Critics call for Colorado to forget Flaming Gorge pipeline after latest federal denial

A second blow was dealt Thursday to a proposal to construct a 501-mile pipeline from Wyoming’s Flaming Gorge to Colorado’s Front Range when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) deemed the application premature. Opponents quickly questioned how Colorado leaders could take the project seriously considering the Army Corps of Engineers rejected an earlier application.

Tipton, Gardner cite scant snowpack as reason to add reservoirs, remove regulations

Colorado’s skimpy snowpack is setting off alarm bells for U.S. Reps. Cory Gardner and Scott Tipton. But not because they interpret the drought as a sign of human-caused climate change. The way they see it, Congress should slash environmental protections — not strengthen them.

Commerce City spill cited as reason for caution ahead of Front Range oil boom

Conservationists are pointing to oily muck likely oozing from a Suncor Energy oil refinery in Commerce City toward the South Platte River as an example of what can go very wrong in the looming oil and gas boom along Colorado’s Front Range.

Oil shale opponents’ DC ‘fly-in’ seeks to expose never-ending ‘science project’

Opponents of oil shale development in western Colorado, Wyoming and Utah participated in a “fly-in” to Washington, D.C. this week to push for increased federal oversight of the still-unproven form of energy that would consume huge amounts of water and conventional power.

RAND Corp. representative cites ‘adverse ecological impacts’ of oil shale

A representative of an organization whose research on oil shale production has been cited for years testified before Congress Friday that “decisions made by the federal government may have a profound impact on the residents in the northwestern quarter of Colorado …”

Info-graphic circling Web takes on bottled water

Last year the Colorado Independent reported that Nestle made a deal with Chaffee County to pump millions of gallons of water from springs near the Arkansas River, cart it 6,000 miles a day on the road between Johnson Village and Denver, pour it into bottles and sell it as Arrowhead Springs mineral water. That’s the same water that comes out of taps in municipalities across the state, water Coloradans can drink for a fraction of the price Nestle charges. The Chaffee County case was just one flash point in the larger battle over bottled water. Today, the group Online Education is sending around an info-graphic on bottled water prodding Americans to just think about what they’re doing, at least a little bit, next time they go to the gym or the corner store or Costco or anywhere bottled water winks at you alluringly from a shelf.

Hickenlooper says water is Colorado’s most important natural resource

“Water is the most vital of all our natural resources,” Governor John Hickenlooper today told the annual convention of the Colorado Water Congress.

GAO calls for study on water requirements tied to oil shale development

A new Government Accountability Office report (pdf) issued this week concludes that a lot more study of water resources needs to be conducted before there’s a full-blown resurgence of the Colorado’s Western Slope oil shale industry.

Actually, resurgence isn’t…

Gubernatorial candidates address conservation issues

Several conservation, sportsmen and wildlife groups in Colorado asked the state’s three gubernatorial candidates, Democrat John Hickenlooper, Republican Dan Maes and American Constitution Party candidate Tom Tancredo, nine questions covering a number of issues specifically relating to the economy, wildlife,…

Governor Ritter makes the grade

Governor Bill Ritter, who has staked his claim on making Colorado a leader in the “green economy,” got his report card yesterday and he did OK.

Colorado Conservation Voters graded the governor in seven subjects, with grades ranging from…