Colorado lawmakers react to Obama rejection of fast-tracked Keystone XL

President Barack Obama today agreed with a U.S. State Department recommendation not to fast track the controversial Keystone XL pipeline that would move tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf Coast of Texas. That decision predictably drew mixed reviews from Colorado’s congressional delegation and praise from the state’s conservation community.

As Texas blazes roar, Udall says Colorado not yet out of wildfire woods

Despite the recent round of wet weather in Colorado – including some snow above 12,000 feet – Colorado politicians and fire officials warned fall can be one of the most active seasons for wildfires.

Bear-human confrontations beginning to pick up in Colorado

A bear that attacked a teenage camper in Twin Lakes earlier this month is among just a few that the Colorado Division of Wildlife has had to put down this year — a far cry from the last couple of years. Last year, wildlife officers killed 80 bears mostly due to hot, dry conditions that forced scores of the animals into urbanized areas in southeastern Colorado.

Dwindling of Colorado River linked to climate change, energy production

Hard to imagine in a year when snowpack up until recently has been more than 200 percent of normal in the Colorado River Basin and its major tributaries on the state’s Western Slope, but the long-term prognosis for the river that provides water to more than 30 million people in the Desert Southwest is not good. A new interim report released this week by the federal government, Colorado and six other states along the river suggests that “by mid-century the average yield of the Colorado River could be reduced by 10-20 percent due to climate change.

Gore says Colorado must face fact bark beetle devastation is linked to global climate change

While Al Gore’s passion for the environment helped him ascend to the highest political offices – and earned him a Nobel prize and an Oscar — he told a symposium audience in Aspen Friday night that the Colorado forests he learned to love on a road trip 40 years ago have plunged into despair no thanks to rising temperatures, poor political will and tiny insects.

‘Carrotmob’ descends on Denver, Boulder for Global Works Party

The level of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere deemed acceptable by many scientists – including NASA’s James Hansen – is 350 parts per million. The current level is 392 ppm, and it continues to rise.

While action to fight climate…

Colorado 2022 Olympics, because elevation matters

A game a lot of the jaded journalists covering the Olympic Winter Games like to engage in is coining the most derogatory nickname describing the shortcomings of the host city or venue. In Italy in 2006, for example, the purpose-built (by Fiat) and frankly quite hideous ski town of Sestriere became “Sewerstriere” or “Disastriere.”

Udall: Rockefeller air pollution bill a Supreme Court end-around

Democrats differ widely on whether the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should be able to regulate greenhouse gas emissions as a form of air pollution under the Clean Air Act, and the rift seems to be mostly geographical and based on how much coal a state contains.

Aspen Chamber votes to call out U.S. Chamber for global-warming policies

The Aspen Chamber Resort Association’s board of directors Tuesday voted 12-2 to take on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for its questioning of global warming science and other policies it’s adopted that are aimed at thwarting climate-change legislation, according…

NYT reports Obama will attend climate conference, emissions target in hand

The New York Times government and political blog the Caucus was reporting Wednesday morning that President Obama will attend the United Nations global climate change summit in Copenhagen next month, where he will commit to reducing U.S. greenhouse gas…