Mountain Biking: Rubber side down- And Now, Back to Your Local News…Since the weather’s getting better, I’m sure we’re all totally jonesing to get onto the trails, but in general, they’re a mess. It’s a bummer to see nice singletracks get trashed and widened, so like all of you, I’m grinding my teeth in annoyance while I try to be patient. The good news is that you [...] […]
- Downieville, Take ThreeOkay, well, things went pretty haywire in race promotion after the registration debacle. The organizer received so many hateful emails and comments about the mishap that it made him wonder if he should even bother putting the race on. I can’t blame him, really. In his shoes I might do the same thing. It sounds [...] […]
- And Now, Back to Your Local News…
- Edgy Veggie
DIA’s green parking plan inspires hilarious headline, skepticism
Denver International Airport | flickr user ishmaelo
Thanks, Planet Green, for this chuckle:
“Greenest” Parking Lot Planned For Country’s Largest Airport
In the biggest ironic headline of the year (so far), the world’s greenest parking facility will soon be open at Denver International Airport (DIA), the largest and fifth-busiest airport in the country.
Creepy clowns against climate change?
Members of WildEarth Guardians dress as clowns and wear Gov. Bill Ritter masks during a protest outside the state Capitol on Wednesday | Denver Post
Front Range environmentalists gathered in Denver yesterday to tell the governor to quit “clowning around” when it comes to climate change.
The state’s air quality commission will take public comment tonight on Xcel Energy’s request to renew its air permit for the Cherokee coal plant in Denver. Earlier this year, Xcel also sought to renew its air permit for the Valmont coal plant in Boulder.
The clown-protesters — wearing wigs and Ritter masks — said that the state shouldn’t issue any permits until coal plants are forced to deal with their carbon dioxide emissions, but the state says it has no authority to do that.
Read more about the protest at DenverPost.com.
Bikeway from Boulder to Denver is part of latest plan for U.S. 36
With U.S. 36 in the background, Barbara Bowes of Boulder rides the South Boulder Creek Trail. The new plan for 36 would connect this trail into a larger network, stretching from Boulder to Denver.
For almost a decade, communities up and down the U.S. 36 corridor from Denver to Boulder have been struggling with what to do about the congested highway — which is only projected to get worse as the local population continues to grow.
Now a compromise has finally been reached, and it includes some big wins for alternative transportation… like a bike path that runs all the way from Boulder to Denver.
Now all the plan needs is some money.
A bus trip down U.S. 36 from Foothills Parkway to Denver’s Union Station would only take 24 minutes if an updated package of proposed improvements is approved, financed and built.
The upgrades to the U.S. 36 corridor — outlined in the project’s newly filed environmental impact statement — would add a “managed lane” along the median in both directions. Buses and high-occupancy vehicles could use the lane for free, and excess capacity could be sold to single drivers who are willing to pay for access. Read more
Denver’s solar homes tour this weekend
Didn’t get enough at the Boulder tour of solar homes and the Northern Colorado tour of solar homes? Then have we got the event for you! The Denver tour of solar homes!
From the Post’s quickie on the Denver tour of solar homes:
In conjunction with the tour, the first Green Jobs and Career Resources Fair is from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at the First Universalist Church. The Denver tour is part of the American Solar Energy Society’s annual observance. Boulder, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Estes Park, Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, Alamosa, Delta, Durango, Walden and Westcliffe also have tours or events planned.
Kyle Orton best NFL quarterback and other misinterpretations of data
If you are a Coloradan and concerned about the environment, firstly, thanks for reading and, secondly, we’re worried that you may have come across a story recently that would lead you to believe that Denver is the worst polluter in the world.
Kyle Orton, the best NFL quarterback, according to a study.
We don’t blame you for coming to that conclusion, since a few sites, to which I am hesitant to link, have blared that as an attention-getting headline. And why not? What a great headline! DENVER BIGGEST POLLUTER IN THE WORLD!
Got your attention, right? You’re thinking, but surely there must be another city that pollutes more. Well, not according to science, say these blogs. Yes, they even link to a scientific study!
I wasn’t going to freak out about this until it was brought to my attention that it had spread to several sources — including some that you’d be likely to trust on this sort of thing. The first place that I saw it was on TheDailyGreen, which I usually like. Then I was sent links to similarly misleading stories/posts/releases on ScienceDaily and Huffington Post Denver (whose post is the least misleading of the three, but still a bit unclear; bonus points to the author, though, for simply making the point that regardless of Denver’s spot on the apocryphal list, there’s work to be done). Read more
Build more dam, save more fish
- Denver is planning to nearly triple the size of Gross Reservoir in southern Boulder County.
The city of Denver wants to build a bigger dam in southern Boulder County, nearly tripling the size of its reservoir.
And environmentalists have something to say about it: They want to know if Denver would mind making that dam even a little bit bigger.
It’s an odd request from a group like Trout Unlimited, which has partnered with the cities of Boulder and Lafayette to try and negotiate the bigger dam, but it actually represents a calculated effort to make the best out of a bad situation.
Denver — thirstier now than ever – is trying to push through a plan to expand Gross Reservoir by 72,000 acre feet, which would require making the current dam 125 feet taller. The water to fill the new reservoir would be pumped from the other side of the continental divide, sucking more water out of the tributaries that feed the now-not-so-mighty Colorado River.
The Colorado office of Trout Unlimited, based in Boulder, thinks this is a terrible idea, but they’ve come to accept the reality — there may be no stopping the project. But there may still be an opportunity for a small victory to be had in the Gross Reservoir expansion.
Environmentalists are asking Denver to consider adding an extra 5,000 acre feet of water to the reservoir, creating a bank of water that could be used to guarantee that South Boulder Creek, which flows from the dam at Gross Reservoir through the stunning cliffs in Eldorado Canyon State Park.
Most winters, South Boulder Creek completely dries up as Denver draws down the water in the reservoir, causing devastating fish kills and compromising the stream’s ecological integrity.
Read more about this project in a story by Boulder Daily Camera reporter Laura Snider after the jump, or check out a story from the Denver Post that details this new trend here. Read more
