Shaffer, Dems skewer Rep. Gardner for politicizing Colorado’s deadly High Park Fire

It didn’t take long for the High Park Fire to become politicized.

Protect the Flows group lobbies Salazar, congressional leaders on Colorado River health

Five representatives of a coalition of 250 small businesses in the Colorado River Basin called Protect the Flows have been in Washington the last two days meeting with congressional leaders and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to advocate for policies that maintain sustainable water levels in the river and its tributaries.

New air study finds dangerous chemicals near gas drilling communities in Colo., N.M.

At least 22 toxic chemicals, including four known human carcinogens, were found in nine separate air samples taken near natural gas drilling operations by community advocacy and environmental groups in Garfield and La Plata counties in Colorado and the San Juan Basin of New Mexico, according to a new report from Global Community Monitor.

New study demonstrates toxic impacts of hydrofracking fluid on forest life

Hydraulic fracturing itself may not directly contaminate groundwater supplies, as the oil and gas industry has steadfastly maintained for years, but the wastewater associated with the controversial process can be very hazardous to forest life, at least according to a new study produced by a U.S. Forest Service researcher.

Salazar gets paddle for ‘navigating consensus over controversy’ on Colorado River

For those who say the American Southwest is up a creek without a paddle in terms of the future water supplies in the Colorado River Basin, they can take comfort in the fact that at least Interior Secretary Ken Salazar now has one.

EPA selects Colorado site as part of ongoing study of fracking impacts on drinking water

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced seven sites for its ongoing and congressionally mandated study of the potential impacts of the natural gas drilling process of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water supplies. One of those sites is in Las Animas County, Colorado.

Large percentage of Exxon, Chevron shareholders vote for fracking study

Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson today admitted the natural gas drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, comes with certain risks, telling reporters at the company’s annual meeting that the debate still needs to stay fact-based. “We know there are risks,” Tillerson said, according to Reuters. “We’re not trying to characterize this as an activity that does not have risks.”

Udall calls for probe of Fourmile Canyon Fire response

Colorado Sen. Mark Udall today fired off a letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Gov. Bill Ritter requesting a formal study of Boulder’s highly destructive Fourmile Canyon Fire.

Udall, who requested a similar study after the state’s largest…

New study underscores dangers of hydraulic fracturing

A new study by a Paonia, Colo.-based doctor who’s a frequent critic of the state’s natural gas industry, has been accepted for publication in the International Journal of Human and Ecological Risk Assessment.

“Natural Gas Operations From a Public…

Still unchecked, Boulder fire sparks climate change, beetle kill debate

As strong winds whipped up again overnight in the Boulder area, where a Colorado record 169 homes have already been destroyed in the ongoing Fourmile Canyon Fire, there’s also a growing firestorm of debate over how climate change contributes to wildfires across the West.