Hello, Temperature readers. It’s hard to know where this issue will land with everything moving so quickly these days. Federally speaking, first there were the executive orders, then there was the funding freeze, now we’re wading through the land of tariffs and trade curbs wondering what will happen to the price of gas.
As John Ingold wrote in the intro last week, choosing what to focus on, or not, has become a particularly special skill. It isn’t the worst thing to have to practice prioritization, but it can certainly be tiring.
I tried to keep that in mind when picking today’s stories. This week we’re playing with scale, looking at a mix of federal moves that could impact us locally, and local initiatives that could have a national impact. At the end of the day, we’re all in this together, eh?
Let’s get to it.
Reporter
TEMP CHECK
ENERGY
A group in northwestern Colorado is quietly floating the idea of becoming the next big nuclear waste site
$26 million
Spent by the federal government on a national campaign to find a host for nuclear waste
As the U.S. heads toward a nuclear-fueled future — the country endorsed a declaration to triple nuclear energy production by 2050 — a small but determined group of officials in northwestern Colorado are positioning themselves to jump on board.
Last fall the Northwest Colorado Energy Initiative, a group tasked with replacing the coal industry in Garfield, Mesa, Moffat and Rio Blanco counties held presentations for public officials to discuss the opportunity for building the nation’s first consolidated nuclear storage site.
Nuclear energy currently produces about 20% of the nation’s power according to the U.S. Department of Energy, and is considered a clean energy source because it doesn’t emit greenhouse gasses or air toxins during production.
But the waste it generates — called “spent fuel” — is highly radioactive. The federal government has since the 1980s tried and failed to find a permanent, safe and consolidated storage solution.
Spent fuel is currently stored on-site at 70 of the nation’s 94 commercial reactors, and the government has doled out millions of dollars in search of an “interim storage site” until a long-term solution is determined.
An investigative series by Scott Franz at KUNC shows that the economic development group in the northwestern corner of the state is quietly floating the idea of providing land for interim storage.
The project is still in an ideation phase, and meetings between the energy initiative leaders and public officials have deliberately taken place without much notice or press. Because of the subject matter, there’s a high risk of “emotional outcry,” Matt Soloman, project manager for the initiative, told Franz, pointing to the proposed nuclear energy facility in Pueblo that was ultimately rejected.
Public hearings about the nuclear waste storage project will begin in the spring.
But people have questions now, Franz reported — namely, about the technology used to store the waste, the logistics to transport it, and the timeline of how long this facility would remain in the community.
Proponents of the project point to the region’s history as pioneers in the energy industry and emphasize the need to replace an economy fueled by coal. The area has three of the state’s seven operating coal mines, and the coal plant in Craig is scheduled to start shutting down in December. They also emphasize that the technology for moving and storing nuclear waste is more advanced than its reputation makes it seem.
Opponents, though, like activists in Cañon City — a community still dealing with the fallout of a uranium mine that leaked radioactive waste into the soil and groundwater decades ago — warned communities to be extra judicious about nuclear waste commitments, as the consequences could be multigenerational.
Click over to The Colorado Sun for more of Franz’s reporting, or head to KUNC to listen to the three-par series, “Toxic Waste or Economic Fuel?”
Section by Parker Yamasaki | Reporter
EPA
KC Becker exits the EPA, encourages community environment groups to “stay vigilant”
One of KC Becker’s last acts as Region 8 administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was to get a signature on a civil rights agreement.
Becker is a Biden administration appointee who resigned Jan. 20.
That final document she shepherded through is officially called an Informal Resolution Agreement under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. But all you need to know is that it’s essentially a promise to keep working on environmental justice.
The Trump administration has been unambiguous about its stance on environmental justice initiatives — the 52-page federal funding spreadsheet circulated last week asks federal departments to evaluate whether a program provides funds to “‘environmental justice’ programs or ‘equity related’ grants.”
Colorado’s new agreement requires the state to change its permitting process for major polluters, like the Suncor oil refinery, which Becker spent a large amount of her tenure focused on.
The change will force facilities to report “minor modifications” to the public, so that local communities, environmental groups and lawyers know about them before it is too late.
Becker is addressing a major workaround that polluters can take advantage of in Colorado’s current permitting process called “disaggregation,” or breaking up one major change in pollution into many minor changes, thereby skirting the formal notice process.
It’s just one of the ways Becker pushed the state to come down harder on the Suncor facility, and to keep an eye and an ear out for communities struggling with pollution.
“In the new administration the words ‘environmental justice’ are anathema to some folks, but the idea that you prioritize communities who need the most assistance is not a controversial idea,” Becker said. “I have to assume and believe the next regional administrator is also going to want to know where communities are that are the most polluted, because that’s EPA’s job, no matter what you call it.”
And to the community groups that could face pushback from a new administration, Becker said:
“Stay vigilant, keep paying attention, keep providing information to both the state of Colorado and the EPA.”
Section by Parker Yamasaki | Reporter
FEDERAL FUNDING FREEZE
Solar providers iced out of federal funds
Colorado was ready to soak up its supposed 300 days of sunshine last spring with the announcement of a $156 million grant from the federal “Solar For All” program. It was just one grant in a $7 billion package created to lower the barrier to entry to solar power by covering installation costs and providing incentives to developers.
The Colorado Energy Office, which won the grant, spent the past year working out its contract with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees the funds, and setting up a statewide program. But they haven’t started accepting applications for the program — and now they might not get to.
Last week, when President Trump ordered the federal funding freeze, the EPA sent letters to 60 recipients of the awards — states, tribes and multistate regions — informing them the money was on hold until further notice.
Since then, the freeze was rescinded and blocked by two federal judges. But while some of the frozen funds thawed, others, like those in the “Solar For All” program, remain locked up and inaccessible.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the Colorado Energy Office could not access its solar accounts or file for reimbursements.
“Colorado is one of many states that successfully brought a temporary restraining order to unfreeze these funds and make them available for this important work in our state,” a spokesperson for the Energy Office wrote in an emailed statement. “We are closely monitoring the administration’s reaction to that order.”
That restraining order, issued by a federal judge Friday, states that the administration “shall not pause, freeze, impede, block, cancel, or terminate” federal awards, obligations or financial assistance to states.
Section by Parker Yamasaki | Reporter
MORE ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH NEWS
CHART OF THE WEEK
More of a map and a timeline this week, but you could say we’re charting the course of the Perkins County Canal.
Last week Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser sent a letter to Sedgwick County commissioners in the northeastern corner of the state, where Nebraska had been handing out notices of condemnation to local landowners. The notices gave landowners until April 17 to respond to Nebraska’s offer — $1.4 million for about 650 acres of land — or face eminent domain; Weiser’s letter told landowners to seek legal counsel and fight the neighbor state’s claims to their land.
“We are in a new chapter, there has been a shift,” Weiser told The Colorado Sun on Friday.
The story is that of the Perkins County Canal, a 135-year-old project to cart water from the South Platte River to a storage facility on the Nebraska side of the state line. Since folks in Sedgwick will make important decisions in the coming weeks, and lawsuits are almost certain to follow, let’s catch up on the last century or so.
1890s — Work begins on the South Divide Canal, now known as the Perkins County Canal project. The canal was meant to bring water into Nebraska during the offseason and store it for dry times. Construction is costly — $180,000 in 1891 — but gives local farmers work during a severe drought.
1902 — Funding dries up and the project collapses. Perkins County foots the bill.
1923 — Nebraska and Colorado sign the South Platte River Compact which divvies up water shares and grants Nebraska permission to construct the Perkins County Canal under a certain set of conditions. Those conditions include consent from the state of Colorado and a guaranteed supply to Colorado farmers. The compact also expressly mentions the use of eminent domain to construct the canal, which will come into play a century later.
April 2022 — Nebraska lawmakers approve a $500 million revival of the canal project and the Governor signs it into law, along with $53.5 million in funds to start designing the project.
March 2023 — Colorado’s former state water engineer studies Nebraska’s canal plans and responds with a five-page letter that essentially says: go ahead and build it, just don’t expect any water.
December 2023 — The Nebraska Department of Natural Resources purchases 90 acres east of Julesburg, the first acquisition of Colorado property using the canal project funds.
January 2025 — Nebraska sends notices of condemnation to the six Sedgwick County landowners, and Attorney General Phil Weiser responds, threatening legal action.
Speaking of the blend between state and national news, did you see that Colorado is getting it’s first National Women’s Soccer team? Games start in 2026 and season tickets are already selling fast.
— Parker & John
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