Climate Change
Protecting The Groundwater
Uranium Mines A Step Closer
The Colorado legislature pushed forward yesterday a bill that aims to protect groundwater and other natural resources from possible uramium mining in Colorado. HB1161, sponsored by state representatives from the Fort Collins area, would "require uranium miners to prove they could return groundwater to either pre-mining conditions or levels in line with existing state standards," reports Jason Kosena of the Daily Coloradoan.
While this bill, which is expected to clear the full Senate, is viewed as a victory for environmental activists, it could clear the way for the long-awaited rebirth of Colorado's dormant uranium industry.
In other energy news: new oil reserves in North Dakota will boost domestic production; Ken Salazar intros legislation to end the Roan Plateau drilling controversy; and natural gas prices shoot up in the region.
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wilderness issues lecture series
“Green” Jobs Can Revive Economy, Golden SaysTo address the problem of climate change Americans must strive to create a "green" economy bolstered by federal regulations that promote innovation and investment, said K.C. Golden in his lecture Tuesday night at the University of Montana.
“The problem is upon us now,” he said. “It’s time to move from being very worried to being very focused on the issue.”
Golden’s talk, the final lecture in the University’s Wilderness Issues Lecture Series, focused on ways the United States can work to lessen the severity of global climate change while reducing our dependence on costly and unstable imported fossil fuels.
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Commercializing Energy From The Sun
DOE Funds Cheap-Solar ResearchAiming to jump-start the U.S. solar-power industry, the Dept. of Energy will put up $13.7 million in the next three years to support university-led projects to bring less expensive solar technology to market.
Hit in recent months by falling stock prices and the cost of commercializing sophisticated photovoltaic technology, the solar industry needs to find ways to hasten the development of cheap, wide-spread arrays. Under its "Solar America" initiative, the Bush Administration has set a target of bringing the cost of solar energy down to levels competitive with conventional electricity production by 2015.
All together, the projects could reduce the cost of electricity produced by photovoltaic systems from the current levels, 18-23 cents per kilowatt hour to 5-10 per Kw/hour.
In other energy news: Sen. Salazar sponsors a bill to recover and treat "produced water" from oil and gas production; Colorado lawmakers finally figure out how to distribute revenues from federal mineral leases; Colorado School of Mines' mountainside 'M' goes green with LEDs.
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wilderness issues lecture lecture series
Climate Change Action the Mission of a Generation, Goodstein SaysOn Tuesday night, Eban Goodstein stood before an audience of mainly college students at the University of Montana and urged them to take action in making climate change the most important issue of their generation.
“This really is the mission of your generation, and with that mission you cannot afford to fail,” he said.
Goodstein, a professor of economics at Lewis and Clark College in Portland Oregon and founder of Focus the Nation, was speaking as part of the University’s Wilderness Issues Lecture Series. Goodstein said that in order to posses technologies such as solar energy and wind power that will be vital for dealing with global warming, today’s college students must convince their leaders to make investments right now. Goodstein called the process “intergenerational gift giving” and said that it is necessary considering the level of restructuring required by future generations.
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energy
Outcry Muted Over New Colorado Oil and Gas RulesAfter all the griping and gnashing of teeth over the new rules for oil and gas production in Colorado, it was perhaps inevitable that the actual draft regulations, which were released this week, were less inflammatory than the industry rhetoric would have led you to believe.
Brian Macke, regulatory compliance manager for Denver-based Delta Petroleum, told The Denver Post his company is "encouraged" by certain aspects of the proposed regulations, which call for more scrutiny of the potential environmental aspects of proposed drilling, among other changes.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Association, the most vociferous opponent of the new regime, was not mollified.
In other energy news: state legislature tries to save federal mineral leasing revenue for higher ed; NASA scientist James Hansen challenges Duke Energy CEO; Bank of America adopts clean –energy principles.
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Wilderness Issues Lecture Series
Caring for God’s Creation is a Christian Duty, Pastor Says
Christianity has a responsibility to protect the environment and be stewards of God’s creation, said Boise-based Pastor Tri Robinson Tuesday night at the University of Montana in Missoula.
"People have to awaken to the idea that (environmental degradation) is not right and it’s not acceptable," he said.
Speaking as part of the University's Wilderness Issues Lecture Series, Robinson, the author of Saving God's Green Earth and pastor of Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Boise said his decision to speak out on the importance of the environment was the result of years of deliberation.
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climate change
Study: American West Warming Faster than Rest of Planet
Is it hotter in here, or is it just the American West? According to a new climate study by the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization and the Natural Resources Defense Council, the U.S. West is getting warmer at nearly twice the rate of the rest of the world.
"Global warming is hitting the West hard," Theo Spencer of the NRDC said in a statement. "It is already taking an economic toll on the region's tourism, recreation, skiing, hunting and fishing activities."
In the 11-state Western region the average temperature has risen 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit over the last five years, while the global average has been 1.0 degrees, according to the study. Utah, Wyoming, Arizona and Montana are feeling it the most with rises more than two degrees higher than the rest of the planet.
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energy
Despite Demand, Oil and Gas Value DropsWith the price of a barrel of oil zooming past $106 and likely to continue rising, you would think that the value of the oil and gas coming out of the Rocky Mountain West would be setting records. That's not happening, mainly due to a lack of transport options to get the fiuel to big markets in the Midwest and East.
Colorado produced $6.63 billion worth of oil and natural gas in 2007, dropping 24 percent from '06, according to the Colorado Geological Survey.
Meanwhile, the opening of new pipelines from the producing fields of the Mountain West should relieve the pressure on prices.
In other energy news: state legislators over energy-efficiency bill; wind power producer relocates to Northern Colorado; coal demand soars, outstripping supplies.
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Sun Power Stocks Sinking
Colorado Moves to Support SolarPassed by a 43-21 vote by the Colorado House this week, HB 1164 requires the state Public Utilities Commission to "consider" the construction of large- scale solar plants, rather than coal or natural gas stations, to supply the state's future energy requirements. Whether the PUC can actually force big utilities like Xcel to change their supply plans the bill does not say.
Also unaddressed by the legislation is whether solar plants will be a wise business decision, as opposed to prudent public policy, in coming years. After enjoying a two-year run-up, solar company stocks have taken a beating in the recent market downturn.
In other energy news: CSU's "Clean Energy Supercluster" gets its first unveiling; mineral rights owners say new state regs on oil and gas won't damage the industry; and Xcel plans a pair of big new gas turbines.
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wilderness issues lecture series
Climate Change: The Resiliency of Wildlands is Key, Ecologist SaysEcologist Tom DeLuca, during his lecture Tuesday night at the University of Montana, made the case for an adaptive approach to wildlands management in order to help the West’s ecosystems adjust to a changing climate.
DeLuca, a Senior Forest Ecologist with the Wilderness Society and former UM professor speaking as part of the Wilderness Issues Lecture Series, acknowledged that there may be no way to avoid climate change, but the region’s forests and wildlands have evolved under changing climates and possess a measure of resilience to variations.
“One thing that is constant in nature is change...resistance to change may prove to be a catastrophic failure,” he said.
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