Sam Brasch

Colorado is fighting poverty and climate change by retrofitting low-income homes. The state is expected to get a boost from the new infrastructure law. (Story originally aired on ATC on Dec. 2. 2021)

Colorado is trying to fight both poverty and climate change by retrofitting low-income homes. Now the state set to get a big boost from the new federal infrastructure law.

The Biden administration wants to crack down on climate-warming methane emissions. Success will depend on a growing new industry in high-tech ways to detect methane leaks.

As coal plants shut down, many places face the loss of jobs and taxes. But in Colorado, one town hopes to transform a coal plant into a new kind of renewable energy storage.

After years of frustration over air pollution, a petroleum refinery in Colorado agreed to a settlement. Nearby residents are spending some of that money to set up air monitors around the plant.

Evolving technology is making it possible to turn sewage wastewater into energy that can heat and cool large buildings. The largest such project in the U.S. is under construction in Denver.

The country's overgrown forests need to be aggressively thinned to reduce wildfire risk. That creates massive piles of worthless brush and branches, but some businesses see a new market for them.

The move challenges a long tradition of leaving wildlife management to governments, not the public. But the vote was narrow, reflecting many people's serious concerns about bringing wolves back.

In November, Coloradans are set to vote on whether to return wolves to the state. The ballot initiative may be the first time voters in any state could force reintroduction of an endangered species.

Democrats in Colorado and New Mexico are pushing ahead with legislation to pledge their 14 collective electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote — no matter who wins each state.