Environment

Have you measured your carbon footprint? I did – I logged on and took the Ecological Footprint Quiz to see how my life taxes this planet. The result of that quiz makes me ask how we can lighten our impact on the environment. Why is it important for us to start now? Just like the issues of healthcare and education, I believe we have an obligation to provide more for the future than we are on course to do. My current lifestyle, and that of most Americans, is compromising our air, land, water—and climate.

After years of research by climate scientists worldwide, it is now clear that human activities—namely the burning of fossil fuels—are causing the planet to warm. Colorado will experience direct effects from global warming, such as less snow pack, declining water supply, shorter ski seasons, longer summers, and more frequent and intense forest fires.1 Confronting climate change is a big challenge, but it is one we must face in order to ensure that future generations of Coloradans—and indeed future generations everywhere on the planet—inherit a rich natural environment. This is the idea of sustainable development—that we should be able to meet our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.

With the creation of Governor Ritter’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) and the recent bills passed in the Colorado General Assembly, our state is making strides toward sustainable energy use and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The goal of the plan is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, and 80 percent below 2005 levels by 2050. I support Governor Ritter’s efforts to confront climate change as laid out in the Climate Action Plan. It also calls for Colorado to join 16 other states who have adopted tougher vehicle emissions standards than the federal government requires.

A legislature that is committed to environmental sustainability offers an enormous opportunity to pass two types of legislation to meet these goals. First, we should implement short-term actions to reduce carbon emissions and increase energy efficiency. These types of policies can be relatively inexpensive and often do not require large-scale shifts away from a fossil fuel-based economy. Such short-term emissions reductions and energy efficiency improvements can include promoting more efficient light bulbs, reducing demand for electricity, improving industrial efficiency, updating building codes, and greening state government so that it leads by example.

Second, the Colorado Legislature should lay the foundation for the state to make deeper emissions cuts in the future and meet the goals for 2050. We cannot reach these long-term emissions goals through energy efficiency and short-term policies alone. Deeper cuts will require a fundamental shift toward a low-carbon energy infrastructure over the long-term. Promoting cleaner energy technologies, such as wind, solar and biofuels, will improve our ability to make carbon emissions cuts in the future.

Another initiative that will help us meet our long-term climate goals is the creation and funding of the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory—a collaboration between the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Colorado’s three research universities. I support this and other opportunities to accelerate the development of alternative energy technologies.

Meanwhile, we need to continue "the buzz" about the importance of changing our behaviors. And most importantly, each of us needs to change our resource-wasting habits to help preserve our fragile environment.

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1 Colorado Climate Action Plan [..return..]