As this corner of the state deals with coal-fired power plants shutting down and sagging oil and gas revenue, diversifying the local economy is now in full gear. Plus: Colorado home sales are down though prices are up.
coal mining
Posted inOutdoors
Measuring methane from leaky old mines? OK. Flaring the gas to keep it out of the atmosphere? That’s “a double-edged sword.”
An intractable question is simmering in the Crystal River Valley. Is burning off huge amounts of potent greenhouse gas emissions worth backtracking on 30 years of coal mine restoration?
Posted inEnvironment
Colorado to dig up long-burning coal seam fire near Marshall disaster in Boulder County
The “Lewis Site” is another long-burning Marshall Mesa coal seam fire now sparking and needing urgent extinguishing
Posted inEnergy
Colorado planned to lease state land to Utah power company for a natural gas plant. Then protests surfaced.
Deseret Power seeks Colorado public land near Rangely for a 50 megawatt generating station, but green groups are attacking the idea of more subsidized fossil fuel burning
Posted inBusiness
Oil, gas, coal mining on federal land in Colorado generates $393M in revenue, most in 14 years
Increasing royalties for the first time since the 1920s is credited for some of the extra revenue due to Colorado governments this fiscal year
Posted inEnergy, News
Judge revives Obama-era ban on coal sales from federal lands
By Matthew Brown, The Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. — A federal judge on Friday reinstated a moratorium on coal leasing from federal lands that was imposed under former President Barack Obama and then scuttled under former President Donald Trump. The ruling from U.S. District Judge Brian Morris requires government officials to conduct a new environmental review before […]
Posted inClimate, Energy, Environment, News
Environmental coalition sues Colorado over late air pollution permit for West Elk Mine
Colorado has missed by almost a year an air pollution permit deadline for the West Elk Mine near Paonia, a major Western Slope source of volatile organic compounds, n-hexane, methane and other pollutants, according to a lawsuit filed by a coalition of environmental groups. Arch Coal-owned West Elk applied for an air pollution permit in […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Economy, Education, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Budgets fat with fossil fuel revenue at odds with climate-change goals in states like Colorado
By Morgan Lee and Mead Gruver, The Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. — Government budgets are booming in New Mexico: Teacher salaries are up, residents can go to an in-state college tuition-free, moms will get medical care for a year after childbirth, and criminal justice initiatives are being funded to reduce urban violence. The reason […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Craig, one of Colorado’s last coal towns, grapples with its future as its power plant and mine shut down
By Patty Nieberg, The Associated Press CRAIG — In a quiet valley tucked away from Colorado’s bustling ski resorts, far from his hometown in northern Mexico, Trinidad Loya found a way to support his family’s American dream: Coal. He, his son and grandson — all named Trinidad Loya — worked for the coal plant in […]
Posted inEconomy, Energy, News
Some worried western Montrose County would fade after the coal plant closed. It hasn’t.
Nucla — Brad Campbell took the best job he could after graduating high school, working at the local coal-fired power plant for up to $42 an hour. He got married, bought a house and paid it off in three years. When he learned Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association would close the Nucla plant early, in […]