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 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 […]

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

Biden’s climate plan aims to reduce methane emissions

By Matthew Daly, The Associated Press WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Tuesday launched a wide-ranging plan to reduce methane emissions, targeting a potent greenhouse gas that contributes significantly to global warming and packs a stronger short-term punch than even carbon dioxide. The plan was announced as President Joe Biden wraps up a two-day appearance […]

Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, News

Smells like a fossil fuel. Works like a fossil fuel. But these Colorado stations pump a gas with emissions less than zero.

The fuel that comes out of the gleaming pumps at X3CNG’s west Greeley station has the telltale smell of fossil fuel. It runs a big truck with the heavy-duty efficiency of a fossil fuel.  But the impact of the transaction can be the opposite of burning fossil fuel.  X3CNG and many of its competitors in […]

Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns

Opinion: Colorado’s leadership on methane control is reducing greenhouse gases — and increasing jobs

Now more than ever, we need bold leadership at the local, state and federal levels as we face the immediate and severe consequences of a rapidly changing climate. The 2021 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report made it unequivocally clear that greenhouse gases are driving extreme weather, including the severe heat and drought we are […]