COLORADO SPRINGS–Sitting in the heart of the coal-fired Ray Nixon power plant, a giant blue General Electric generator, spinning at 3,600 revolutions per minute, churns out 225 megawatts of electricity for residents of a growing city. This was state-of-the-art electrical generation when the plant opened. Three decades later, the generator stands out as a relic…
COLORADO SPRINGS — Colorado Springs Utility owns the Clear Springs Ranch on the semi-arid prairie southeast of the city, and operates two power plants — one coal and one natural gas. Nearby, utility contractors have installed 140,000 solar panels. These facilities, along with the coal-fired Drake power plant in the middle of downtown, generate electricity…
ERIE — Sitting on a park bench in Erie, a town north of metro Denver along Colorado’s heavily populated Front Range, town councilman Christiaan van Woudenberg looks out at a 40-foot high beige sound wall surrounding a massive oil and gas production facility. The noise from drilling cuts through the air, foul fumes that drift…
DENVER – Scientists studying ancient air trapped in ice cores in the federal government’s minus-40 freezer say there’s no doubt human air pollution is causing global climate change. But U.S. politicians, especially at the federal level, are failing to lead the shift away from fossil fuels that scientists say is necessary to avoid environmental catastrophe.…
ERIE- Weld County resident Amanda Harper is fighting for her home — increasingly under assault by an expanding fossil fuel industry — and is counting on Colorado voters. On a recent afternoon, she stood tall on a road in front of her yellow brick house, surrounded by acres of misty farmland pockmarked by oil and…
