Published in the Fort Collins Coloradoan on January 1, 2021 Most, if not all of the Coloradoan’s articles on Colorado’s record-setting 2020 wildfire season earlier this year failed to mention the relationship between wildfire and the climate crisis. It is therefore somewhat heartening to see that in his recent article, “Cameron Peak, East Troublesome fires reignite forest management debate,” Miles Blumhardt notes that “some blame” the size and intensity of the Cameron Peak fire on climate change. However, this possible explanation is presented in seeming opposition to other potential reasons for the historic nature of the Cameron Peak fire: the…

The FCSG sent the statement below to City Council on October 7th.  Council ended up not cutting the Air Quality or Climate Action Program budgets, and we sent the follow-up letter to council on November 2nd that is appended beneath the statement. *********************************************************************************************** The Fort Collins Sustainability Group (FCSG) would like to bring to Council’s notice budget item 27.10, Reductions to the Air Quality program, and we would like Council to consider restoring this funding. This cut would adversely affect air monitoring, public education, and regional cooperation. Given that: • We live in an ozone non-attainment area; • We are…

Dear Board Chair Troxell, Vice Chair Hornbacher and Directors Bagley, Bergsten, Bernosky, Cunniff, Koenig and Marsh: Northern Colorado Partners for Clean Energy (NCP4CE) listened closely to the Board’s discussion of the draft Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) Report during your meeting on August 27th. We were pleased to hear Chair Troxell and Director Marsh express opposition to the inclusion of a new natural gas plant in the IRP.

Since its inception in 2005, the Fort Collins Sustainability Group (FCSG) has focused on local climate policy. More specifically, we have advocated for City initiatives that would both reduce our community’s greenhouse gas emissions and help our community adapt to climate change. For a detailed history of the work in which we have been engaged, see the article “The FCSG Story” We subscribe to a notion of sustainability aligned with that set forth in the 1987 Brundtland Report, which states that “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to…