Allen Best

We need coal a bit longer but can we afford Xcel Energy鈥檚 Comanche 3? (抖阴ap)

December 21, 2025 at 5:01 a.m.

A few years ago, Colorado was triumphantly easing out of coal generation in orderly fashion. The narrative has shifted, this energy transition -- what I call the聽big聽pivot聽鈥� has gotten more...

Densely packed homes abut the Backcountry ...

Why declining aquifers, like the crucial Denver Basin, matter as much as our rivers (抖阴ap)

October 1, 2025 at 5:01 a.m.

Denver Basin aquifers, like the Ogallala, get little replenishment from mountain snows. Instead of growing corn or potatoes, the water goes to urban needs in one of America's wealthier areas.

In an aerial view, an Amazon Web Services data center is shown on July 17, 2024 in Ashburn, Va. Northern Virginia is the largest data center market in the world, according to a report this year cited in published accounts. And the centers are burgeoning in Colorado. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

抖阴ap: Colorado needs good data center policy. Discount electricity is not it.

March 10, 2025 at 8:53 a.m.

"Colorado needs to figure out the best public policy because data centers can pose enormous demands on both electricity and water." -- Allen Best

A scale model of the 'Power Tower' is explained to President Jimmy Carter, center, at the Solar Energy Research Institute on May 3, 1978, in Golden, Colorado. (Photo by Dave Buresh/The Denver Post)

抖阴ap: Jimmy Carter and his lasting legacy of renewable energy in Colorado

January 5, 2025 at 5:11 a.m.

Jimmy Carter had an underappreciated role in Colorado鈥檚 story. It started in May 1978 when he announced that the Solar Energy Research Institute in Golden would get $100 million in...

Cattle at Chico Basin Ranch congregate ...

抖阴ap: Polis was an unwitting messenger of a new truth — cows in the West are no longer sacred

April 5, 2021 at 3:48 p.m.

This meatless proclamation was tone-deaf. Denial and anger will not prevail, though. I鈥檓 reminded of when coal producers, 10 and 15 years ago, were fighting the future of renewables instead...

Water flows down Geneva Creek, which flows into the South Platte River, on April 28, 2008.

Best: The exquisite symphony of mountain runoff

June 17, 2016 at 12:31 p.m.

Whether in a mountain town or the suburbs, you can hear the runoff of spring snow. Connecting with this symphony of nature may leave you smiling and a bit richer.

An August 2014 artist's rendering of a new affordable housing project in Downtown Denver's Union Station district. Completion is scheduled for early 2017.

Best: All those boring right angles in new Denver apartment design

April 14, 2016 at 4:12 p.m.

Best: All those boring right angles in new Denver apartment design

Scott Toepfer makes his way toward the debris field and site of the avalanche at Sheep Creek near Loveland Pass on April 21, 2013. He and two other members of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center deconstructed the area of the deadly avalanche that killed five snowboarders. (Denver Post file)

Best: Why this winter in the high country has been so deadly

April 17, 2016 at 8:18 p.m.

Best: Why this winter in the high country has been so deadly

In the 1820s, frontiersman Hugh Glass (played by Leonardo DiCaprio in "The Revenant") set out on a path of vengeance against those who left him for dead after a bear mauling.

Best: Truth vs. legend in “The Revenant” and “The Hateful Eight”

April 18, 2016 at 8:49 p.m.

Best: Truth vs. legend in "The Revenant" and "The Hateful Eight"

U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo. (Alex Wong, Getty Images file)

Best: How a carbon tax can help Cory Gardner — and the rest of us

April 18, 2016 at 6:07 p.m.

Best: How a carbon tax can help Cory Gardner — and the rest of us

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