How is Colorado doing on cutting carbon emissions? Not great, state analysis says.
Colorado will fall short of its 2030 carbon dioxide reduction goals by nearly 12 million tons a year unless speed up policy changes with new efforts like expanded free transit fares, “clean mile” minimums and land use reform, state officials said Tuesday.
A new baseline analysis by Rocky Mountain Institute shows the overall Colorado economy creating 85 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2030, a key contributor to global warming. That would miss the state’s statutory target of 73.4 million tons — a 50% cut from the 2005 carbon benchmark — by about 15%, the new analysis says.
Colorado Energy Office executive director Will Toor said the assessment can be seen as a glass being “85% full.” Existing policy choices could make up some of the gap, with the conservative assessment leaving out the expected impact of rules being finalized in 2024 and tougher enforcement of existing emissions rules.
“The way we would describe it, it shows there’s additional work to do,” Toor said. “But also, with the policies that have been adopted to date, we’ll get up to about 80% of the 2025 target and about 85% of the 2030 target.”
For perspective, the coal-fired power station in Craig emitted just under 8 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2022, according to the EPA. The final unit of Craig will close in 2030.
Environmental groups and many local lawmakers have pointed to the carbon reduction gaps as proof Colorado needs to accelerate new regulations for transportation and the oil and gas industry, two sectors of the economy that they claim continue an outsize influence on emissions.
“We’re making progress for sure, but clearly it’s not yet enough,” said Jeremy Nichols, a senior environmental health advocate in Denver with the Center for Biological Diversity. “Given that we still have so many solutions at hand, it’s inexcusable for the Polis administration to not do everything possible over the next two years to ensure Colorado gets back on track.”