Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Colorado Environment

Colorado’s renewable milestone deserves a reality check
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s renewable milestone deserves a reality check

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Sarah Montalbano, the author of the Complete Colorado piece below makes a great point in her article about renewables. In response to a recent article by fellow energy writer Allen Best, see the second link below, about Colorado hitting an energy milestone of “More than half the state’s electricity came from wind, solar and hydro during the first months of 2026”, Montalbano notes that perhaps it’s not time for celebrating yet. Quoting from her Complete piece, “The trouble is that this jubilant announcement of a ‘majority’ renewables power grid owes more to a stark drop in coal-fired generation than the wind and solar that was added. Percentages rely on both the numerator — how much wind, solar, and hydropower...
Colorado ignored the warning: Now the aspens are disappearing
GregWalcher.com, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado ignored the warning: Now the aspens are disappearing

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer wrote that “Truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as self-evident.” Twenty-eight years ago, in the summer of 1998, the Club 20 Research Foundation published a report called “Decline of the Aspen: A Special Report on the Health of National Forests in Colorado.” It attracted substantial media coverage, widespread opposition to its recommendations, and even ridicule from some environmental industry groups that considered themselves superior experts on forest management. The Report suggested a growing crisis in Western Colorado’s aspen forests. Then-State Forester James Hubbard was quoted saying, “If the U.S. Forest Service po...
Colorado Unveils Detailed Plan to Restore Wolverines to High Country
CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Unveils Detailed Plan to Restore Wolverines to High Country

By Spencer Wilson | CBS Colorado Colorado Parks and Wildlife has released more information about how, where, and why it plans to reintroduce wolverines into the state and why wildlife officials say Colorado is critical to the species' future. The 106-page report details the plans behind the bipartisan effort. The state confirmed plans to reintroduce wolverines in 2024, but until now, many of the specifics had not been made public. The newly released plan outlines a multi-year strategy, highlighting distinct differences between this effort and Colorado's controversial gray wolf reintroduction. Colorado currently has no resident wolverines. CWP said in the report that the species was wiped out nearly a century ago through poisoning, trapping, and "pre...
Colorado Moves to Enforce Major Utility Emissions Cuts Despite Cost Concerns
DENVER7, Approved, State

Colorado Moves to Enforce Major Utility Emissions Cuts Despite Cost Concerns

By: Shannon Ogden | Denver7 The PUC will require utilities like Xcel Energy to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 41% by 2035. DENVER — Environmental groups are celebrating a win in Colorado after the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) agreed to tougher standards on greenhouse gas emissions from Colorado utilities like Xcel Energy. At a meeting Wednesday, commissioners decided to require utilities to reduce these pollutants by 41% by 2035. Sierra Club Colorado was one of the groups arguing for these higher reductions. "I think we should feel proud that we pushed them on this. I think we're really happy with the 41% because it keeps us moving," said Sarah Tresseder, energy organizer of Sierra Club Colorado.  In 2021, Colorado passed the first-in-the-nation "Clean Heat Law" r...