Alayna Alvarez, Colorado Politics Jan 17, 2020 Updated Jan 20, 2020 By 2023, Denver plans to complete its development of 125 miles of bike lanes largely in the northwest and central Denver regions. Following a sluggish start, Denver is switching its bicycle program into high gear to help keep its promise of installing 125 miles of bike lanes by 2023. Mayor Michael …
Proposed ballot measures for 2020 and proposals at the state Capitol are putting Colorado’s uneven tax system in the spotlight
By one analysis, the wealthiest 1% of Americans captured a staggering 42% of all the income growth in the country between 2009 and 2015, and 59% of the income growth between 1973 and 2007. For context, from 1945 to 1973, the richest 1% accounted for just 5% of the nation’s income growth, according to the analysis by the left-leaning Economic Policy …
2019 Colorado Hot Issues in Health Conference, Climate Session
Hosted by the nonpartisan Colorado Health Institute, the event has convened the state’s leading thinkers to discuss pressing issues related to health and health care for nearly 20 years. The 2019 Hot Issues in Health Conference will take place on Thursday, December 5, 2019 and Friday, December 6, 2019 at the Hilton Denver Inverness in Englewood, Colorado Moderator: Karam Ahmad, …
Financing Freedom from Fossil Fuels: Retiring the entire US coal fleet today would cost $35–40 billion –less than one year’s worth of fuel cost to run America’s coal and gas plants. The critical importance of public banks is a common theme.
Utilities can refinance or seek partial debt relief, passing on as much as $6 billion in cost savings every year to customers when they retire coal plants. Using some of those savings for transition assistance and repurposing land and infrastructure can provide new jobs and economic opportunities for coal communities. Better yet, recycling saved capital into clean energy that is …
Community Planning – Denver East Area Plan
Think Colorado is getting more crowded? It is. According to U.S. Census Bureau figures, Colorado’s population has added the equivalent of an additional Denver since 2010. The total population of the state was 5,029,126, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. As of July 1, 2018, the figure had risen to 5,695,564. That means Colorado attracted 666,368 new residents over an eight-year …
Democrats’ Climate Plans Lack Vision for City Transit
By Angie Schmitt, Sep 4, 2019, 12 The Democratic presidential candidates are racing to release their climate proposals ahead of Wednesday night’s primary debate. But we’ve yet to see a candidate come forward with a really compelling vision for addressing America’s unhealthy relationship with cars. Senator Elizabeth Warren today unveiled her climate plan, borrowed largely from that of Washington Governor Jay Inslee. But even …
Performance-Based Regulation: Getting Down to Business Model Reform in Colorado
September 18, 2019 | By Cory Felder and Dan Cross-Call RMI This Spring, Colorado ascended to the top tier of state-led clean energy policy in the United States. In the final days of May, Governor Jared Polis signed 11 bills ushering in a wave of key policy changes to advance decarbonization and clean energy in the state. The legislature codified an electricity sector greenhouse gas (GHG) …
Legislation establishing an Independent System Operator (ISO) to manage the electric transmission grid in Colorado
This document describes an idea of central importance to Colorado’s energy future: a statewide unified transmission grid managed by a non-profit Independent System Operator (ISO) under a common transmission tariff. The purpose of this document is to explain the concept and attract the attention of one or more legislators who are knowledgeable about energy and might appreciate how transformative a …
Hickenlooper presided over a 400% increase in Colorado oil production and threatened to sue any local jurisdiction that tried to stop fracking
The vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions come from burning fossil fuels. Each new well pad adds to the supply of these greenhouse gas-emitting fuels at a time the IPCC says we should be reducing their use. Hickenlooper has never apologized to the local jurisdictions that tried to stop the expansion of fracking into residential neighborhoods and were thwarted by …
Denver’s 2020 budget will fund just five miles of new sidewalks out of more than 2,000 miles that are missing or sub-standard
Streetsblog Denver, Sept 2019 The Denver Streets Partnership told members of the council that mobility funding within Hancock’s $1.49 billion proposed budget is so paltry that it would take 400 years to build out a complete sidewalk network. “Mayor Hancock’s proposed 2020 budget will fund just five miles of new sidewalks out of more than 2,000 miles that are missing …