| RMCO in the News, page 3 | |
RMCO’s President, Stephen Saunders, was featured in Go to Code Green, a Denver Post, November 18, 2006, “Perspective” column about the challenges facing ski resort communities in Colorado and the West as they find ways to adapt to declining snowpacks. Environmental focus splits Ritter, Beauprez , Denver Post, October 17, 2006. Candidate (now governor) Bill Ritter “says he supports the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization's development of a state plan to address climate change and sees state government building upon that work." On August 24, RMCO launched the Colorado Climate Project at a news conference at the offices of Denver Water. RMCO President Stephen Saunders introduced four project directors, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, Lakewood Mayor Steve Burkholder, Colorado Forum Director Gail Klapper, and former CSU President Al Yates, all of whom delivered statements describing the project. Two additional project directors, Fort Collins Mayor Doug Hutchinson and Summit County Commissioner Tom Long, could not attend the news conference. In addition to articles in the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News, coverage included the Vail Daily, and other outlets for which electronic links are not available, including the Colorado Statesman and KWGN WB2 News. Other Denver TV news stations covering the event were KMGH Channel 7, KUSA Channel 9, and KDVR Fox31. In July 2006, the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization and the Natural Resources Defense Council released "Losing Ground - Western National Parks Endangered by Climate Disruption." The report identifies the vulnerability of national parks in the 11 western states if emissions of heat-trapping gases continue growing in a business-as-usual fashion. In western national parks, pollution-driven changes in climate are likely to lead to extinctions of plant and animal species, losses of glaciers and snow-capped mountains in summer, closures of parks from wildfires, and fewer opportunities for beach-going, boating, fishing, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing. The report notes that public officials and others in the West and around the country are beginning to take action to ward off climate change, and that steps to slow, stop and eventually reverse global warming can protect national parks from the worst possible effects. The report identifies 12 western national parks most at risk from climate change: Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico; Death Valley National Park in California; Glacier National Park in Montana; Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah and Arizona; Golden Gate National Recreation Area in California; Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming; Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado; Mount Rainier National Park in Washington; North Cascades National Park in Washington; Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado; Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho; and Yosemite National Park in California. Media coverage was widespread, including by the Rocky Mountain News, and the San Francisco Chronicle. Other coverage worldwide included:
Frisco Targets Greenhouse Gases. Summit Daily News, July 23, 2006. “ It may seem like just a drop in the bucket when it comes to a huge issue like global warming, but Frisco's recent decision to sign on to the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement is still a worthwhile move, said Stephen Saunders, head of the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization.”
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