Big City Sustainability: Denver
I associate Denver with clean. Clean air, clean people, clean living. After investigating Denver’s municipal plans to achieve sustainability, I learned quickly that people in Denver have no problem getting dirty; some people in Denver get down and dirty. As for the living, Denver ‘seems’ to escape the problems that plague big cities in the United States. As for the air, Denver is home to the third largest airport in the world (lots of planes), but burning carbon- based fuels does more for Colorado than some residents are comfortable with. Denver is making bold moves to fight global warming however, and making big waves that are rippling throughout the state and country.
Denver’s official climate action plan is named Greenprint Denver. In October of 2007, the final recommendations were made to Mayor John Hickenlooper by the Greenprint Advisory Council. Climate change is Denver’s main focus when it comes to sustainability. The effects of global warming results in reduced snow packs that threaten water supply and tourism. The secondary effects of global warming like the rise in the Mountain Pine Beetle, have done massive destruction to thousands forest acres along the Rocky Mountains. Denver’s plans for residents and the municipality itself are literally carbon copies of what works for other cities around the globe. As far as the plan goes, if it works in London, or Seattle, or any other city that’s “sustainable” then it will be good for Denver. The residential plans to reduce, reuse and recycle are not groundbreaking. The municipality has a mandate that requires twenty percent of all public works projects use high performing concrete ( fly ash), and the Denver Botanic Garden created a Sustainability Management Program that sets goals to increase the overall sustainability of Denver. Other than that, Denver’s sustainability plans for its citizens are adequately keeping up with the big city Jones.
The real news is Denver’s plan for big business in the state. The Greenprint Denver plan wants the city to become a leader in establishing a diversified economy based on the combined use of traditional and alternative sources of energy. It also wants the city to eliminate the need for one coal- fired power plant (equivalent to 260,000 cars off the road), and goes further to suggest Denver reduce emissions equivalent to over half a million cars off the roads by 2020. Corporations and environmentalists saw these suggestions by the city as a cannon ball aimed at the mining and energy corporations based in Colorado. In order to reach these environmental goals, the city may be biting the hands that have been feeding it for decades. In the short term, it has the local coal mining and natural gas companies fighting over public utility business rites, and Colorado’s largest public utility company scrambling to adjust to strict regulations. In the long term, Denver wants the state’s economy and infrastructure to help combat climate change.
The industries that primarily make up Colorado’s economy are some of the biggest culprits involved in global warming. Colorado is the tenth largest producer of coal in the United States. It also is home to Xcel Energy, a corporation that sells electricity and natural gas to public utilities in over seven states in the U.S. The company is caught between the coal rich southern region of the state, and the gas rich northern region. The state legislature passed the Clean Air Clean Jobs Act that was aimed at helping Colorado meet federal clean air rules, and has forced Xcel to make infrastructure changes, like coal to natural gas. The company has coal-fired power plants that the state wants to either close or retrofit in some ways. The company has agreed to close five plants in Denver and Boulder, add emissions controls on units in brush and Hayden, and switch one coal-fired plant to natural gas. The state wants Xcel to switch one more. All of this wrangling has made many in Colorado wonder if the folks in Denver are looking out for the rest of the state. As demand for coal shrinks, the jobs and industry loss rises in Colorado. If Denver becomes the national catalyst for coal-fired power plant reduction in municipal infrastructure, it could have devastating long term effects on the coal industry.
Denver’s other carbon offender is also the city’s sustainable flagship. Denver International Airport is the largest airport in North America. It is a facility that was designed, built, and is being maintained by state of the art sustainable technologies. From the fabric used to construct the tent-like roof, to the way waste is mitigated, the building is a testament to modern sustainability. It is also one of the largest employers in the state. The only problem with DIA is the machines it facilitates: airplanes. Anyone who has looked in the sky and seen a jet fly by can see the pollution it leaves in its trail. DIA has up to 50,000 flights arriving and leaving every day of the year. No matter how green the building is, an airport (especially one of the world’s biggest) is bound to have negative environmental impacts, particularly on the atmosphere.
Denver is a good example of how big cities are struggling to address climate change and transition into a sustainable future. Collectively people in the U.S. know it’s something we need to do, but the rate and speed we do it at is being debated by many. Environmentalist and progressive politicians think we are way behind and must accelerate our efforts before it’s too late. Corporations and working people think jobs trump conservation and we should ease environmental legislation. The “mile high” city’s quest to truly become sustainable and lessen the impact of global warming is attainable, however, it might tarnish the city’s green image in the process and expose cultural strife that lie not too far beneath the city’s surface.
References:
City and County of Denver, Department of Environmental Health
“Greenhouse Gas Inventory for the City and County of Denver”
City of Denver Department of Environmental Health May 2007
Greenprint Denver Advisory Council “ City of Denver Climate Action Plan” www.GreenprintDenver.org , October 2007
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