A new frontier in the voluntary carbon market: Old, leaky oil wells

Brad Handler, program director of the Energy Finance Lab​ at the Payne Institute for Public Policy, discusses the methodologies used for methane emissions and how they may change in the future in this article.
January 16, 2025

In a first, the E.P.A. warns of ‘forever chemicals’ in sludge fertilizer

Christopher P. Higgins, professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is quoted in this article that notes levels of PFAS in sewage sludge used as fertilizer can pose risks that sometimes exceed EPA safety thresholds by several orders of magnitude.
January 14, 2025

This is how scientists measure global temperature

The temperature change between two nearby locations is remarkably consistent, said Nathan Lenssen, a climate scientist at the Colorado School of Mines and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. “When it’s 2 degrees warmer than normal in Denver, it’s going to be 2 degrees warmer than normal at the top of Bear Peak.”
January 14, 2025

Quantum startup incubator launching in Boulder

A group of partners that includes Colorado School of Mines, Elevate Quantum, University of Colorado, and Colorado State University is opening a startup incubator for quantum technology companies in Boulder.
January 13, 2025

Why it might be hard for Trump to reverse Biden’s offshore oil ban

Morgan Bazilian, director of The Payne Institute for Public Policy, is quoted in this radio piece. In his final days as president, Joe Biden has promised to ban drilling in more than 600 million acres off the coast of the western U.S. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has promised to undo the ban, as well as much of Biden’s climate and conservation efforts.
January 7, 2025

New data shows winters in Great Lakes region shrinking by two or more weeks since 1995

Eric Anderson, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and co-author of the study, explains in that Lakes Superior and Erie saw the biggest drop in winter days -- close to three weeks of winter each.
January 6, 2025

New law could finally address thousands of abandoned mines leaking pollution into Colorado water

Molly Morgan, a Geology PhD candidate, is quoted in this article examining the impact of a new law recently signed by President Biden.
January 4, 2025

An electrical grid on the moon? Colorado School of Mines students work with NASA to make it possible

Mines graduate student Ken Liang and alum Chris Tolten built a prototype of a lunar grid and presented it during a recent competition run by NASA. The prototype worked – and Chris and Ken won a half-million-dollar prize to continue developing their idea.
January 2, 2025

Leadville and other Colorado communities stand to benefit as president signs Good Samaritan Mining Act

Opinion column by Molly Morgan, a Geology PhD candidate, and Mining Engineering professors Elizabeth Holley and Nicole Smith. They write that getting legislation through Congress was a critical step forward in addressing one of the nation’s longest-standing environmental challenges.
January 2, 2025

The E.P.A. promotes toxic fertilizer. 3M told it of risks years ago.

Christopher P. Higgins, university distinguished professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, is cited in this article about how the EPA obtained research from 3M in 2003 revealing that sewage sludge, the raw material for the fertilizer, carried toxic “forever chemicals.”
December 27, 2024

The American industry that wants more government intervention

Elizabeth Holley, Mines associate professor of Mining Engineering, discusses the domestic mining of critical minerals in a story from Kirk Siegler for NPR's Morning Edition program.
December 18, 2024

China’s mineral export ban strikes at the US defense industrial base

Morgan Bazilian, director of the Payne Institute for Public Policy at Mines, co-authored this column. It discusses how the Chinese mineral export ban could cause the U.S. defense industry to experience short-term mineral shortages and higher prices.
December 6, 2024