Colorado skiers, boarders to rally against global warming
An early season view from the summit of Keystone ski area, with man-made snow in the foreground. As a seasonal sport dependent on timely and abundant snowfall, skiing could take a big hit from global warming.
More powder is what every skier wants, but a changing climate poses a big risk to Colorado’s status as a winter sports Mecca.
That’s the message a group of activists want to send to the U.S. Senate when they rally Wednesday at the Blue River Plaza in downtown Breckenridge, Colorado.
County Commissioner Karn Stiegelmeier, Breckenridge resort environmental manager Dave November, and others will gather to call on the Senate to pass critically important global warming legislation.
The ski industry has sometimes been accused of greenwashing itself, but as a whole has been a leader in lobbying for laws to cut greenhouse gas emissions. With their Keep Winter Cool campaign, resorts have also focused on educating their customers about how they can take steps to reduce emissions by using public transit or carpooling to the mountains, for example.
Speakers will highlight the potential impacts to Colorado’s mountain communities and industries from failing to address global warming.
At the event, Environment Colorado will also release a new report showing that Colorado’s global warming pollution has risen faster than nearly any other state. The new report analyzes federal government data on trends in carbon dioxide from fossil fuel consumption.
“We just need to switch to cleaner energy,” Environment Colorado’s Dana Hoffman. She said the rise in Colorado emissions can be traced to continued electrification and the use of coal in the state, all tied to population growth.
