Peak Environment

The Demographics council of the Peak Progress Quality of Life Indicators Report share the contributions they’re making to the next version of the report. They’re providing tools to make it easier to understand who lives in our region and how that is changing over time. Data can be overwhelming but it can tell us a lot about the place that we live. The 2030 Sustainability plan was heavily informed...

Get a tour of the new El Paso County Master Plan recently adopted by the county commissioners. Mark Gebhart, Deputy Director of Planning and Community Development for the county, provided this overview at the June 16, 2021 Sustainability in Progress meeting. LINKS: Your El Paso Master Plan – project website El Paso County Planning and Development   This episode was recorded at the Sustainability i...

How do we ensure all Colorado children are engaged in outdoor learning experiences? Appreciation for nature, the great outdoors, conservation and sound environmental stewardship don’t just happen. They are the result of positive experiences and good information and education. In this episode, we hear from two environmental education leaders who are providing these experiences and education for the...

Why do we need to grow more of our own food? According to local garden expert Larry Stebbins, Colorado Springs is behind many other cities in local food sufficiency. He explains why urban gardening plays a critical role in our resilience and food supply in the face of a growing population and shrinking farmland. He also shares some of the opportunities in the local area for embracing urban farming...

An ambitious new project near downtown is cleaning up an old construction materials dump and turning it into an amazing community treasure. A lot of creativity is going into this site, including letting nature do what real estate developments typically pour concrete to do (manage stormwater). If you see mosaics on light poles, concrete benches inlaid with tiles, murals and other street art around...

A new non-profit co-op is working in Colorado to help people go solar, simplifying the process and reducing costs. Bryce Carter, Colorado Program Director for Solar United Neighbors (SUN) shares details about how it works. The co-op launched in Colorado Springs at the end of March, 2021. This event was co-hosted by Peak Alliance for a Sustainable Future and Southeastern Colorado Renewable Energy S...

Boulder County told Byron Kominek you cannot put solar panels on agricultural land; it violates zoning. But Byron persisted. Agrivoltaics are a global phenomenon in which solar panels and agriculture share land. The county eventually amended its code. Today there are about 3,000 panels on Jack’s Solar Garden, which Bryon created. In addition to helping small farms turn a profit, the panels provide...

There are plenty of good reasons for political conservatives to be concerned about the climate crisis. We explore them in this conversation with three gentlemen from the Citizens’ Climate Lobby, or CCL: Steven Moses, a physicist Don Parcher, a retired Navy pilot Nate Hochman, a Colorado College senior and Conservative Outreach Fellow at CCL Citizens' Climate Lobby (CCL) is a nonpartisan group that...

What steps can the Biden administration take to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Bureau of Land Management to better address its conservation and climate change goals? This question was addressed in a lively online discussion hosted by PEER (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility). Panelists discussed the results of a recent employee survey, trends in land management plannin...

Will Toor, Executive Director of the Colorado Energy Office, provides a summary of State/CEO projects, activities, and initiatives, and shares the Colorado Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Pollution Reduction Roadmap.  This event was co-hosted by Peak Alliance for a Sustainable Future, Southeastern Colorado Renewable Energy Society, Green Cities Coalition, and the Energy Resource Center. LINKS Speaker’s Power...

What can you do to create a sustainable, just, and carbon-free city? Hear what’s next in the closure of the fossil-fuel powered Martin Drake Power Plant in Colorado Springs, and learn about three local campaigns on which you can take action. This is audio from a live webinar held on February 19, 2021 – organized by a group of Colorado College students. It was described as speed-dating for climate...

What are 33 Colorado cities doing to conserve water? Frank Kinder, Water Efficiency Program Manager for Northern Water, updates us on the conservation work of this regional water provider. LINKS: Frank Kinder’s slide presentation http://studio809radio.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/2021-Presentation-FK-PPENV.pdf The Colorado-Big Thompson Project - video shown during presentation https://youtu.be/w...

Colorado College students demonstrate just how engaged and activated their generation can be. Filip Carnogursky and Liam Reynolds share two initiatives they started because they saw a need and weren’t going to wait around for someone else to do it. They’re doing something about addressing climate change and addressing unaffordable housing and unsustainable urban development. Learn all about Climat...

The holidays are coming and that means shopping, gifts, and food. Do you approach the holidays mindful of the environmental impact of all these activities? This episode explores sustainable options for this holiday season. Konrad Schlarbaum, sustainability coordinator for Pikes Peak Community College shares low-impact holiday gift-giving practices, and fills us in on the virtual PPCC Green Holiday...

Flying, driving, bus, train, bicycle, on foot, even staycations. What do we need to know to make responsible decisions about the way we move about? Dave Gardner, host of the GrowthBusters podcast about sustainable living, shares data and tools to guide us.   LINKS: Presentation Slides GrowthBusters – Free Black Friday Screening (view 11/26/20 to 11/29/20) 1.5 Degree Lifestyles report The Four Life...

Christian Nelson and Michael Avanzi of Colorado Springs Utilities share the future of energy production in our community. The Colorado Springs Utilities Board approved an Integrated Resources Plan (IRP) portfolio in June of 2020 that represents a significant departure from the utility’s heavy reliance on coal and natural gas generation. What does this mean for the Pikes Peak region and renewable e...

What’s happening and what can we expect in terms of how we get electricity to power our homes, business and industry? How clean can it be, and what it will cost? Over the past twenty years, the energy market has shifted dramatically. The unsubsidized cost of wind and solar energy, with battery storage, has dropped below the cost of fossil fuel generation. The US Energy Information Agency expects t...

Indigenous permaculturalist, designer, builder and educator Michael Alcazar led this ceremony on September 18, 2020 at Flying Pig Farm. This ceremony kicked off the Manitou Springs Forest Garden Initiative, in which Manitou will be planting tree guilds (natural communities of tree/plant relationships) that will act as natural education sites for the community for learning how to grow food, provide...

Don’t miss the 7th annual Creek Week Cleanup, September 26 – October 4th. Every year citizens of Southern Colorado step up, put on their environmental steward hats, and join with friends and neighbors in what’s become the largest watershed-wide cleanup in Colorado. In this episode, Alli Schuch shares how we can all participate this year. Safe, socially-distanced, outdoor activities are on the agen...

The 2020 election in Colorado is shaping up to be historic, but not for the reasons you might think. Voters in Colorado will get the chance to direct wildlife managers to reintroduce gray wolves, nearly 80 years after they were eradicated on behalf of the livestock industry.  In this interview, Delia Malone, Mike Phillips, and Rob Edward, three friends and longtime wolf advocates, discuss the impo...

How can we improve the Pikes Peak Region 2030 Plan ? Several municipalities and organizations in the Pikes Peak Region came together to develop a long-range sustainability plan, completed in 2012 and adopted by some cities and organizations (but not by the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments, interestingly). In this episode, Konrad Schlarbaum (director of Green Cities Coalition) discusses his r...

What can we learn from indigenous people about caring for the land on which we depend for our food? This episode is a recording of the keynote address by indigenous permaculture designer Michael Alcazar at the 2020 Pikes Peak Foodshed Forum. The forum was hosted by Green Cities Coalition and Pikes Peak Community College on February 8, 2020. Indigenous permaculture designer Michael Alcazar is a mas...

You can’t escape toxic PFAS chemicals. They are everywhere. Get an update on what we know and what’s being done about water contamination by PFAS (Perfluoroalklsubstance). Groundwater and surface water in portions of the Pikes Peak Region is known to have PFAS contamination, due to years of firefighting exercises at Peterson Field and the Air Force Academy (PFAS have been an ingredient in firefigh...

Colorado needs Wolves – not merely to restore a natural balance or the wildness that we all seek – though wolves will do that if they are present for long enough, in sufficient numbers and with wide enough distribution  – but also to ensure that we pass on a Colorado intact, with a complete suite of native wildlife, to enrich future generations.  This episode explores the issue of wolf reintroduct...

Big things are happening for tiny homes in Colorado Springs. Colorado Springs Principal Planner Lonna Thelan fills us in on how city planning and zoning issues affect tiny home locations, and Shelley Jensen, founder, CEO and chief community strategist of We Fortify, shares details of her first development, Working Fusion at Mill Street. Working Fusion is a sustainable tiny-home development in the...