Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government

Colorado Democrats want to accelerate the governor’s emissions reduction roadmap. Polis says he’s not on board.

In a move to bolster Colorado’s push to cut greenhouse gas emissions, Democratic legislators are seeking to put pollution reductions outlined by the Polis administration into law, set deadlines and provide more money for the effort. Senate Bill 200 is an effort to codify much of the work that has gone to curb pollutants since […]

Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government

Colorado oil and gas industry blasts Biden’s pause on public lands drilling as environmental advocates cheer

Conservation advocates in the West quickly praised President Joe Biden’s executive order pausing new oil and gas leases on federal lands and in federal waters, while the resource industry and local business backers called it a misguided attack with massive economic fallout.  “For far too long, federal lands in Colorado have been leased to big […]

Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, Health, News

“Flaring” at oil and gas wells to be curtailed as Colorado regulators adopt some of nation’s strictest rules

Flaring, the practice of burning off gas from oil and gas wells, will be limited to a handful of state-approved circumstances under the most comprehensive rules in the nation, adopted Thursday by Colorado regulators. “We’ve done a good job for Colorado and the nation,” Jeff Robbins, the chairman of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation […]

Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, Health, News, Transportation, Wildfire

Wildfires make work to reduce Colorado’s greenhouse gas emissions even more crucial, Gov. Polis says

Even as massive wildfires swept across northern Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday urged  state air regulators to “never take our eye from the ball of the climate crisis.” The fires that have engulfed the state for months only underscore the need to meet the state’s  goal of reducing  greenhouse gas emissions, which have been […]

Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government

Colorado releases its plan to slash greenhouse gases, leaving some environmental groups wanting more

The road to curbing Colorado’s greenhouse gases runs through heavy cuts to emissions from power plants and oil and gas operations, but also winds across ambitious reductions in pollution from cars, buildings and cows, according to a state plan released Wednesday. The Colorado Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap, released by Gov. Jared Polis’ administration after […]

Posted inEnergy, Environment, Health, Politics and Government, Transportation

Is Colorado leading or lagging on climate policy? It depends on which states you’re comparing us to.

States from coast to coast – faced with President Donald Trump’s insistence that climate change is “a hoax” – are taking the lead in creating climate policy and programs, and in this multifaceted exercise Colorado is either a leader or a laggard. On the one hand, the state has adopted some of the most ambitious […]

Posted inBusiness, COVID, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government

Environmentalists worry Colorado will see a surge of abandoned oil and gas wells as industry tanks

As the oil market craters and the economy is throttled by the novel coronavirus pandemic, environmental and grassroots groups are worrying about a potential surge in abandoned oil and gas wells, but state regulators maintain that the risk appears to be limited. The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission held a meeting Monday to review […]

Posted inBusiness, COVID, Energy, Environment, Health, News

Colorado oil and gas regulators punt major rule changes until after their paid replacements are hired

Colorado’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission voted Wednesday to push its massive overhaul of the state’s drilling regulations to the late summer while oil and gas activity in the state is plummeting. The culprit for both the rulemaking delay and eroding oil and gas activity is the same: the novel coronavirus pandemic that has shut […]

Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, Growth, News, Politics and Government, Technology

Colorado is overhauling climate goals with an eye on scrubbing carbon from its electricity

Colorado energy policy is undergoing a major overhaul with four transformative bills working their way through the legislature and the state’s Public Utilities Commission embarking on the revision of six sets of rules. “It is an exciting time,” said Will Toor, executive director of the Colorado Energy Office. “The political leadership, the economics and the […]