Koch family feud finds common ground in funding for Tipton

Billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch don’t often see eye
to eye with youngest brother Bill. On at least two things, though, they share common ground: A love for Colorado and an eagerness to fund Rep. Scott Tipton’s campaigns.

BLM rethinking climate change impacts of coal mine methane on Colorado’s Western Slope

Environmental groups trying to compel the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to mitigate the climate change impacts of coal mine methane are encouraged by today’s BLM decision to reconsider approval of a mine expansion on Colorado’s Western Slope.

Coal mine methane capture plan sparks cautious praise, feasibility questions

Plans by a Denver-based company to capture and convert to energy methane gas spewing from a coal mine in western Colorado came as a surprise to environmentalists who have been urging such action for years and won praise from at least one potential customer, the Aspen Skiing Company. Holy Cross Energy, a Glenwood Springs-based electric co-op stretching from Aspen to Vail, is working with Denver-based Vessels Coal Gas to recover coal mine methane at Oxbow Mining’s Sanborn Creek Mine in Gunnison County, according to the Vessels website.

Environmental groups petition EPA to set air-pollution limits on coals mines

A coalition of national environmental groups Wednesday petitioned U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Lisa Jackson to begin limiting air pollution from coal mines nationwide, including several large mines in Colorado.

Earthjustice, WildEarth Guardians, the Center for Biological Diversity, the…

Colorado coal mine rep inaccurately claims methane flaring illegal

Obviously pleased with last week’s roadless ruling allowing Oxbow Mining to vent more methane at is Elk Creek Mine near Paonia, a company spokesman over the weekend also took the opportunity to skewer environmentalists on the issue of methane capture or flaring.

Plan to open forestland for mine venting called ‘outrageous’

Even as Gov. Bill Ritter Thursday thanked U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack for allowing road building around a coal mine in relatively unmolested Colorado forestland near Paonia, environmental groups and sportsmen harshly condemned the decision for exposing forest but also for flying in the face of smart business efforts to combat global warming.