COLORADO SPRINGS – Nearly the center of the country sits Colorado Springs, a city grappling with the same energy debate the whole country faces. For some Americans, coal symbolizes the country’s position as a global industry powerhouse. For others, coal represents decades of irresponsible energy consumption and pollution that has poisoned the environment. Colorado Springs…
GREAT SAND DUNES – With encroaching light pollution, agricultural water diversion, and climate change, managers at the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, the iconic park located in the San Luis Valley outside of Hooper, Colorado, have increasing reasons to monitor the land outside the park’s borders. “If we’re in the natural business,” says…
COLORADO SPRINGS – An October 2018 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that in order to minimize drastic changes in Earth’s climate, electricity production from coal must make up less than 2 percent of total electricity generation by the year 2050. Yet utilities around the country rely on coal to produce…
GREAT SAND DUNES NATIONAL PARK – At Great Sand Dunes National Park, sand steadily rises to tower over visitors as they stare up at hikers who choose to trek to the dunes’ peaks, way above their heads. Walking among the dunes, one realizes their insignificance relative to the grandeur of nature. Visitors are attracted to…
COLORADO SPRINGS – As the implications of climate change grow more dire, scientific reports are encouraging a faster shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy in order to reduce emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. Some municipal utility officials are beginning to address harm their power plants may be causing to the environment. Colorado Springs Utilities…
SUMMITVILLE MINE — At the top of a snowy peak in the middle of the San Juan Mountain Range in Rio Grande county Colorado sit piles of toxic orange sludge covered in fresh white snow. The sludge, dirt, and heavy metals removed from the creek water has been moved here as part of a United…
ALAMOSA—Colorado’s San Luis Valley faces a water crisis that threatens survival of thousands of residents due to over use and over development of a marginal supply. Over the past 100 years, insurance companies subsidized the development of the San Luis Valley by offering coverage to farmers. Those companies helped promote this arid, desolate part of the United States…
WELD COUNTY – Scattered brick houses sit amid tidy farm fields in politically-conservative Weld County, the heart of Colorado’s oil and gas drilling boom. Here, fossil fuel companies regularly tout their adherence to golden rule principles – treating your neighbor as you would want to be treated. The companies claim they want to be good…
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…
