The Environmental Team comprises 6 groups tackling different environmental issues:

Air Quality

Air Quality is a multi-dimensional problem that has many diverse sources. These include transportation, industrial and other processes, and stationary fuel combustion.

The Larimer County League focus is on sources which affect the County, which can be documented, and which can be influenced by local League action. Our main emphasis is on oil and gas emissions, which primarily emanate from production wells in Weld County.

To improve air quality, it is essential to identify how much of the poor quality is attributable to oil and gas sources and how much to other sources. The League, therefore, advocates for better monitoring at the municipal and county levels.

Colorado-Big-Thompson_HydroElec_20190117_131806128_KGM_640x260_68367783.jpg

Water Quality & Use

The stimulus for forming the Environmental Team was the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP) from the Army Corps of Engineers in 2015. As a result of League and community comments, the Army Corps of Engineers issued a revised EIS in July, 2018, and a summary of the current status of the project can be found here.

The group continues to monitor and respond to the developments in NISP, the Poudre River, water rights of indigenous owners, and other local water issues. Our goal is to ensure accountability and to provide community education.

Bibliography of Water Issues in the West

Curlycup-Gumweed-Bee_20210820_KGM_640x260_694743382.jpg

Pollinator Habitat

There is wonder in pollinators - bees, birds, butterflies, bats and beetles. Pollinators are vital to food production, and their survival is in jeopardy. Habitat loss and pesticide use account for a considerable amount of pollinator decline.

Through education, outreach, and action, the Larimer County League addresses the need for sustainable habitat offering food, shelter and water for pollinators in "our own backyard."

To this end, we promote repopulating our landscapes with our region's native plants and collaborate with other organizations to advocate for the survival of the pollinators in our community.

GasWellDenverBasinCO_By_Plazak_CC_BY-SA_3.0_640x260.jpg

Oil & Gas

The Larimer County League advocates for the development of strong regulations for oil and gas development in order to minimize that industry’s effects on public health, safety, welfare, the environment and wildlife resources.

Our members recently spent a year studying current laws and regulations concerning oil and gas development in Colorado and overhauled the League position guiding advocacy on the issue. The updated position has now been adopted by LWV-Colorado, enabling its use as a roadmap for advocacy on the oil and gas issue throughout the state.

New position on Oil & Gas Development: READ IT HERE

Environmental Justice

Climate change and contaminants in air, water, and food threaten everyone's physical and mental health, but socially and economically disadvantaged communities face the greatest risks. As time goes on, these vulnerable communities will suffer the worst impacts of climate change and pollution. The Larimer County League recognizes the injustice in this and is taking action.

We need laws, rules, and regulations that provide the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards for all people, regardless of race, color, national origin, income, disability, or tribal affiliation.

And when it comes to planning how to ensure a healthy environment in which to live, learn, work, and play, all people should enjoy equal access to the decision-making process.

Recycling

Plastics - Producer Responsibility - Green/Solid Waste

Solid waste encompasses trash, recyclables, green (yard) waste, and food waste (composting). The Environmental Team takes action on various solid waste issues, with emphases on recycling, reduction of single-use plastic, and on holding producers of plastic responsible for the life cycle of their products.

We advocate for options to recycle all green waste and promote composting of food waste. We are research-based in our actions to educate the public on the environmental costs of plastic production, its use and disposal, and its health impacts. We also concern ourselves with the building and maintenance of the new Larimer County landfill.

National LWV Positions in Brief

Resource Management: Promote the management of natural resources as interrelated parts of life-supporting ecosystems. Promote resource conservation, stewardship, and long-range planning, with the responsibility for managing natural resources shared by all levels of government. Preserve the physical, chemical, and biological integrity of the ecosystem with maximum protection of public health and the environment.

Environmental Protection and Pollution Control: The League supports the preservation of the physical, chemical, and biological integrity of the ecosystem and maximum protection of public health and the environment.

Air Quality - Promote measures to reduce pollution from mobile and stationary sources.
Energy - Support environmentally sound policies that emphasize energy conservation and encourage the use of renewable resources.
Land Use - Promote policies that manage land as a finite resource and that incorporate principles of stewardship.
Water - Support measures to reduce pollution in order to protect surface water, groundwater, and drinking water, and set up a process to evaluate inter-basin water transfers.
Waste Management - Promote policies to reduce the generation of solid and hazardous wastes and promote their reuse and recycling.
Climate Change - Support climate goals and policies that are consistent with the best available climate science and that will ensure a stable climate system for future generations.
Transfer of Federal Public Lands - Promote policies that keep federal public lands under the jurisdiction of the federal government.