Cultivando Win, The Elephant in the Room (Methane), New Podcast, and More! |
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As we prepared the newsletter, the International Energy Agency released a report entitled Net Zero by 2050, in which they have determined that there is no need for any more fossil fuel development. This is important because IEA guidance is often used to justify fossil fuel investment.
"Beyond projects already committed as of 2021, there are no new oil and gas fields approved for development in our pathway, and no new coal mines or mine extensions are required."
Dive into the report and interactive webpage HERE.
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Upcoming Event: Regenerative Recovery Coalition Convening
The next quarterly Regenerative Recovery Coalition Convening will focus on regenerative agriculture.
When: Tuesday, May 25, 2021
Where: Virtual, Register HERE
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Upcoming Event: Xcel Energy Resource Plan Study Sessions
Clean Energy Action is continuing its Xcel 2021 ERP Study Group to take a deep dive into the plan. It will be followed this summer by more focused training sessions that will help prepare people to provide testimony during ERP public hearings, expected to be this fall. Sessions will generally be held every 2nd and 4th Monday until the ERP has been adequately covered.
Click HERE for more information, including expected topics.
Next Session
When: May 24, 2021, 10:30 am and 7 pm,
attend whichever time works for you
Where: Virtual, 10:30 am link HERE
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CDPHE Whistleblower Update: Allegations Widen
Attorney General Phil Weiser will hire an independent investigator to probe whether employees at the state Department of Public Health and the Environment falsified data and illegally issued air quality permits. Read more HERE.
Two more people have now joined the complaint for a total of five. They have asked the attorney general to expand the investigation to include new allegations about multiple coal plants and mines. More details HERE.
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Suncor Update: Exciting Win for Cultivando
Cultivando's independent air-monitoring proposal wins approval for just under $1 million of the Suncor settlement funds. Read more about the settlement HERE.
Also tying Suncor to the whistleblower complaint, the draft Suncor permit was cited in a 2010 guidance memo that has since been "retired" after the whistleblowers claimed it was illegal. More details HERE.
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New Podcast: Eco! Colorado
In partnership with Safe and Healthy Colorado, Trish Garcia-Nelson (from Bella Romero), Ean Tafoya (Green Latinos), and Henry Lai have started a podcast called Eco! Colorado that gives environmental news in bite-size chunks. Check out the podcast HERE. The first one is about Suncor's Title 5 permit renewals.
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Value of (Distributed) Solar
Blog Series
This month's entry examines a study by Michigan Technological University that finds that distributed solar decreases the utility's costs, which in turn should decrease the rates of ratepayers who don't have solar. Read the story on the CEA website HERE.
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We Need To Talk About Methane: Part One
It has become abundantly clear to the climate movement that oil and gas are just as harmful to the climate as coal, but governments are still not using the best available science to quantify the impacts.
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Oil and gas is the blue section
For more information on this unavoidable topic, please read the CEA blog article HERE.
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Coal Burning Not the Right Path to Secure Pueblo's Future
See Leslie Glustrom's op-ed to Xcel and the Pueblo community about Pueblo Unit 3 HERE.
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Xcel-Colorado (PSCo) Still Contributing More to Xcel's Earnings than Minnesota
This trend continues in the first quarter of 2021, even though Minnesota has a larger system, more capital expenditures, and more employees.
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RMI Report Reveals Colorado is Far From Meeting Its Emissions-Reduction Goals
Far short of Colorado's legislated GHG reduction goals of 50% by 2030 and 90% by 2050, a Rocky Mountain Institute Report says Colorado is on track for just 3.4% by 2030 and 18% by 2050. More details and the full report can be found HERE.
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Colorado Legislative Update
The importance of SB21-200 is underscored by the RMI report above. If you have not already done so, please write to Governor Polis urging him to sign SB21-200 if it passes HERE. Note that last month, CEA reported it was abstaining from 200, but there was confusion with another bill.
Noteworthy bills introduced this month:
CEA supports:
SB21-108 | PUC Gas Utility Safety Inspection Authority - CEA supports, but would like to see inspection authority consolidated under one agency, like the Air Pollution Control Division, which already has inspection capabilities - Passed Senate
CEA opposes:
More details can be found regarding these bills on CEA's website HERE.
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PUC Update
19R-0096E - Rulemaking on Electric Resource Planning
On April 23, the commission issued a decision to close a two-year rulemaking procedure without making additional revisions. The PUC determined that the statutory changes from the 2019 General Assembly, esp. SB 19-236 (the Clean Energy Plan rule) and HB 19-1261, eliminated the need for new Electric Resource Plan (ERP) or Qualifying Facility rules. A more complete summary of PUC activities can be found HERE.
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What We Are Reading
Colorado Has the Ability to Make a Big Cut to Health-Damaging Fossil Fuel Use in Homes and Offices
Colorado could see a big and critical reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and gas usage if it phases out fossil fuel use in all of its buildings during the next 30 years, according to a new report released by Environment Colorado Research & Policy Center, CoPIRG Foundation and Frontier Group. Read more about this new release HERE.
Brazilian Amazon Released More Carbon Than It Absorbed Over Past 10 Years
Due to clearcutting and burning, we can no longer depend on the forests to bail us out from our carbon emissions. Read The Guardian article HERE.
The Failure of Carbon Offsets
As opposed to a carbon price that penalizes emissions, carbon offsets are like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. This fun one-minute video by the Climate Ad Project illustrates how this works with... murder offsets.
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Meet Board Member Emily Swallow |
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We're excited to welcome new board member Emily Swallow!
Originally hailing from the midwest, Emily has been in Colorado for over a decade and feels so fortunate to call it home. Emily holds a BA in History from CU Boulder and an MA in Teaching Diverse Learners from University of Northern Colorado. Emily spent six years as a social studies teacher before transitioning to her current role in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education.
Emily has been passionate about environmental and social justice issues for as long as she can remember. As a teacher, she works hard to educate and empower her students to use civic action to promote positive change, but only recently has she stepped up her own activism efforts. In the summer of 2020, as megafires burned the west and protests for racial justice intensified, Emily decided that she needed to do more in the fight for a better world. She believes that because the climate emergency and structural inequalities are inextricably tied, thoughtful and creative approaches can address both issues simultaneously while lifting all of us up. Emily is committed to continually educating herself on current climate science and policy and to doing her part in responding to the climate emergency.
In her free time, Emily enjoys running and hiking on Colorado's beautiful trails, trying new vegetarian recipes, and listening to many, many podcasts.
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Thank you for reading along with us during these exciting and ever-changing times!
- The Clean Energy Action Team
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