HCCA's November Climate and Energy News Roundup is available online

Each month, HCCA's Climate and Clean Energy Program compiles a hit list of relevant climate and energy news articles from reputable sources. Please CLICK HERE to view November's edition.

2009’s Progress at Tri-State and GCEA and the Challenges that lie ahead

Everyday it becomes increasingly clear that we must make significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in order to avoid catastrophic human, economic and ecologic consequences. One of the best ways to address the climate crisis while safeguarding electricity rates and bolstering the economy is to address how efficiently the electricity we consume is used and also how it’s generated.

2009 has seen auspicious progress in this regard. Pressure from conservation groups like HCCA, ratepayers like Gunnison County residents, and the current financial and regulatory climate have influenced Tri-State Transmission and Generation and many of their member cooperatives like Gunnison County Electric Association (GCEA) to begin implementing energy efficiency measures and considering renewable generation over coal for future capacity building projects. Of note, in the past year, Tri-State has:

1. Announced the 30 MW Cimarron 1 photovoltaic power plant in New Mexico (operational by 2010).
2. Announced the development of the 51 MW Kit Carson wind farm in Eastern Colorado (operational by 2010).
3. Participated in launching the Together We Save campaign for energy efficiency.
4. Created rebates for energy efficient appliances and other incentives to encourage energy efficiency.
5. Developed pilot programs which they are kicking off at different cooperatives that are examining things like local renewable generation opportunities and smart grid technologies.

At the local cooperative level, progress has also been made. This year, GCEA has:

1. Reconvened their technology committee, a group of board members who works with GCEA staff to develop and implement energy efficiency and examine the potential for local renewable generation projects.
2. Launched in the Taylor Hydro feasibility study.
3. Launched an Energy Efficiency Rebate Program.
4. Created new programs to offer home energy audits to their members.
5. Designed and held outreach events like the Women's Weatherization Workshop.

While there have certainly been some positive developments, our efforts must remain vigilant. In contrast to the 81 MW of renewable capacity announced by Tri-State in the past year, they are still actively pursuing the development of an 895 MW coal plant. Additionally, the lobbying groups supported by Tri-State and its cooperatives like the Colorado Rural Electric Association and the National Renewable Electric Association are heavy organizing and lobbying presences that seek to prevent what could be negative legislative consequences to the status quo of coal-based electrification. Additionally, we hear through credible sources that many cooperative directors simply do not believe in human caused climate change or that coal has anything to do with some of the current ecological, health and resource challenges we face. Indeed, this is a challenging culture to change.

Contrary to investor-owned utilities like Xcel energy (the largest utility in the state), cooperative utilities like Tri-State (Colorado’s second-largest utility) are not regulated by the Public Utilities Commission

and therefore face less stringent renewable energy standards.

Change at our cooperative utilities lies in the ability of their membership to demand it. HCCA continues to work actively to organize a voice for this demand and produce tangible results.

HCCA’s Climate and Clean Energy Program now publishes a monthly Climate and Energy News Roundup. If you’re interested in receiving this monthly compilation of the most relevant climate and energy news, please email chris@hccaonline.org to sign up.

Tell Governor Ritter to Protect Colorado's Roadless Areas

Your input is needed by October 2nd!!!

Over 4 Million Acres of Colorado's Roadless Area forests are at risk and your help is needed right now to keep these forests intact. Roadless Areas within National Forests are protected by law . . . specifically the 2001 National Roadless Rule. The Bush Administration tried its best to dismantle this law but a federal court recently reinstated the 2001 National Roadless Rule. Despite this court ruling, the state of Colorado is continuing efforts to open up these Roadless Areas to widespread logging, new coal mines, and road building through a state Roadless Rule

The proposed state Roadless Rule falls short of the protections our National Forest Roadless Areas deserve, and overall, it would result in less protection for forests here than in any other state in this country.

As currently drafted, the proposed state Roadless Rule would:

• Open important wildlife areas to roads for new coal mines and for unspecified electrical lines.
• Allow fragmentation of important natural areas with roads for new dams, reservoirs, and ditches.
• Divert scarce fuels-reduction resources from areas near communities that are at-risk of wildfire, for logging in the backcountry.

The Colorado Department of Natural Resources is seeking comments on this flawed state Roadless Rule and the deadline for those comments is October 2nd.

Please email or send a letter with the above points opposing the state Roadless Rule as it is currently drafted. Let them know that the 2001 National Roadless Rule provides Colorado and the rest of the country a roadless policy that is consistent with national conservation priorities and that truly protects our national forests and communities.

Send comments to:

Roadless.Comments@state.co.us

or

Roadless Rule Comments
Colorado Department Of Natural Resources
1313 Sherman Street, Room 718
Denver, CO 80203

These lands belong to all Americans and a National Roadless Rule will preserve them for future generations. Thanks for making a difference.

Roadless Road Show Coming to Town

Friends of Colorado’s Backcountry Forests will launch a state tour and ‘Roadless Road Show’ giving citizens the opportunity to post messages in support of National Roadless protection. The Roadless Road Show will gather these messages for the state’s comment period on the proposed rule for Colorado’s Roadless Areas on National Forests.

The Road Show will be a traveling wall, providing an opportunity for people to add their comments to the display, building momentum as it travels the state. The Road Show will begin in Durango the weekend of Sept. 12th, then start its traverse across the state, arriving in Denver at the end of the comment period in late September.

The Roadless Road Show will be at the following locations in Gunnison County during its tour:

-Tuesday, September 15th (11-1 PM): In Front of Western State College Student Center in Gunnison

-Wednesday, September 16th (9-11 AM): At Elk Ave & 3rd in Crested Butte

Come out and show your support for Roadless Area protection and sign the wall!

Green Jobs for a Green Future - Real Jobs for Real People (Video)

From The White House Blog

"We have heard from Van Jones, Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, on some of the seedlings of a clean energy economy before. And back in May he introduced us to the enormous potential of weatherizing buildings and homes. Today, as part of a week where the Cabinet is out in force pushing through key energy-related projects and initiatives, Van comes back again to show us how weatherizing homes will be a major source of jobs in neighborhoods like yours as the President’s vision for a clean energy economy becomes reality. See if you can watch the video and not be excited about what the future holds here."

Beyond Coal - Showdown at Highwood - VIDEO

In Great Falls, Mont., a diverse coalition of ranchers, farmers, local residents, doctors, lawyers and conservationists has been fighting to protect their clean water, productive soil and pure Western air from the Highwood Generating Station, a dirty coal-fired power plant that developers want to build on the banks of the Missouri River. Beyond Coal: Showdown at Highwood, documents how these many voices have been able to find strength in their opposition to the common goal of keeping their homes, health, and heritage from being tainted by the dirtiest source of energy available.

Press Release on proposed State Roadless Rule

Today, the Colorado Department of Natural Resources is releasing proposed revisions to the draft Colorado Roadless Rule for public review and comment.

Our groups will closely examine the proposed state rule, but from what we already know it is a bad deal for Colorado. It would result in less protection for roadless national forests here than in any other state. As citizens here and across the nation have called for time and again, these national lands deserve the strong protections found in the 2001 Roadless Rule.

The proposed Colorado rule falls far short.

The proposed Colorado rule would allow coal mining in a fragile watershed where no mine exists and no land has been leased for coal mining. It allows roadbuilding and logging more than a mile into the backcountry, diverting scarce resources away from communities potentially at-risk from wildfire. The proposed rule offers an open-ended invitation for roads to new damsites including private reservoirs. It gives the Forest Service so much leeway that the purpose of the 2001 Rule - to provide clear direction to protect these areas from further ecological damage - is lost.

In the coming days, we will review the proposal more closely and encourage citizens and community leaders to provide input to the Governor as well as the Secretary of Agriculture who oversees Colorado's national forests.

Our bottom line is that we support strong measures for the protection of roadless areas provided by the 2001 Roadless Rule. We believe Colorado's roadless national forests deserve the same standards of protection as those in every other state. The proposed Colorado rule simply doesn’t measure up.

Contacts:

Ryan Demmy Bidwell, Colorado Wild 970-385-9833
Peter Hart, Wilderness Workshop 970-963-3977
Carrie Curtiss, Colorado Environmental Coalition 303-405-6709
Andrea Robinsong, Western Colorado Congress 970-623-2113
Bryan Martin, Colorado Mountain Club 303- 519-2027
Amy Mall, Natural Resources Defense Council 720-565-0188
Lawton Grinter, High Country Citizens' Alliance 970-349-7104

Comment on San Juan Wilderness Act

One of our SRCA partner organizations, Sheep Mountain Alliance out of Telluride, is encouraging folks to contact Rep. John Salazar in support of the San Juan Mountain Wilderness Act.

Highlights of the bill include the expansion of the Mt. Sneffels & Lizard Head Wilderness Areas in addition to Wilderness designation for the northern half of the McKenna Peak Wilderness Study Area. You can find more info on this bill and a sample comment letter to Rep. Salazar on Sheep Mountain Alliance's website.

Climate and Energy News Roundup for June, 2009

The Climate and Energy News Roundup for June, 2009 is available online! Click here to view it.


Brought to you by the Climate and Clean Energy program at High Country Citizens' Alliance.

Local Groups Encourage Attendance at GCEA Annual Meeting

The following Letter to the Editor was submitted to the Crested Butte News and Gunnison Country Times on June 9, 2009.


Local Groups Encourage Attendance at GCEA Annual Meeting

Dear Editor:

You may have noticed that in recent weeks our electricity supplier, Tri-State Generation and Transmission, has launched a media blitz promoting its intentions of changing the way they provide power. Tri-State claims that it will invest in new technology, develop renewable energy and improve energy efficiency. Given the unprecedented acceleration and certainty of climate change coupled with legislation that will make coal-based power increasingly expensive, these measures are exactly what is needed to maintain human and environmental health while preventing your electricity bill from skyrocketing.

Your local Alliance for Clean Electricity (www.allianceforcleanelectricity.org) and the Climate and Clean Energy Program at High Country Citizens’ Alliance wholeheartedly endorse the measures that Tri-State claims to be taking. Developing renewable generation and implementing energy efficiency measures to be provided locally through Gunnison County Electric Association (GCEA) are among the most important ways to protect the climate and your electric rates. It is critical however, that our community can collectively hold them to their word, making sure these claims are actually delivered. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is currently considering a closer working relationship with Tri-State to assist them in achieving this New Energy Economy. By supporting the PUC’s initiative, you’ll be helping this progress and our collective future.

Several reasons exist to maintain some skepticism about Tri-State’s actual direction, including the recent approval of a 795 MegaWatt coal-fired power plant at Holcomb, Kansas. While the development of new coal-fired generation at Holcomb was blocked three times by the former Governor, the new governor of Kansas quickly drafted legislation to allow the project. Originally, Tri-State was the principal investor in this proposed coal plant(s), having invested $50 million of their members’ (including GCEA’s) money. Now, given their shift in mindset, plans to develop renewables and the recognition that new coal-fired development makes little economic sense, Tri-State is unsure about whether or not to remain a partner.

As a member and owner of GCEA (if you receive an electric bill for them you are a member/owner) you have the ability to influence their policy as well as Tri-State's. Don't let Tri-State simply market their progressive new strategies -- make sure they follow through! Attend the GCEA Annual Meeting on June 23, 2009 at 5 p.m at their headquarters in Gunnison. In addition to enjoying a free barbecue, you can meet and mingle with GCEA's staff, board of directors and manager Mike Wells. Let them know that you support a new direction that develops renewable generation and invests in energy efficiency and that you want GCEA to make sure Tri-State delivers on their advertised claims. Additionally, remember to support the Colorado PUC’s initiative to work more closely with Tri-State to help them move towards a New Energy Economy. Even if you are unable to attend the GCEA annual meeting, please consider a donation to HCCA's Climate and Clean Energy program to support efforts to advocate for our energy future.

Chris Menges,

HCCA Climate and Clean Energy Coordinator

Alliance for Clean Electricity coordinator

_____________________________________________________

Want to help promote clean energy and slow climate change through local action? Please donate to the Climate and Clean Energy Program by clicking the button below. Your much needed tax deductible contribution is payable via credit card or PayPal.

Basic Car Clinic -June 13

Dave Rose, a long time car mechanic, will look under the hood with you and explain the idiosyncrasies of your model, common problems to watch for, and anything not quite right he may detect.

The Class Includes:
• A Layperson’s review of auto mechanics
• Discussion of oil and other car fluids
• List of items to check
• What to always carry in your car
• Maintenance Schedules
• How to keep your maintenance records
• One–on–One discussion with you about your car and also includes an additional 2-3 hour session to be arranged with Dave to go over individual cars with each owner.

Cost is $50 and all proceeds benefit HCCA.
To register for this event please call High Country Citizens’ Alliance at:
(970) 349-7104 ext. 7 or email us at office@hccaonline.org.

Saturday, June 13 at the Historic Train Depot (716 Elk Ave.)
The class begins at 11:00 am.
Please bring drinks and snacks for the short break!

Climate and Energy News Roundup for May 25 - May 31, 2009

Climate and Energy News Roundup for May 25 - May 31, 2009

Instructions: Click the article title, which is a link, to read the story.

Tri-State Related and Local News

The Empire Strikes Back! Tri-State G&T Counters its Critics.

Kansas Enacts Renewable Energy Standard, Permits Disputed Coal Plant

Finances Could Inhibit Crested Butte Energy Action Plan Implementation

Energy

With Billions at Stake, Trying to Expand the Meaning of ‘Renewable Energy’

DOE Announces $467M For Solar and Geothermal

Climate

Climate change causes 315,000 deaths a year (Quote - "annual death toll is expected to rise to half a million by 2030.")

Climate health costs: bug-borne ills, killer heat (Quote - "Climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century.")

U.N.'s Ban says climate change pace "alarming" (Quote - “The impact of climate change is accelerating at an "alarming" pace and urgent action must be taken” -U.N. Secretary-General)

Greenland ice could fuel severe U.S. sea level rise

Refugees Join List of Climate-Change Issues

National Policy / International Affairs

U.S. says climate policies among world's toughest

Emissions traders expect U.S. carbon market soon

Want to help promote clean energy and slow climate change through local action? Please donate to the Climate and Clean Energy Program by clicking the button below. Your much needed tax deductible contribution is payable via credit card or paypal.

Travel Plan Update

Gunnison County Commissioner’s Travel Plan Work Session

Tuesday May 26th from 10:50 – 11:50 AM – Let Your Voice be Heard

On Tuesday, May 26th from 10:50 – 11:50 AM (time subject to change – check website), the Gunnison Board of County Commissioners will be holding a work session on the Gunnison Travel Management Plan. This session is open to the public and the Commissioners will be taking comments on trail designations and travel management on the 1.6 million acres of public land in the Gunnison Basin & North Fork Valley. Come to the meeting and let your voice be heard!

With the June 3rd comment deadline for the Travel Management Plan fast approaching, it’s important to weigh in NOW. The county will be writing a comment letter to the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management and you have a chance to help shape what’s in that letter by attending this meeting and voicing your concerns.

There are 3 action alternatives in the Travel Management Plan and HCCA is encouraging its members to support a travel plan with Alternative 3 as its basis because:

• Alternative 3 is the most conservation friendly.
• Alternative 3 offers the best protection for Gunnison sage-grouse because of road closures near leks.
• Alternative 3 offers the best protection for the Whetstone Roadless Area & Cochetopa Hills.
• Alternative 3 is the only alternative that contains more non-motorized trails than motorized trails.

Let the county commissioners know that you value conservation issues in the Upper Gunnison River Basin and that you support Alternative 3.

In addition, write a comment letter to the USFS to let them know how you feel. Tell them you support Alternative 3 and also let them know what specific trails you would like to see remain open to your preferred mode of recreation. The USFS is looking for personalized letters that let them know what you agree with and disagree with in addition to which alternative you support and what improvements you would like to see.

Attend the May 26th County Commissioners Meeting on the 2nd Floor of the County Courthouse located at 200 E. Virginia Avenue.

And send in comments to the USFS . . . Email or Write:

Gunnison Basin Travel Management DEIS
2250 Hwy 50
Delta, CO 81416

E-mail: r2_gmug_gunnison_travel@fs.fed.us

Gunnison Travel Plan Presentation

GOT TRAVEL COMMENTS?

High Country Citizens' Alliance will be giving a public presentation on the Gunnison Travel Management Plan and EIS.

When: Thursday May 14 from 6 - 7 PM

Where: Crested Butte Town Hall (Council Chambers)

Why: Because YOU need to know about Forest Service and BLM road and trail designations.

With the June 3rd comment deadline fast approaching, the time to send in your travel plan comments is NOW! If you hike, horseback ride, rock climb, mountain bike, fish or recreate on the 1.6 million acres of federal lands in the Gunnison Basin, this presentation is for you. We will have a table set up for writing comment letters and a question and answer session will follow the presentation. Get involved with your public lands!

For questions or more information, contact HCCA Conservation Analyst Lawton Grinter at 349-7104 or lawton@hccaonline.org. Visit our website at www.hccaonline.org for more information.

Community Meeting with United States Senator Michael Bennet

Please join United States Senator Michael Bennet for a Community Meeting on Friday, April 17th in Gunnison to discuss issues of importance to our area. Your ideas and insights are very important to the Senator and he looks forward to visiting with you so that he might better serve you and, with your help, continue to make Colorado a great place today and for future generations.

You might consider asking the Senator about some of the important issues facing our area, including:

1.) Mt. Emmons and 1872 Mining Law Reform. Tell the Senator that this community is opposed to a mine on Mt. Emmons because of the impacts it would cause and ask him to support our efforts to protect our environment and economy. Ask him to support substantive reform of the 1872 Mining Law during this congress by backing the Hardrock Mining Reform bill that has been introduced in the Senate Energy Committee.

2.) Climate & Clean Energy. Tell the Senator that the threats of global climate change are particularly alarming for this community, Colorado and the West. Ask him to support legislation that would enable our region to use energy more efficiently and expedite our transition from coal-fired to renewable energy generation. Additionally, ask Bennet to support legislation that helps our state and nation transition to a clean energy economy, particularly cap and trade or a carbon tax.

3.) Public Lands. Tell the Senator that you want protection for Colorado’s 4.4 million acres of Roadless Areas that is equal to or greater than the protection given to these areas under the 2001 National Roadless Rule.

Please RSVP which meeting you plan to attend by emailing Randy See at randy_see@bennet.senate.gov or calling 970-241-6631. Thank you and we look forward to seeing you.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS INVITATION TO YOUR MEMBERSHIP AND OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES

Gunnison, CO: April 17 from 6:00 to 7:00 PM, Board of County Commissioner’s Meeting Room, Gunnison County Courthouse, 200 East Virginia Avenue, Gunnison, Colorado.

New FERC Director will make climate change "a big priority" and envisions "smart grid."

Climate Change 'Big Priority' For Energy Commission Chief

By Steven Mufson
Saturday, March 21, 2009; A03

Add a new name to the list of Obama appointees devoted to aggressive
action on climate change.

President Obama yesterday named Jon Wellinghoff -- a lawyer who once
served as Nevada's consumer advocate and a believer that electric-car
owners could someday get paid to provide backup battery power to the
electricity grid -- as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission.

Wellinghoff joined the commission in 2006 and has been serving as
acting chairman since January. He takes charge of an agency that has
long been dominated by oil and gas or utility lawyers and that focuses
on the wholesale part of the oil, natural gas and electricity markets.
The agency oversees about 368,000 miles of electricity transmission
lines and more than 11,000 miles of natural gas pipelines, and
regulates hydroelectric projects and energy markets.

But Wellinghoff, who conducted a full energy audit of the shortcomings
of FERC's headquarters soon after he arrived, had previously helped
write Nevada's renewable electricity standard requiring utilities to
increase their use of wind, solar and geothermal power. He was the
lead attorney for a big solar installation near Las Vegas. And on his
windowsill, he keeps a small Stirling engine, a device used in many
geothermal and solar installations that runs when it comes in contact
with the heat of a hand or computer monitor.

In an interview Thursday, he said climate change would remain "a big
priority for me. From everything I've read, we're in big trouble and
we need to do everything we can to reduce our carbon footprint."

To do that, Wellinghoff envisions a more sophisticated electricity
system with more big transmission lines and a "smart grid" with
greater ability to coordinate fluctuations in wind and solar power
with the demand from households, buildings and factories.

On Thursday, he supported a proposal that sets rules for smart-grid
devices so they can communicate with each other more easily. He is
also seeking greater authority over the siting of transmission lines
that could carry renewable resources from sparsely populated places
where they are plentiful to the cities and suburbs where those
resources are most needed.

"How do we do that without steamrolling the states" is a key issue,
Wellinghoff said. And while he said that the less FERC intrudes on the
power of states the better, he also said that "at the end of the day
you need the power to overrule them" in order to make sure that "we
get the upgrades done that are essential to the national interest,
national security and our environmental interest with respect to
carbon and greenhouse gas emissions."

A recent court ruling, which asserted states' rights to block
transmission lines, could complicate that task. But Senate Majority
Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) favors an increase in FERC's authority;
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman
(D-N.M.) plans to push the idea as part of an energy bill.

Another potential conflict was defused this week. The Interior
Department and FERC agreed to divide responsibility for regulating
offshore alternative energy sources such as wind and wave power,
ending a year-and-a-half-long interagency turf battle. Interior will
decide on wind power proposals in federal waters, while FERC will
oversee wave, tidal and ocean-current projects.

In Wellinghoff's view, the U.S. electricity system will ultimately
become more decentralized, with local solar projects generating power
and automobiles serving as storage devices for utility companies. He
said that in five to 10 years, if the cost of including the price of
household solar installation in a mortgage is less than the money
saved on utility bills, "everybody will put solar on their houses."

Ultimately, Wellington hopes to find ways to better manage electricity
demand so renewable power sources can be integrated into the system.
For instance, he is a proponent of using electric cars to send
electricity back to the electrical grid as well as draw from it.
Electric-car owners could sign up with a company that would amalgamate
hundreds or thousands of car owners and, based on their average
behavior, promise to either draw down or send back electricity to the
grid. Car owners would be paid, which would help offset the cost of
electric vehicles, currently priced at least $8,000 or as much as
$12,000 more than non-electric versions.

"It makes the grid more efficient, but it could also benefit vehicle
owners because they would be getting money back," he said.

____________________________________________

Link to Article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/20/AR2009032003194_pf.html

Vote to Support Coal Creek

VOTE TO SUPPORT COAL CREEK

The Coal Creek Watershed Coalition is competing for a grant from MillerCoors and River Network. The Coalition is one of 8 finalists from an initial pool of 32 applicants. The top 4 vote-getters will receive $10,000. Funds from this grant will be used to do some cleanup at the Forest Queen Mine, conduct a study of how Magnesium Chloride might be affecting Coal Creek and to work with the Office for Resource Efficiency (ORE) with an educational program on water conservation.

The finalists will be picked by popular vote. COAL CREEK WATERSHED COALITION NEEDS YOUR VOTE! It will only take a minute. High Country Citizens' Alliance appreciates all of you and your friends voting in support of Coal Creek. Please help spread the word. Votes must be received by March 6th.

This is the direct link to the voting form:

http://www.rivernetwork.org/forms/vote-millercoors-grants

Regards,

Steve Glazer
HCCA Water Program Director
President, Coal Creek Watershed Coalition

COGCC Rules in Jeopardy - Act Now !

Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission

Rules in Jeopardy

~~~

Contact Rep. Kathleen Curry to support her

in opposing HB 1255

~~~

Vote Scheduled for Friday, February 20th at 1:30 pm

Colorado is on the front edge of a dramatic oil and gas drilling boom, necessitating the updated oversight of drilling. Since 1999, drilling permits are up 600% and projections call for 120,000 new wells to be drilled in Colorado in the next 30 years.

In early December, the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) updated its regulations by and 8-0 vote. The unanimous, 8-0 vote demonstrates the consensus achieved on the Commission in support of these rules. HCCA realizes it took tremendous compromise to reach an agreement on these rules. The COGCC is to be commended for the enormous amount of time they spent on this process and for ensuring the final protections achieve a fair balance. However, attempts to gut these regulations are under way and the updated rules need your voice to keep them in place.

Ultimately these updated rules will help protect Colorado's air/water quality and wildlife habitat while still allowing oil & gas companies to continue to operate in the state. Other noteworthy improvements in the new rules include:

• Establishing a 300 foot no drill buffer around streams that serve public drinking water supplies.

• Requiring companies to keep track of and disclose to state and emergency responders chemicals they use in drilling operations.

Colorado State Representative Kathleen Curry has been working tirelessly to make sure the COGCC's efforts don't get thwarted by misguided attempts to scale back the new rules. The introduction of HB 1255 by Cory Gardner (R-Wray) is one such effort that would gut wildlife protections and eliminate important feedback from public health and wildlife experts in oil & gas drilling.

Please show your support for Rep. Curry by contacting her TODAY to thank her for her leadership on this issue and ask her to oppose HB 1255. Write a letter to the editor of the Gunnison Times and Crested Butte News in support of her work on the COGCC rules.

Email, Call or Write:

State Representative Kathleen Curry

200 E. Colfax

Denver, CO 80203

Capitol Phone: (303) 866-2945

E-mail: kathleen.curry.house@state.co.us

Gunnison Times

218 N. Wisconsin

Gunnison, CO 81230

E-mail: editor@gunnisontimes.com

Crested Butte News

PO Box 369

Crested Butte, CO 81224

E-mail: editorial@crestedbuttenews.com

************************************************************************************

UPDATE

************************************************************************************

Thanks to your letters and your support of Rep. Curry, HB 1255 was killed in committee of February 20th in a 7-6 vote.

32nd Annual Red Lady Salvation Ball

The 32^nd Annual Red Lady Salvation will take place on Saturday, March 7, at The Eldo and will feature Delta blues sensation Papa Mali, with opener, local favorite Second Time Around. Tickets are $25 and include a one-year membership with High Country Citizens’ Alliance (HCCA)! Doors will open at 8:00 pm.

The Red Lady Ball is HCCA’s annual fundraiser and membership drive to support protection of the natural world that surrounds us. The evening is highlighted by the coronation of the Red Lady, a tradition of this long-time community event. Nominations are currently being accepted from the public, so if you know of someone who should be the next Red Lady, please nominate her or him. For more information on our website please click HERE.

Red Lady candidates should be Gunnison Valley residents who have made a commitment towards protection of the natural ecosystems of the Upper Gunnison River Basin. The next Red Lady can be male or female, no matter their age. The Red Lady makes appearances during parades and festivals, various community functions, and also volunteers throughout the year representing HCCA’s work to keep Red Lady (Mt. Emmons) free of a molybdenum mine. Nominations can be either phoned in to 349.7104 or emailed to office@hccaonline.org until Monday, February 23. Please include a sentence or two about your nomination.

The evening also features a raffle of fabulous prizes donated by local and regional businesses, such as vacation lodging, nordic ski passes, massages, wine, lunches, dinners, artwork, outdoors equipment and clothing. Tickets for the raffle go on sale Monday, March 2, in front of the Crested Butte Post Office and at the HCCA office in the Depot, 716 Elk Avenue. Raffle tickets are $5 each or 3 for $10. Watch for red-clad ticket sellers outside the Post Office to get your chance to win great prizes.

Note: We have posted this as an event on Facebook - Click here to view the event and RSVP.

HCCA is on Twitter!

High Country Citizens' Alliance has a Twitter page! Join us as a "friend" or "follower" on Twitter. CLICK HERE to go to our Twitter Page.

Twitter is a social networking service that allows you to answer the question, "What am I doing right now?" HCCA will be using Twitter to update the community on what we are doing both online with blog posts, video updates, facebook updates and website updates as well as in the community with local events and outreach programs.

You do not need a Twitter account to view our page but you will if you want to become a friend or follower.

Once on our page, please register to setup your own Twitter account, become a friend or follower and stay informed with HCCA happenings in the Gunnison Valley.

And please spread the word that HCCA is on Twitter!

Has anyone noticed 2.5 million dollars lying around the Gunnison Valley?

Has anyone noticed 2.5 million dollars lying around the Gunnison Valley?

You read the title correctly - no need to clean your glasses or rub your weary eyes.  Someone seems to have misplaced two and a half million bucks and we ought to help them find it.  Who, you ask?  Why the Mt. Emmons Project of course - our very own Thompson Creek Metals Company and US Energy.  You may have recently read about Thompson Creek’s one million dollar payment to US Energy at the end of 2008.  US Energy confirmed this payment in a January 12^th press release, saying:

“…the January 1, 2009 $1 million option payment was paid by Thompson Creek Metals Company USA on January 2, 2009 on behalf of Mt. Emmons Moly Company pursuant to the Exploration, Development and Mine Operating Agreement signed in August 2008.” 

Oddly missing from that press release was ‘the rest of the story.’  The rest of the story is that Thompson Creek’s agreement with US Energy goes beyond the simple payment of a million bucks a year.  (Simple for them maybe, but that’s another story…)  In fact, Thompson Creek is obligated to another $2.5 million each year in project expenditures.  The agreement says, in part:

“At any time before but no later than December 31, 2008, TCM shall incur at least $2,500,000 in Expenditures on or related to the Property.  … TCM may elect to pay to an interest bearing escrow account on or before a due date specified in Section 6.1(a) the dollar amount equal to any shortfall in Expenditures required to be completed by TCM by such due date in lieu of completing such Expenditures…”

US Energy’s January 12^th press release makes no mention of the fact that Thompson Creek was required spend $2.5 million on the Mt. Emmons Project during 2008 or put that amount away to make up for a shortfall.  It is also interesting to note the complete lack of any substantial work on the Mt. Emmons Project since Thompson Creek came to town.  New decals for the company trucks, fancy new baseball caps for their skeleton staff and a dormant website may have some costs, but surely not $2.5 million.  So the natural question is - where’s the rest of the cash?  In the unlikely event that someone finds that cash lying around, I’d suggest rushing it straight over to US Energy. 

In the perhaps more likely scenario that US Energy and Thompson Creek are playing shell games with their investors’ money and the future of the Gunnison Valley we should all take note of one more example of the Mt. Emmons Project hiding facts and intentions from the public.

USGS Snodgrass Geology Report Released – Comment Now

On Monday January 12, 2009, the US Forest Service (USFS) released a US Geological Survey (USGS) Report on Slope Stability on Snodgrass Mountain. The USGS report is intended to assist Forest Supervisor Charlie Richmond in deciding whether to accept the proposal by Crested Butte Mountain Resort to expand the ski area on to Snodgrass Mountain.

HCCA encourages anyone interested in the geology issue to submit comments by January 22nd. The time for providing public input is now! Comments to the Forest Service will be most effective if they address your geology concerns in your own words. HCCA has identified the following important topics from the USGS report:

The USGS report lists 5 specific analyses that need to be performed before the geology on Snodgrass and its possible consequences can be fully understood:

More deep boreholes and inclinometers are needed for slope stability analysis.

A longer period of record and more piezometers are needed to understand surface water and ground water interactions.

Additional stability analyses are needed.

Further analysis is needed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed drainage measures in reducing ground-water pressures and increasing slope stability.

Analyses are needed to assess the potential for landslides originating on Snodgrass to impact homes in proposed residential developments nearby

The USGS report lists potential risks to human safety, residential property and the environment that could be caused by landslides and debris flows:

Depending on the rate of movement, reactivation of one of these large landslides has slight to moderate potential for causing death and injuries.

Although debris flows are unlikely during ski season, they move rapidly and have great potential for causing deaths and injuries, as well as environmental degradation and property damage.

Debris flows also have great potential to move great distances rapidly, including from National Forest lands to neighboring proposed residential areas.

Please ask Charlie Richmond to postpone a decision on whether to accept a proposal until these studies have been completed and the geology issues resolved.

Please address your comments to:

USDA Forest Service
Forest Supervisor Charlie Richmond
2250 Highway 50
Delta, CO 81416