COLORADO SPRINGS – Colorado’s Proposition 112, that would have required 2,500 foot buffers between new oil and gas drilling sites and occupied buildings such as homes and schools, failed last week in the state’s general election. Industry lobbyists and campaigners spent $30 million arguing that the grassroots ballot measure threatened to significantly limit the extraction…
COMMERCE CITY – Short grass prairie is starting to re-emerge at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge just outside of Denver. Flocks of birds move across the sky along with airplanes from Denver International Airport. The 15,000 acre refuge has to handle more than just the wildlife. The refuge’s urban location means that, in many…
SUMMITVILLE – The Summitville mine superfund site sits high in the alpine tundra above the San Luis Valley. Blanketed in snow, the peak once swarmed by gold miners looks peaceful. A small stream cutting down the slope stains the surrounding snow a reddish orange, like a scar which never fully healed. Current plans for the…
SAN LUIS VALLEY – Hundreds of years ago before southern Colorado’s San Luis Valley was cut into farms and ranchland, bison roamed freely. Today, bison are back – brought in as part of an effort to ranch more sustainably in the drought plagued valley. “For us to go in to the future, we have to…
SAN LUIS VALLEY – Great Sand Dunes National Park maybe the most desolate place in Colorado, but this inhospitable landscape is may be an economic jackpot for the financially plagued San Luis Valley. As agriculture in the region faces an uncertain future, tourism is emerging as a promising new revenue source. “It’s inspiration,” says Fred…
COLORADO SPRINGS – A large, blue generator sits in the middle of an empty industrial floor. The side is adorned with a faded Colorado Springs Utilities sign. The 297,000 horsepower General Electric turbine emits a constant roar, bouncing sound off a maze of pipes and echoing of the high cement ceiling. While the generator room…
COLORADO SPRINGS – Monster hurricanes associated with climate change once again have hammered the southeastern coast of the United States. New federal research finds water is also likely to cause havoc in landlocked states such as Colorado. “More run-off, more rain, more snow,” says U.S. Geologic Survey research hydrologist William Battaglin. “As temperatures go up,…
As I walk into the East Campus apartment complex, I am quickly engulfed by three rectangular buildings. Adorned with laminate siding and painted with an array of pastel browns and blues, the newly completed housing development at Colorado College presents itself as a meticulously maintained, residential utopia. The landscaping is sparse and uninspired, as…
