City getting into a green groove

There were so many Earth Day celebrations in Colorado Springs over the weekend a person could have burned a whole tank of gas visiting them.

Global warming fears have made it fashionable to care about Mother Earth again, and Earth Day is no longer just for hippies and college students.

"I think people do care, I think across all kinds of partisan politics and political boundaries," said Richard Skorman, former city councilman who recently formed the Colorado Springs Conservation Corps.

Fad or not, this Earth Day, Colorado Springs has some big incentives to care.

If we don't curb our power use, Colorado Springs Utilities might build a coal-fired power plant. If we don't curb our driving, a few high-ozone days this summer could bring back the hated autoemissions testing.

Skorman formed his group with the short-term goal of eliminating the need for a new coal plant and the long-term goal of changing energy-use habits here.

"This is a big concern here. There's a different ethic in this community, because people really value outdoor life, clean air, clean water," Skorman said.

There are signs Colorado Springs has put the "conserve" back in conservative. Voters here shoot down most tax hikes but approve taxes for parks and open space.

According to Colorado Springs Utilities, we use less water per family than any other Front Range city - 1,066 cubic feet a month per family, down from 1,466 in 2000.

Natural gas use decreased from 89 hundredcubic-feet a month to 77 in the same period.

Electricity use remained mostly flat. CSU says while customers use more energy efficient appliances and lights and live in more efficient houses, many have televisions, computers and electronics that use power even when turned off.

In fact, the average family used 647.4 kilowatt hours a month in 2007, up from 632.5 in 2000. The 2006 average was 630.8.

A test of Colorado Springs' willingness to conserve was Earth Hour, a worldwide campaign to get people to turn off lights and appliances for an hour on March 29.

In Colorado Springs, there was no noticeable decrease in electricity use.

"I feel like it's definitely a symbolic statement," said Allison Daniell of Imagination Celebration, who coordinated the effort with high school students.

"Once we have a little bit more funding and ways to get the word out and people supporting it, I think Colorado Springs will be receptive," she said.

Colorado Springs Utilities has not set a date or energy savings threshold to stave off a new plant. While officials projected new capacity would be needed by 2013, they say conservation could push that back or make a plant unnecessary.

"It's kind of a moving target," said CSU spokesman Dave Grossman.

"Our goal is to try to reduce consumption so we can delay it as long as possible," he said.

A new coal-fired power plant could impact another major environmental issue affecting the Pikes Peak region: air quality.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last month established new smog standards, and El Paso County squeaked by. The standard is 75 parts per billion for ozone. There are two monitoring stations here, and the three-year average at the one in Manitou Springs was 74. It was 73 at the Air Force Academy.

While it remains to be seen if a few high-ozone days this summer will push the county out of compliance - which could mean the return of emissions testing - a new coal plant would not help the smog.

A place where you can see evidence of a growing eco-conscience is 602 Fourth St.

There, at the Waste Management Recycle America facility, the city's largest recycling facility, bins that once took only paper now accept a range of metals and plastics. They recently began accepting plastic types one through seven.

"With Earth Day coming up, everybody is really on the recycling bandwagon," said general manager Clint Morford, whose grandfather started the business for waste paper in 1948. They began taking aluminum cans in 1989 and were bought by Waste Management in 1990.

While the Earth Day bump is temporary, Morford has seen long-term increases in recycling.

"There's certainly more awareness. We've always been relatively busy, with good participation in Colorado Springs," he said.

But Colorado Springs lags in curbside recycling, he said, because people won't pay extra for it. It's a far cry from many eastern states, where curbside recycling pickup has been the norm for decades.

Conservationists, meanwhile, hope that by encouraging people to conserve through programs such as Earth Hour or Skorman's "million light bulb campaign" - a plan to replace that many light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs in homes - they can change behavior beyond Earth Day.

"The community embraced water savings more than any other Front Range city. We all went through the (2002) drought," Skorman said. "I think people here care about the environment and they also want to live efficiently and within their means."

CONTACT THE WRITER: 476-1605 or scott.rappold@gazette.com

TAKE THE BUS

To celebrate Earth Day, Mountain Metropolitan Transit is offering free rides on its buses today.

Rides are free on the fixed Mountain Metro routes as well as the Front Range Express.

"Earth Day is a day for people to make a difference as they conserve gasoline and help our environment," said Transit Services Division Manager Sherre Ritenour. "We encourage everyone to make a difference that's good for our planet this Earth Day and ride for free on Mountain Metropolitan Transit."
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