NIWOT RIDGE – As federal government-funded scientist Jen Morse skis through blowing snow at 11,500 feet to measure heat-trapping greenhouse gas air pollution, she wrestles with the question that’s been bothering her all week: How humans can know that potentially ruinous climate change is happening yet balk at trying to stop it. At wind-whipped facilities near the Continental Divide northwest of Nederland, she fills glass flasks with air that shows carbon dioxide concentrations in Earth’s atmosphere as high as 413 parts per million. That figure is still provisional, pending federal review and melding with data from other sites, but reflects a continuing rise above current record levels exceeding 404 ppm — more than 100 ppm higher than at the onset of industrialization — promising more warming, intense storms, droughts, wildfires and other calamities worldwide. “We understand we are sealing our own fate. We can see it happening,” Morse said, fat, wet snowflakes pelting her face. … [Read more...] about Catching air: Scientists trek high into the Rockies to measure Earth’s rising greenhouse gases
Catching cheaters
The Spot: Counting the days until spring — and this week’s eye-catching political numbers
For people, policy and Colorado politics What’s The Spot? You’re reading an installment of our weekly politics newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered straight in your inbox . Outdoors is hinting at its next iteration with every tree bud, piercing ray of warm sun and small shoot of grass. It’s a time for rebirth and regeneration — rethinking the old as we make way for the new. We’ll be giving The Spot a fresh look in the next few weeks, too, as Colorado rolls into spring. The insights and news won’t go away, it might just look a little different. If you like it, let us know! If you don’t, let us know! And most importantly, if you have a burning question about politics at the federal, state, suburban or Denver levels, ask away before noon Tuesday, March 9 , because next week’s newsletter depends on your curiosity. To support the important journalism we do, you can become a Denver Post subscriber here . Questions? Have a question about Colorado politics? … [Read more...] about The Spot: Counting the days until spring — and this week’s eye-catching political numbers
Biden’s COVID, border policies prove he’s serious about neither
In the short time since the Biden administration assumed power, it has arguably been more aggressive and agenda-driven than any of its predecessors in recent memory. The first month has produced bold rhetoric, backed by executive orders and regulations, focused primarily on immigration and the nation’s response to COVID-19. It has quickly become clear, however, that Biden’s positions on both of these critical issues are hopelessly intertwined, in opposition to each other, and destined to fail. This administration can deploy Dr. Fauci Anthony Fauci Fauci donates personal COVID-19 virus model to Smithsonian Fauci warns of risks from single-dose strategy for Pfizer, Moderna vaccines MAGALand in Orlando MORE and other like-minded allies in the media to defend it, but it doesn’t take a Ph.D in immunology to see the obvious: Containing and defeating a challenge like COVID-19 is made significantly more difficult when foreign nationals from underdeveloped countries are … [Read more...] about Biden’s COVID, border policies prove he’s serious about neither
Mellman: How the Senate decided impeachment
What can the impeachment vote tell us about the forces at work as our elected representatives grapple with key issues? I recently cited British philosopher and parliamentarian Edmund Burke, a founding father of conservatism, who argued the trusteeship theory of representation. A legislator, Burke wrote, should not sacrifice to constituents "his unbiased opinion, his mature judgment, his enlightened conscience… Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion." In other words, a proper representative should do what he or she thinks is right, irrespective of what his or her constituents might think. ADVERTISEMENT Republicans possessed of extensive Senate experience claimed a secret ballot would have produced just ten votes to acquit, suggesting at least 33 sacrificed their own judgment to something. Without access to the private thoughts of each senator, we can’t know which … [Read more...] about Mellman: How the Senate decided impeachment
The X Denver apartment building is all about shared community space. Will it and other new projects succeed in the pandemic?
Rents in Denver have fallen during the pandemic, according to a recent market report, but that doesn’t mean apartment developers are any less keen on a city that was a hot spot for rent growth before COVID-19 came calling. In fact, the number of would-be apartments in the planning pipeline for the metro area hit a record 46,000 in December, according to Denver data firm Apartment Insights. The X Company, the Chicago-based developer behind the X Denver apartment tower that is inching toward completion after nearly three years of construction just north of Coors Field at 3100 Inca St., embodies that enthusiasm for the Mile High City even in the face of shifting consumer preferences. X Denver offers traditional studio and one-bedroom apartments inside its 12-story, 455-apartment frame, but the X Company also allows people to rent individual bedrooms with private bathrooms in two-, three- and four-bedroom “co-living” apartments with shared kitchens and common areas. Tenants can … [Read more...] about The X Denver apartment building is all about shared community space. Will it and other new projects succeed in the pandemic?