Deal creates new pollution targets, transit funding
Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** Colorado deal avoids an oil & gas ballot war
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Wednesday, May 1, 2024
An oil refinery in Coalmont, Colorado. Wikimedia Commons ([link removed])
Colorado Governor Jared Polis announced a deal ([link removed]) between conservation groups, transit backers, and the oil and gas industry that stops the potential for multiple competing ballot initiatives in November. In exchange, the oil industry will become a major source of transit funding in the state.
State legislators were considering bills to address ozone pollution by "pausing" oil and gas driling in the summer months, limiting driving in gas-powered cars, and increasing fines for bad actors like the Suncor oil refinery near Denver. The oil industry was backing a November ballot measure that would have banned local governments from restricting natural gas for cooking or heating in new construction.
Now all of those legislative and ballot proposals are off the table ([link removed]) . Groups including Conservation Colorado, Earthjustice, and GreenLatinos joined the agreement, along with oil and gas companies like Occidental, Chevron, and Civitas.
Under the deal, the Colorado legislature will pass two bills ([link removed]) in the final days of the 2024 legislative session. One will set lower emissions targets for the oil industry, including new enforcement mechanisms. The second bill will put a fee on oil production in Colorado, generating an estimated $138 million per year. 80 percent of the revenue will go toward transit projects; the rest will help restore public lands that have been affected by drilling.
National monument expansion tomorrow?
E&E News reports that President Biden is planning to expand two California national monuments ([link removed]) on Thursday. Bills to grow the San Gabriel Mountains ([link removed]) and Berryessa Snow Mountain ([link removed]) national monuments have stalled in Congress, giving the president an opportunity to use his authority under the Antiquities Act to set aside land for conservation.
** Quick hits
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Colorado's oil and gas wars are over—for now
CPR News ([link removed]) | Colorado Sun ([link removed]) | Denver Post ([link removed])
Congressional Dems release results of 3-year investigation into Big Oil
Axios ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])
Opinion: BLM rule puts conservation where it belongs—on par with extraction
WyoFile ([link removed])
House votes to kill BLM rule, allow Boundary Waters mining, delist gray wolf
Colorado Newsline ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])
Plan to protect the northern spotted owl could mean shooting hundreds of thousands of barred owls
New York Times ([link removed])
Six Upper Basin Tribes gain permanent foothold in Colorado River discussions
Colorado Sun ([link removed])
When dams come down, what happens to the ocean?
High Country News ([link removed])
Colorado birding experts share their tips and tricks
Summit Daily ([link removed])
** Quote of the day
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” These bills represent significant progress for disproportionately impacted communities, providing much-needed protections from pollution, resources to enhance the lives of transit-dependent individuals, and crucial remediation efforts for both the ecosystem and affected communities.”
—Ean Thomas Tafoya, GreenLatinos Colorado state director, Denver Post ([link removed])
** Picture This
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@usfws ([link removed])
Follow this blue dasher's example and stop and smell the flowers!
It's more likely that this agile predator is just waiting for a snack to fly close. Blue dashers are sit-and-wait predators, so they find a good lookout spot and dart out to grab prey on the wing.
Photo: Adrian Medellin/USFWS
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