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.
The HD Mountains in southern Colorado were reportedly named after an old cattle brand, not the more contemporary “High Definition” television brand. But a plan by BP America and other oil and gas companies to drill natural gas in the low-elevation roadless area has brought into crystal-clear focus the debate over drilling for gas on public lands deemed “roadless” by the Clinton administration in 2001.
Pinedale, Wyoming is where people go to get away from it all. Here in paradise, though, ozone alerts have become as common as snow days.
Residents of Garfield County neighborhoods impacted by natural gas drilling have been approached by a New York City firm that last year landed a $712.5 million settlement for workers injured in the World Trade Center cleanup. A representative of Napoli Bern Ripka LLP will attend a meeting of potential plaintiffs Feb. 22 at the Glenwood Springs Community Center, according to an activist group fighting to mitigate drilling impacts. Also on hand will be attorneys from the Aspen law firm of Thomas Genshaft PC.
Colorado Democratic U.S. Reps Diana DeGette and Jared Polis are leading supporters of a move to force natural-gas drilling companies to disclose the chemicals they use to blast gas out of the ground in an increasingly controversial process called “fracking.” The two lawmakers were joined Thursday by 46 members of Congress in sending a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar asking him to back a proposal in which the Interior Department would require disclosure of all materials used in fracking operations conducted on public lands. The DeGette and Polis bloc faces strong opposition in Congress and, turns out, their main opponents are pulling down large donations from oil and gas companies.
Both Xcel Energy and environmental groups cautiously praised Thursday’s unanimous decision by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to convert the Cherokee 4 coal-fired power plant unit to natural gas. But both sides are clearly still concerned about the details in the plan.
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), in a floor speech Monday, called for expanding electric and natural gas vehicles legislation slated to come up for a procedural vote during the lame-duck session to encourage the use of ethanol. While he said he…
Less than two hours after President Obama suggested in a post-midterm press conference that Republicans and Democrats could find common ground on proposals to develop the country’s natural gas resources, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune underscored environmentalists’ love-hate relationship with the fossil fuel. He said gas, abundantly available in Colorado, isn’t he cleanest form of energy — but it’s a lot cleaner than coal.
Conservative Denver Post columnist Vince Carroll Wednesday underlined a move by new state House GOP leadership to do away with the energy part of the House Transportation and Energy Committee, a move meant to signal a priority shift away…
The political ramifications of Gov. Bill Ritter’s “New Energy Economy” are likely to energize at least one state House race on the Western Slope, where coal mining and natural gas production are now at odds over the governor’s Clean Air Clean Jobs Act. In the south, sprawling House District 61 includes heavy coal mining along the North Fork of the Gunnison River, and in the north the district includes the eastern reaches of Garfield County’s mega gas patch.
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