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 […]
Paonia
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, 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 inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Colorado’s Bureau of Land Management lawsuit needs to go forward, even with Biden’s oil and gas pause
Why is the state of Colorado suing the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and does it even matter now that the Biden administration is at the helm? The answers are: For us, and yes! Filing suit against the BLM is something state officials are doing for the public good, and we’re grateful they are standing […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, Economy, News, Wildfire
Grape disappointment: Colorado vineyards say an October freeze will chill their 2021 vintage
The grape vines lined up in rows throughout the Grand and North Fork valleys look promising for a 2021 vintage with their usual winter-brown foliage bunched neatly on trellises. But cut into a bud, or scrape a stalk, and there are hints of the underlying damage done by a severe late-October freeze. An estimated 70% […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government
Coal company says its freshly bulldozed road in roadless area near Paonia is legal
Mountain Coal Co. says the road it blazed into the Sunset Roadless Area below Kebler Pass is legal and that the Forest Service approved the construction. Conservation groups have attacked the Somerset-based mining company for building the road in early June after the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on March 2 ruled the Forest […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Politics and Government
White House threatens veto of CORE Act, the massive Colorado public lands bill splitting the state’s congressional delegation
President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday threatened to veto the CORE Act in a statement that said the massive Colorado public lands bill puts the Western Slope economy at risk. The White House also said that not enough local input has been addressed when it comes to the legislation, which is expected to get a […]