Marshall Fire, Legislative Session, PUC Update, Action Alert, and More! |
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"Within a few minutes of the grass fire touching a home, I could faintly hear an explosion from my back deck. Then flames shot-up dramatically and not long after there was the toxic smell.
Then came the call to evacuate. One way or another we will address Climate Change... hopefully by informed design and not by disaster response."
- Alison Burchell, CEA Outreach Director,
on witnessing the Marshall Fire
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Action Alert: Sign List of Demands and Tell Governor Polis to Prioritize the Climate Crisis
Thanks to all who joined United for Colorado's Climate's State of the Climate Rally at the Colorado State Capitol! Turnout and coverage were high while we called for Governor Polis to declare a climate emergency.
If you haven't already, sign on to the list of demands for Colorado to do more to end fossil fuel use HERE.
Then take Governor Polis's 2022 Colorado Priorities Survey HERE and write in the climate emergency, which was maddeningly absent from the provided choices.
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Upcoming Event: Empower Hour with Ron Sinton
All electricity customers (especially EV owners) can enable low-cost clean power. Will they?
What: Empower Our Future Empower Hour
When: Thursday, January 20, 6pm
Where: Virtual, Register HERE
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The Marshall Fire Was Caused by Climate Change
Politicians have been bending over backward to avoid connecting the Marshall Fire to the climate emergency. The truth is, climate change, and by extension the fossil fuel industry, are causing these extreme and once-anomalous events to happen more often. Read more HERE.
"If nobody mentions that the fossil-fuel industry is responsible for the Boulder firestorm, it's not too likely they'll be held responsible."
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The Return of the Urban Firestorm
See HERE for an illuminating analysis of the fire.
We should also take this opportunity to make it easier to rebuild without gas. See deeper dives on this topic HERE and HERE.
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State Legislation Session Begins
Work also continues in state agencies to implement bills passed in previous years, which is critical to getting to a 50% reduction in GHGs by 2030. Read more HERE.
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United Power Announces
Split from Tri-State
After years of legal sparring, United Power, the largest electric cooperative in the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, is moving to break with the wholesale power provider. See more on the split HERE.
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Federal Surface Transportation Board Approves New Railway for Crude Oil
The Surface Transportation Board approved the Uinta Basin Railway last month, which will push three to ten trains of ‘waxy crude’ through Colorado communities every day. See The Colorado Sun article HERE.
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False Solutions: Why Nuclear Power is Bad for Your Wallet and the Climate
There are a number of proposed solutions to the climate crisis that would cause more harm than good, or at the very least diverting critical money and resources from better solutions. Nuclear power, even from the new smaller, more advanced reactors, is one of them.
Nuclear is outrageously expensive compared to wind and solar, takes a long time to get built (often severely overbudget), and will always have the radioactive waste problem. We should not waste a dime on nuclear power when there are much cheaper, faster, and safer solutions available. More details HERE.
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Colorado Supreme Court to Review Boulder County Oil and Gas Case
In the lawsuit, Boulder County alleged that two county-owned oil and gas leases expired because of a gap in oil and gas production. Both the district court and court of appeals held that the leases did not expire even though Crestone did not produce oil and gas from them for 122 days in 2014. See the case details HERE.
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PUC Update
In early January, Xcel filed an unopposed rate case settlement agreement for its 2022 rate case, seeking a net rate increase of $182 million. Meanwhile, new workpapers and testimony were submitted in Xcel's Clean Energy Plan and the Colorado PUC agreed that the state should join an organized energy market.
Read more about December PUC activities HERE.
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What We Are Reading
Environmental Groups Launch Six-Figure Ad Campaign Pressuring Colorado’s Governor to act on Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells
See the ad campaign, Protect Colorado Taxpayers, HERE.
Mining Company Agrees to Pay Colorado $1.6 million in Gold King Mine Spill Settlement
More details on the spill and settlement can be seen HERE.
22 (+1) Intriguing Microgrid Projects to Watch in 2022
The trend is toward more renewables, lower cost, more modularity, and more diverse applications. See the watch list HERE and the +1 HERE.
Biden Halts Federal Aid to New Fossil Fuel Projects Overseas
It doesn't affect existing international projects or domestic projects, and has many carveouts, but if implemented rigorously it could be an important step. More on this exciting news HERE.
What We Are Watching
Don't Look Up
If you have access to Netflix, we highly recommend the political satire Don't Look Up. It's a standoff between science and concern for humanity on the one hand and denial and opportunism on the other when a comet is discovered to be heading toward Earth. It's relatable - and sobering - because it's a shortened version of what we're experiencing right now with the climate crisis.
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Spotlight on Organizations That Do Great Work
CEA is a member of USCAN, which is a network of almost 200 organizations working together to meet the global goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. It is part of Climate Action Network International (CAN, sometimes referred to as ICAN).
CEA is also a member of CLEAN, which is a network of educators and collection of resources for climate education, focusing on climate change. They strive to be a clearing house for the accurate and up-to-date science of climate change as well as solutions for the climate emergency.
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Happy New Year and thank you for tuning in!
- The Clean Energy Action Team
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