own.