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Mark Jaffe @ByMarkJaffe

Colorado Sun energy writer keeping on eye on the the sun, wind and what's below ground while hiking up peaks and skiing down slopes. Former Denver Postie

Joined August 2011
  • Tweets 3,898
  • Following 318
  • Followers 2,818
355 Photos and videos
A story oft repeated. I used Twitter as a reporting tool to connect on environmental and energy issues and to folo other journalists, but my feed is now filled with a lot of bull. I am heading over to bluesky
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This is insane. Denialism in its highest form. “The concerns about overtopping are not just hypothetical,” said the former deput director of the LSU Hurricane Center washingtonpost.com/climate-e…

A rising fortress in sinking land

Rising seas and steel walls test the strength of a Louisiana coastal gas development, raising questions about flooding, climate change and community impacts.

washingtonpost.com
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The data center boom and its demand for energy and water is creeping into Colorado. coloradosun.com/2024/03/25/a…

Data centers are proliferating. So are concerns about their effects on Colorado's environment.

AI, tech sectors drive need for bigger, more powerful data centers in Colorado. Will new electricity demand clash with environmental goals?

coloradosun.com
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Colo oil and gas regulators face a dilemma. The greatest risk of orphan wells is from small producers, but they have less cash to put up for new finanacial guarantees. Going easy on them may leave the state with less orphan well money. coloradosun.com/2024/02/20/o…

Rules to ensure there's cash to plug all Colorado oil wells may not be enough, study says

Projected to raise $641 million to cap oil wells and remediate sites, the rules have loopholes that may make the sum much smaller, study says

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Colo oil and gas regulators nix one drilling plan near suburban homes and one in the middle of pronghorn high priority habitat. One local official said it looks like the commission is getting more comfrtable saying no. We'll see. coloradosun.com/2024/02/01/o…

Colorado oil and gas regulators reject two drilling plans deemed too close to people and pronghorns

One plan was for remote, pristine Weld County prairie, another for a developed area of homes and parks between Broomfield and Erie

coloradosun.com
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Mark Jaffe retweeted
Michael Booth ☀️@mboothdenver
21 Jan 2024
Goodbye, Colorado. Storied ranching family in need of 10,000 to 500,000 acres. coloradosun.com/2024/01/21/c…

Replacement ranch needed for storied Colorado family. 86,000 acres or best offer.  

Colorado is pursuing a new mission for Chico Basin Ranch, and now the Phillips family needs land and moving vans for 1,500 cattle.

coloradosun.com
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Colo is set to adopt pipeline safety rules (an audit found the state inspection program in shambles), leading the fight for tighter regs are a couple of corn and sugar beet farmers coloradosun.com/2024/01/16/c…

“We don’t want to be activists”: The farmers pushing for stronger pipeline safety rules

Utilities regulators Wednesday begin work on rules to improve inspections of pipelines like the one that leaked, destroying the Nygren’s home

coloradosun.com
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Xcel Energy is closing a 950-MW coal-fired power plant in Pueblo, Colo. A committee of local heavy hitters wants the unit replaced with a nuclear plant saying when it comes to jobs and taxes it is the only thing to "make Pueblo whole." coloradosun.com/2024/01/08/p…

Only a nuclear reactor can make Pueblo “whole” after Xcel Energy closes last coal-fired plant,...

A community committee says the only energy technology that can make up for lost jobs, taxes and economic activity is next-gen nuclear

coloradosun.com
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Mark Jaffe retweeted
Ben Storrow@bstorrow
8 Jan 2024
The U.S. 🇺🇸 power sector by the numbers in 2023: 🌞 148TWh, up 16% on the year 🌬️ 419TWh down 4% ⛏️⛰️ 386 million tons, lowest utility consumption since Nixon administration 🏭 1,659 TWh, up 8%, 41% of US power gen 🔋5GW new installs thru Nov, a record subscriber.politicopro.com/a…

E&E News: The US energy transition in 8 numbers

Solar and natural gas surged last year, while wind stumbled.

subscriber.politicopro.com
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Geothermal heat pumps are more efficient that air-source ones, but drilling the bore holes to tap into subsurface heat is pricey. One or two wells for many heat pumps could be a solution. coloradosun.com/2023/12/05/g…

A Colorado town wants to use geothermal energy to heat and cool a section of its downtown core

Geothermal test well drilled in Carbondale with a federal grant yields promising results for next-gen application of ancient heat technology

coloradosun.com
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Wyo Gov. Mark Godon draws a vote of no confidence from the Wyo Republican Party for "pushing a socialist agenda." His offence? Saying that the climate is changing and his state should become carbon negative. Marx would be proud. cowboystatedaily.com/2023/11…

Wyoming GOP Passes No Confidence Vote Against Gov. Gordon | Cowboy State Daily

Meeting in Newcastle on Saturday, the Wyoming Republican Party Central Committee passed a “no confidence” vote against Gov. Mark Gordon, saying he “boldly…

cowboystatedaily.com
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The final frontier? After trying to tamp down oil and gas emisssions from this source and that, in a game of regulatory whack-a-mole, Colorado regulatorsare pondering if there are limits to o&g activity. coloradosun.com/2023/10/13/h…

How should Colorado measure the impact of oil and gas? “There has to be a point where the glass is...

State regulators are facing two key questions: When is one more oil and gas well one too many, and how do you decide?

coloradosun.com
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WashPo-University of Maryland survey finds most people don't object to living near a solar or wind installation. This will come as news to several anti-wind, anti-soalr Facebook groups washingtonpost.com/climate-s…

Americans don’t hate living near solar and wind farms as much as you might think

Many Americans support renewable energy infrastructure, but experts say progress can be impeded by a small, yet vocal, opposition.

washingtonpost.com
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Rural electric cooperatives that relied on big power produces like Tri-State and Xcel are cutting the cord and sailing into wholesale markets, "forging their own energy independence." coloradosun.com/2023/10/02/e…

More Colorado energy co-ops line up to leave Xcel, Tri-State for cleaner, cheaper electricity...

United Power will be the next to go, with other smaller co-ops attempting to renegotiate contracts or find cleaner, cheaper energy elsewhere

coloradosun.com
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Colorado saw a bump in orphan oil and gas wells this summer with with a well plugging program funded by tens of millions of federal and state dollars it is probably in a better positions than most states to deal with it. coloradosun.com/2023/09/27/o…

There’s been a surge of abandoned oil and gas wells in Colorado over the past 90 days

Some wells are orphaned when small operators walk away from Colorado, others are found by developers looking to build houses on drill sites

coloradosun.com
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The flavor of the beer is in the boiling. New Belgium is going to experiment with an inudstrial heat pump to make thatboiling water. coloradosun.com/2023/09/11/n…

New Belgium Brewing prepares for industrial heat pump that could cut its greenhouse gas emissions

Fort Collins-based AtmosZero is working on drop-in heat pump system to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from other similar manufacturers

coloradosun.com
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Old oil and gas wells come back to haunt housing developers on Colorado's Front Range. Instead of ghost busters, the are seeking help to plug the wells from the state's Oprhan Well Program. coloradosun.com/2023/08/28/o…

Residential development in Erie, Longmont stalled after wells plugged decades ago start leaking oil...

Two orphaned wells discovered by real estate developers added to Colorado regulators’ long list of projects. They may have to wait in line.

coloradosun.com
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Mark Jaffe retweeted
Michael Booth ☀️@mboothdenver
25 Aug 2023
ICYMI, big news for 2 million acres of stunning Western Slope land, as BLM leans toward a much more green-friendly roadmap for some of Colorado's most memorable views coloradosun.com/2023/08/24/b…

BLM shifts green on 2 million Western Slope acres, setting up Colorado clash of environment vs. oil 

2 million acres of pristine public lands in Colorado would be walled off from oil and gas exploration in BLM's greener management plan

coloradosun.com
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In some Colorado mountain towns the GHG emissions of hot tubs and firepits must be offset with solar panels or a hefty fee for town clean energy projects. Driveway and roof snowmelt systems are the biggest emitters. coloradosun.com/2023/08/15/m…

Want a hot tub at your Colorado ski town home? You might have to offset its emissions first.

Breckenridge — and soon Summit County — is adopting a “renewable energy mitigation plan” to offset greenhouse gases from outdoor amenities

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