By Mitchell Adams PAONIA– Casually zooming through dimly lit tunnels deep inside a mountain housing Colorado’s last underground coal mine, John Poulos, an engineering manager at West Elk Coal Mine, blinked the headlights of a rugged pickup truck before taking a sharp turn. As Poulos routinely navigated the 7.5-mile long maze, he discussed the future…
By Mitchell Adams CRESTED BUTTE—High in the Elk Mountain Range, there is no question that climate change is reshaping the environment. But, two prevalent town figures who agree on climate science are fighting for fundamentally different responses. One wants to prioritize the preservation of the natural ecosystem, while the other wants to capitalize on global…
By Mitchell Adams SALIDA— Proudly gazing through a window at the five fourteen thousand-foot peaks he can see from his log-cabin-chic living room, homeowner Jerry Mallett explained why he chose to build his dream home in a forest fire zone. “My wife wanted a view,” Mallett said with a grin. “We had to roll the…
By Mitchell Adams ALAMOSA— For farmers in the San Luis Valley, farming is more than work. It is their life. “It’s what we do,” said Cleave Simpson, the general manager of the Rio Grande Water Conservation District. “People have been here for eight to nine generations doing the same thing.” Agriculture is the largest industry…
By Mitchell Adams Employees at the coal-burning Martin Drake Power Station in Colorado Springs say they feel misunderstood by climate activists who view burning fossil fuels negatively due to their prolific emission of harmful greenhouse gasses. “We have the cards that we’ve been dealt,” said Ian Gavin, the manager of the power plant, while discussing…
By Mitchell Adams From being unable to play outside with friends as a child due to extreme heat in Botswana to losing the ability to jump off of a beloved pier on Lake Michigan because it became submerged due to lake rise, students at Colorado College have been grappling with the mental impacts of climate…
Photographers include Whitton Feer, Johnna Geick, Bruce Finley, Rainy Adkins, Auguste Voss, and Mitchell Adams
