It has been five years since Garfield Clean Energy (GCE) launched its successful Solarize Garfield campaign in the county that netted more than 100 new rooftop photovoltaic (solar-power) installations on homes and businesses; roughly one-fourth of them also included battery storage. Since then, the push toward cleaner energy generation in our region (mainly solar) has […]
Clean Energy Economy for the Region
Posted inNews
Scuttlebutt
CR 108 bridgeRepairs continue on the County Road 108 bridge over the Crystal River near the Colorado Rocky Mountain School (CRMS). The bridge will remain closed while decking is replaced and new girders are potentially installed. A pedestrian walkway remains open, though temporary closures may occur. On May 18, the Garfield County Commissioners approved $650,000 […]
Posted inLocal Government
Carbondale Report: Trustees embrace fire risk mapping
The most notable item on Tuesday’s agenda was a conversation with the Roaring Fork Valley Wildfire Collaborative to get the ball rolling on a wildfire risk modeling project. But first, all trustees were present and received a new ball cap with the Town’s logo. A consent agenda was approved including meeting minutes, a resolution with […]
Posted inLocal Government
Carbondale Report: Smart meter opt-out approved, futsal open for play
All Carbondale trustees were present for their first meeting of the year. The unanimously-approved consent agenda included designation of the Town’s website, www.carbondalegov.org, as the primary posting place for notice of meetings pursuant to state law; plus meeting minutes; acceptance of infrastructure and a security reduction at 111 Main Street, bringing Carbondale’s new food truck […]
Posted inColumns
Time to raise the white flag?
I’ve never let on to be all that smart. I was a poor performer in school and I never accumulated enough merit badges to go beyond the rank of First Class in the Boy Scouts. I’m cool with that because I never put much stock in intelligence quotients. Unless you have some kind of disability, […]
Posted inNonprofits
Help reduce traffic and get rewarded with Two Rivers Connect
It’s no secret that traffic in the Valley has steadily increased. That’s why Clean Energy Economy for the Region (CLEER) launched Two Rivers Connect earlier this month. In partnership with the City of Glenwood Springs, Garfield Clean Energy, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority (RFTA), Garfield County Libraries, chambers of […]
Posted inEnvironment
Colorado’s geothermal aspirations persist
A thermal energy network (TEN) is a geothermal heating and cooling system that uses shallow wells and pumps to circulate water between buildings and the earth. Using the earth’s consistent temperature as a heat sink, water is pumped from underground into buildings for cooling in the summer and heating in the winter. After absorbing or […]
Posted inEnvironment
Salt under Carbondale is no reason to sweat
We have an intimate relationship with geology in the Roaring Fork Valley. A glance at contemporary place names is telling: Basalt, Redstone, Marble, even Glenwood Springs. This closeness to the physical foundations of the region has played a role in energy production and economy, from silver mines to stone quarries and midvalley charcoal and ore […]
Posted inEnvironment
Carbondale geothermal project awarded $312K
On Friday, May 24, Governor Jared Polis and the Colorado Energy Office (CEO) announced $7.7 million in grant awards to 35 geothermal projects statewide. Among those recipients was Carbondale-based nonprofit Clean Energy Economy for the Region (CLEER), which received two grant awards for the design and installation of a geothermal energy network underneath the Third […]
Posted inLocal Government
Carbondale Report: Food truck court earns approval
With both Mayor Ben Bohmfalk and Mayor Pro Tem Erica Sparhawk absent at Tuesday’s meeting, Marty Silverstein took charge as acting mayor. All other trustees were in attendance. The room was filled with members of the public, many wearing white in solidarity with a revised resolution brought forth by Ceasefire Now RFV — a group […]