How the West Was Warmed Responding to Climate Change in the Rockies

by Conover, Beth; Hickenlooper, John; Ritter, Bill

• ISBN13: 9781936218028
• ISBN10: 193621802X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-11-01
• Publisher: Fulcrum Publishing

Summary

Melting glaciers. Pine beetle infestation. Drought. Carbon footprints. Green jobs and promises of a new energy economy...When the venerable Aspen Skiing Company starts talking about the "death of snow," even the most determined deniers start to wonder, what is going on? In this entertaining and enlightening collection of essays, noted environmentalist and Greenprint Denver founder Beth Conover develops a portrait of the wide range of responses to climate change in the Rocky Mountain West For over two decades, this region has been a leader in addressing climate change, and today it is a hub for solutions to this pressing global issue.

Author Biography

Editor Beth Conover has worked for twenty-five years at the intersection of environmental protection and economic development. As policy advisor to Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, she was the architect of Greenprint Denver, one of the nation's earliest and largest urban sustainability programs, and helped lay the groundwork for the greening of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xv
Introduction	p. xix
Culture And Consumption
Climate Revelations-God, Climate, and Hope	p. 3
The Next West	p. 13
Salvation for the Climate	p. 19
The Universe on Blacktop (My Day of Saving 66 Million BTUs)	p. 27
Urban Chickens-Locavorism and its Discontents	p. 31
Climate Tourism in Kilimanjaro	p. 38
Taking Vern Home-A Carbon-Neutral Eco-Travel Journal	p. 43
Cooking for the Climate	p. 50
Coyote Commons-Beyond the Proverbial Lightbulb	p. 55
Eco-Consumerism	p. 60
Natural Resources
Science
Glacier National Park-Portrait of a Place, an Agency, and a Climate Scientist	p. 72
Climate in Geologic Time and My Lifetime	p. 80
Snow And Water
The River Dry	p. 90
No-Regrets Strategies for Climate Change	p. 94
Managing the Uncertainties of the Colorado River System	p. 100
Water in the Rockies-A Twenty-First-Century Zero-Sum Game	p. 111
Land
Zephyr to Zion-Train of Thoughts in a Warming West	p. 122
It Ain't Your Father's Farming-New Mind-Sets and New Practices in the Age of Climate Change	p. 129
Dead Trees	p. 136
Grand County-Life among the Pine Beetles	p. 142
What's Killing the Aspen? The Signature Tree of the Rockies Is in Trouble	p. 149
The New Imperative-Land Conservation and Climate Change	p. 153
Country in Overdrive-Land Use, Transportation, and Climate in the West	p. 159
Commerce And Industry
The Big Bonfire-What Colorado Can Learn from the Samso Experiment	p. 172
Running Down an Up Escalator-Reducing Colorado's Electric-Sector Carbon Emissions	p. 180
Getting the Fear	p. 189
Pioneering Sustainable Business	p. 197
Green Spark-Adventures of a Green Venture Capitalist	p. 204
First, Do No Harm-Green Building and the Precautionary Principle	p. 210
The Changing Rules of Energy Finance	p. 216
The Colorado Carbon Fund-Tapping into the Voluntary Green Market to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions	p. 222
It's a Wonderful Life-Natural Gas as a Bridge to the New Energy Economy	p. 227
Oil Scarcity and Climate Change	p. 233
Policy And Politics
Red, Blue, and Green-The Western Political Realignment	p. 243
Homegrown Security	p. 251
Retool for Your Next Mission	p. 259
Lessons from across the Pond	p. 265
Journalism and the Scientific Consensus on Global Warming	p. 271
Green City Leadership	p. 277
Afterword	p. 287
Acknowledgments	p. 289
Contributing Artists	p. 291
About the Editor	p. 253
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