A newly formed coalition of environmental groups called Sunday on Gov. Bill Ritter to endorse a goal of big reductions in greenhouse gas emissions over the next 13 years.
The coalition, made up of more than a dozen local and statewide environmental, outdoor and business groups known collectively as the Colorado Climate Action Network, urged Ritter to set a goal of bringing statewide emissions below 1990 levels by 2020 and 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Achieving that would require a 35 percent cut in current emissions, said Vickie Patton of Environmental Defense, which is a coalition member. Left unchecked, emissions levels in 2020 will be 80 percent above 1990 levels, Patton said.
“The scientific debate about climate change is over,” said Dan Grossman, regional director for Environmental Defense. “The scientists are telling us if we don’t do anything, the effect on our economy and our climate in Colorado will be devastating.”
The announcement was just one of several Earth Day-related events taking place Sunday. Across the state, the environmentally conscious maintained trails, attended lectures and planted trees. In Boulder, the Center for Resource Conservation held its annual 4-kilometer walk/run. In Denver, volunteers planted 100 trees along Bruce Randolph Avenue as part of Mayor John Hickenlooper’s campaign to plant 7,000 trees in the city in seven days.
At Sunday’s announcement, Dave Dittloff of the National Wildlife Federation said the state must act quickly on climate change or else suffer longer droughts, more-active fire seasons and wildlife losses.
“Colorado is really in the bull’s-eye for climate-change impacts,” he said.
Ritter has already won praise from environmental groups for signing a pair of bills to increase renewable-energy production and hiring a climate-change coordinator. Sunday, Ritter spokesman Evan Dreyer said it is too early for the governor to commit to specific goals.
“Establishing goals and then crafting specific strategies on how to reach those goals is important,” Dreyer said. “But less than a week after announcing he has hired a climate-change adviser, talking about such specific details is premature.”
