Colorado

How cities can foster demand for electric cars

When Tesla Motors opened its new showroom in Boulder, it did so in style. Hosting an invitation-only party, the automaker brought out a lively group of local politicians, environmentalists and entrepreneurs for a night of martinis, music and test-drives of the Tesla Roadster. A Tesla Roadster on display at the electric vehicle maker’s new store […]

The North Face, Aspen, and climate policy

When North Faces start melting, and Aspens start dying, it gets the attention of two CEOs from namesake companies. Today, the CEOs of The North Face and Aspen Skiing Company weigh in on the urgency of climate policy action. Here’s a piece of the essay, followed by a link to the full text on High […]

Michael Bennet (D-Colo.)

Michael BennetSen. Michael Bennet sent this letter to Grist reader Matthew Ott in October, responding to questions about the senator’s stance on climate legislation. Bennet calls the House climate bill, which passed in June, “a significant step in the right direction,” and he sounds generally positive about the Kerry-Boxer climate bill that’s now being considered […]

Mark Udall (D-Colo.)

Mark UdallSen. Mark Udall is considered a likely “yes” vote for a climate bill in the Senate, though he wants to see more support for nuclear power and natural gas. In this letter to Grist reader Matthew Ott in Colorado, Udall doesn’t mention climate legislation specifically, but he calls for a strong renewable energy standard.  […]

Timothy Wirth, natural-gas advocate, takes gas industry to task

This story was written by ProPublica’s Abrahm Lustgarten. Timothy Wirth.They were tough words for the natural gas industry to hear. In a blunt speech before the Colorado Oil and Gas Association last week, Timothy Wirth, a former Colorado Democratic senator and Under Secretary of State for global affairs in the Clinton administration, warned industry leaders […]

The return of the uranium boom?

In a small community near a broad expanse of valley floor known as the West End, there’s a certain glow in the air. It’s the glow of progress, the glow of prosperity … and the glow of the uranium miners coming home from work? The Paradox Valley in southwestern Colorado.Courtesy U.S. Geological SurveyProbably not; we […]

Fighting Coal in the Rockies

Fighting for the Waxman-Markey climate bill may be sexy and hip (and worthwhile), but here in the Roaring Fork and Vail Valleys of Colorado, without much fanfare, we are engaged in some trench fighting to solve climate change. A view from one of the ski lifts at Vail in Colorado.Courtesy Pravin8 via FlickrThe battle: trying to elect […]

Movement for metro pollinators spreading

Let loose the bees! Like the surging movement for backyard chickens, bees also have urban anthropic allies, and Denver is the newest metropolis to allow beehives in town. Led by the intrepid Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) crew, bees will now be invited to pollinate mile-high metro-veggies, just like in Seattle, Minneapolis, and San Francisco.

Enjoy the ordinance's entertaining rules on how hives are to be kept at DUG's site, but consider that native bees are also to be encouraged.

Check out this article on Sacramento's Urban Bee Project, which tries to bolster biodiversity and urban pollination through the planting of vegetation favored by native bees, such as the cantankerous 'headbonker.' Me, I'd plant any damn thing if I thought something by that name might come bumbling by.

Colorado's new senator married to environmental lawyer

While we don't know much about the environmental stances of newly appointed Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet (D), we do know that the man who will fill Ken Salazar's seat has at least one interesting tie to the green community.

His wife, Susan Daggett, is an environmental lawyer who formerly worked for the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, where she represented environmental groups in litigation related to the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, and other environmental laws.

Daggett has also worked for the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council, and is now an independent consultant who works with conservation groups on oil and gas development issues in the Rocky Mountain region. She is currently a member of the Denver Board of Water Commissioners, a member of the board of trustees for The Nature Conservancy's Colorado chapter, and a member of Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's Greenprint Council, which helps direct the Greenprint Denver sustainable-development initiative.

Bennet is the son of Douglas Bennet, who has served as the CEO of NPR, the president of Wesleyan University, and assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs in the Clinton administration. Michael Bennet's brother, James Bennet, is the editor of The Atlantic Monthly and a former New York Times correspondent.