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?
methane
Posted inEnvironment
Colorado is first in the U.S. to make rules tying pollution reduction to oil and gas production
The “emissions intensity” rule requires companies closely monitor methane releases and limits allowed pollution based on how much oil and gas they produce
Posted inOpinion Columns
Opinion: Colorado is writing the national blueprint on methane control
It’s been boring, hard work, but it promises historic results — and it was almost undone by state legislators demanding even more regulations.
Posted inEnvironment
Will a Colorado biochar company lock up enough carbon to help the planet?
Biochar Now explains how smoldering wood into charcoal might take a small bite from climate change
Posted inOpinion Columns
Opinion: To regulate methane emissions, Colorado needs clear data
Simply collecting methane measurements is not enough. Getting to one accurate version of the truth is harder than it looks
Posted inClimate, Energy, News, Politics and Government
First comprehensive oil and gas drilling plan under Colorado’s new regulations gets go-ahead
Colorado’s first comprehensive oil and gas development plan — a new mechanism aimed at better assessing and managing the cumulative impacts of drilling — was approved by state regulators Wednesday, paving the way for more than 200 new wells in Weld County. Kerr-McGee, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corp., got a greenlight from Colorado Oil […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Yes, we can help reduce greenhouse gases
It was a freakishly warm and very windy day. Driving back from Dillon on Highway 93, it was difficult to keep the car on the road. Debris such as plastic swimming pools and construction materials blew across the road, making it challenging to keep the car on the highway. As we neared Boulder, the road […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, Health, News, Politics and Government
Report that oil field methane emissions are down by half is wrong, Front Range cities with own pollution monitors say
Air pollution from oil and gas operations is on the wane, the industry says. But communities along the Front Range — with their own air monitors — counter that they are finding repeated spikes of methane and other pollutants. “Ground-level methane monitoring shows no decline in levels,” Cindy Copeland, an air and climate policy advisor […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Economy, Environment, News, Technology
Here’s how Colorado oil and gas companies say they are getting to net-zero emissions
Soon after Bayswater Exploration & Production installed Project Canary devices next to a few sites it was drilling for oil and gas, an alarm would go off at different times and at different locations. The alarms indicated there was a methane leak. But where? An alarm would stop but start up again, seemingly randomly. The […]
Posted inClimate, Energy, Environment, News
West Elk mine cannot leak methane, must flare the greenhouse gas, judge rules
The West Elk coal mine must keep flaring dangerous methane and seek state air pollution permits instead of leaking the greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, in a consent decree hailed by environmental groups across Colorado. Though burning the methane on-site near Somerset creates CO2, it causes far less damage to the atmosphere than allowing raw […]