By Rainy Adkins Colorado’s high country is emerging as the home to some of the most energy-efficient houses on the planet. Even though temperatures dip well below zero in the winter these homes require no furnaces, and their solar panels allow them to actually make money selling electricity. The homeowners say they’ve built them deliberately…
CRESTED BUTTE- As climate change constrains skiing and biking seasons and outdoor recreation emerges as an economic mainstay in Crested Butte, residents are raising concerns. Some assert that the town may be at carrying capacity for tourism. “Normal Monday to Friday locals are pissed,” said Evan Marcus, a ski and bike coach for Crested Butte…
By Whitton Feer – Gothic, Colorado Evan Marcus stood behind the counter of Teocali Tamale. His curly black hair and mustache blended together beneath his ski industry trucker hat as he prepared tamales and blended margaritas. “It’s hard to be a local here,” he said. Marcus, who has lived in Crested Butte for 6 years…
By Johnna Geick Residents of Southern Colorado are feeling the effects of climate change, but remain divided on the value of personal efforts versus systematic changes. Big ski corporations like Aspen Ski Company are driving for political and institutional change, claiming individual conservation efforts are trivial. But others emphasize the importance of small-scale changes, to…
By Carly Valerious PAONIA– Three members in the Welt family work at the last functioning coal mine in the north fork valley and they are struggling to deal with implications that result from the dying coal industry. Our planet is getting warmer and the need to switch to renewable energy sources, like solar, is becoming…
By Carly Valerious Climate change is making the harsh winters in Crested Butte more livable, but also threatens the small towns solitude and wilderness. Warming temperatures in already hot states are pushing residents out to more temperate places. Ski areas are closing all around the country, which impacts the entire industry. The livelihood of the…
The Great Sand Dunes roll like waves without crests. Seven hundred feet tall, towering before me, their flawlessly smooth surface seemed impossible. Our class of twelve young journalists drove from our temporary home in Crestone, Colorado to Alamosa, hoping to clear our minds amidst the dunes after days of intensive interviewing and article writing. I…
Farmers in the San Luis Valley are working alongside researchers and government officials to maximize their yields of potatoes in a valley that may be undergoing aridification due to Climate Change. The depletion of water in the valley’s complicated aquifer system due to slow downward trends in snowfall could be disastrous for agriculture. Governmental programs…
By Lili Weir A regional trend of increased aridity will decrease the amount of water available to people in the San Luis Valley, and calls into question how residents of the greater area are responding to the economic and ecological shifts. “I don’t want to say bleak” but water levels “look diminishing” Rio Grande Water…
By Whitton Feer – Salida, Colorado The smoke was thickening, illuminated by amber truck headlights. Neighbors packed their belongings before speeding down the road. Homeowners scrambled, passports thrown into boxes, musical instruments shoved through car doors in haste. The sirens blared constantly, as first responders struggled to maintain some order through an event fraught with…
