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 […]
coal transition communities
Posted inBusiness, Economy, Energy, Environment, News, Outdoors
Coal is fading in northwest Colorado. The region is betting its economic future on another natural resource.
DINOSAUR NATIONAL MONUMENT — The 10 rafts are secured to the banks of the Green River. The tents are up. The sun is setting over the sandstone canyon walls. As 30 rafters dig into steaming bowls of chili, it’s time to start planning for the future. How can northwest Colorado entice and manage visitors, protect […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News, Newsletters, Outsider
A rare new coal mine in southern Colorado adds to Trinidad’s economic revival
The first new coal mine in Colorado in almost a decade fired up operations this month, marking a rare upturn in the steadily declining coal industry. There were about 1,700 coal mines in Colorado a century ago. Today there are seven, and all but one is preparing for a world without coal-powered electrical plants. Southern […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Coloradans, Economy, Environment, News
Colorado’s North Fork Valley finds “baby-step” solutions to tackle its big problem with methane-leaking mines
Chris Caskey points across the river to a thin thread of steam rising from a snow-caked cliff. “That’s methane,” he said of the emissions seeping from the long-shuttered Bear Mine. “Millions of cubic feet, every day. That’s the equivalent of tens of thousands of cars.” Across the North Fork Valley in Gunnison County, nearly 20 […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, News
Colorado wants to help after coal leaves town. It’s going to take time. And a lot of money.
A state plan to support the economies of 11 Colorado counties where coal mines and power plants are closing anticipates a price tag of at least $100 million to help workers and their communities. The state wants to help coal communities however it can, but the people who spent more than a year developing the […]