Colorado’s Northern Front Range has been out of compliance with federal ozone standards since 2012. Air monitoring shows that emissions from the oil industry are significantly contributing to bad air quality.
Residents of a tiny, unincorporated coal town on Colorado’s Western Slope are pitted against billionaire mine owner Bill Koch in a fight for clean drinking water.
As the Joe Biden administration takes over, it’s unclear how future environmental policies and trends toward renewables will impact local utility companies that have historically depended on fossil fuels.
New rules around oil and gas development in Colorado go into effect in January. And two counties in the Front Range have radically different ideas of what local control means.
Across Colorado, oil and gas companies pay taxes that fund countless public services. So, what does it mean for a local government if those revenue streams become more unstable?