Articles written by Dan Elliott
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In a twist, Colorado asks EPA to lower state's air rating
DENVER (AP) — Colorado took the unusual step of inviting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to downgrade the air quality rating of the state's biggest population center, and not everyone thinks that was a good idea. The EPA held a hearing F...
Retired public lands officials criticize Trump plan for move
DENVER (AP) — Former public lands managers heaped criticism Thursday on a Trump administration plan to move the headquarters of the nation's largest land agency from Washington to the West. Thirty past high-ranking officials from the Bureau of L...
Oil and gas defenders, critics test Colorado's new law
DENVER (AP) — The petroleum industry's defenders and critics are testing the limits of a new Colorado law that flips the state's priorities from producing energy to protecting the public. Officials in energy-friendly Weld County say the law gives t...
Plutonium found in Colorado soil; 2nd test shows lower level
DENVER (AP) — Elevated levels of plutonium were found in the soil near a former nuclear weapons plant outside Denver, while a second test showed far lower levels, health officials said Tuesday. The Colorado Department of Public Health and E...
Wildlife now roam where US once forged its deadliest weapons
DENVER (AP) — From a tiny Pacific island to a leafy Indiana forest, a handful of sites where the United States manufactured and tested some of the most lethal weapons known to humankind are now peaceful havens for wildlife. An astonishing array of a...
Colorado OKs electric car requirement to fight air pollution
DENVER (AP) — Colorado tightened its air quality regulations on Friday, requiring that at least 5% of the vehicles sold in the state by 2023 emit zero pollution. The state Air Quality Control Commission, which passed the rule on an 8-1 vote, said t...
Activists trying to reinstate Colorado city's fracking ban
DENVER (AP) — Environmental activists asked a Colorado court on Wednesday to reinstate the city of Longmont's ban on hydraulic fracturing, arguing the ban is legal under a new state law giving local governments more authority over the oil and gas i...
Snowmelt fills rivers in US Southwest, easing drought fears
DENVER (AP) — A welcome surge of melting snow is pouring out of the Rocky Mountains and into the drought-stricken rivers of the southwestern U.S., fending off a water shortage but threatening to push rivers over their banks. Last winter brought a...
New climate study ordered for Colorado, Utah energy leases
DENVER (AP) — U.S. officials must consider climate change effects from leasing about 250 square miles (648 sq. kilometers) of public lands in Colorado and Utah for oil and gas drilling, under a federal court ruling issued Wednesday. The order from U...
Authorities raid 247 Colorado homes growing black market pot
DENVER (AP) — Authorities said Friday they raided hundreds of black market marijuana operations in Colorado that flouted the state's cannabis law by growing tens of thousands of plants in Denver-area homes and selling the drugs out of state. I...
Colorado won't halt drilling as it refocuses rules on safety
DENVER (AP) — Colorado officials said Tuesday that they had no plans to stop energy companies from drilling for oil and gas while regulators overhaul state rules to make health, safety and the environment their top priority. Dan Gibbs, chief of the s...
Columbine families gather to tell stories nearly 20 years on
LITTLETON, Colo. (AP) — Families of the Columbine High School shooting victims gathered at the school on Saturday to tell their stories 20 years after the tragedy, and they spoke of forgiveness, inclusion and healing, and the balm that sometimes o...
'Epic' storm brings blizzards, floods, tornado to mid-US
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A window-rattling late winter storm brought blizzards, floods and a tornado across more than 25 states Wednesday, stretching from the northern Rocky Mountains to Texas and beyond. "This is a very epic cyclone," said Greg C...
Plan to focus oil rules on safety creates divide in Colorado
DENVER (AP) — Supporters of a plan to overhaul Colorado's oil and gas regulations told lawmakers Tuesday that the measure is a flexible, common-sense approach to dealing with frequent conflicts over health and safety. Opponents said it goes too f...
Colorado Dem leaders pledge sweeping change in oil-gas rules
DENVER (AP) — Colorado's Democratic-controlled state government promised dramatic and sweeping changes Thursday in the way the state regulates oil and gas drilling, saying public health and safety would become the top priorities. Gov. Jared Polis a...
Outdoor retailers expand political fight with climate push
DENVER (AP) — Two years after jumping into a fight with the Trump administration over public lands, the U.S. outdoor industry is turning up the political pressure — though its impact is difficult to measure. Thousands of manufacturers and ret...
With Democrats in charge, Colorado now backs clean air rule
DENVER (AP) — Colorado's new attorney general said Wednesday the state will withdraw from a lawsuit challenging one of the Obama administration's biggest climate change initiatives. Democrat Phil Weiser's announcement signaled a reversal from his p...
Colorado Supreme Court won't reconsider oil and gas decision
DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Supreme Court refused to reconsider its ruling that oil and gas regulators do not have to make health and environmental protection their top priority. The court offered no explanation in its announcement, dated Monday and m...
Activists want details on inquiry into ex-nuke weapons plant
DENVER (AP) — Activists asked a U.S. judge Thursday to make documents public from a 27-year-old criminal investigation into a former nuclear weapons plant outside Denver with a history of fires, leaks and spills. The activists said the documents coul...
Colorado expands buffer zone between schools, oil-gas wells
DENVER (AP) — Colorado oil and gas regulators voted Tuesday to expand the mandatory buffer zone between new wells and school property, a rare victory for proponents of tighter rules for the industry. The state Oil and Gas Conservation Commission w...
Next-generation of GPS satellites are headed to space
DENVER (AP) — After months of delays, the U.S. Air Force is about to launch the first of a new generation of GPS satellites, designed to be more accurate, secure and versatile. But some of their most highly touted features will not be fully a...
Endangered Mexican wolf escapes at Colorado wildlife center
DENVER (AP) — An endangered Mexican wolf escaped from a Colorado wildlife center where it had been taken to breed with other captive wolves, authorities said Wednesday. The year-old, captive-born male got out of an enclosure at the Colorado Wolf a...
Trump wants to cut red tape, hasten water projects in West
DENVER (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday ordered the government to speed up environmental reviews and streamline regulations that he says are hindering work on major water projects in California and other Western states. Trump signed a memorand...
Colorado Supreme Court hears high-stakes oil and gas lawsuit
DENVER (AP) — An attorney for six young people who want the state to impose tougher safeguards on the energy industry told the Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday that the law requires regulators to protect public health from the hazards of d...
Former Colorado nuke site opens to public as wildlife refuge
DENVER (AP) — Cyclists and hikers explored a newly opened wildlife refuge at the site of a former nuclear weapons plant in Colorado on Saturday, while a protester in a gas mask brought signs warning about the dangers of plutonium. With no fanfare, t...
