Blog - Colorado CCL actions and progress

Carbon farming – part 2

Storing atmospheric carbon in soil and regenerating soils’ health is a win, but the transition can be expensive for farmers to implement. What grants are available to help? What are the barriers? There are 2 actions you can take to support them.

Carbon farming – part 1

Through a variety of agricultural practices, farmers have the power to increase the carbon stored in the land beneath their crops, and remove excess CO2 from the atmosphere. This first of two articles covers carbon farming basics, agricultural incentives to encourage its use, and actions you can take to support this transition.

Boost your outreach through Colorado’s rural advocacy organizations

At CCL, we build political will for bipartisan solutions to climate change. We believe in treating people with respect and appreciation, meeting people where they are, and appreciating the circumstances, beliefs and values that led them to their position on climate. Then we look for common ground and try to move forward, bit by bit. Kathy Fackler discovered that, in her conservative-leaning Western Slope congressional district, there’s no better place for outreach than Club20. Learn about her experience and opportunities for outreach in other Colorado rural districts.

CCL’s Agriculture Action Team is making progress

Support from the American Farm Bureau Federation could prove essential in passing national carbon fee and dividend legislation. CCL National’s Agriculture Action Team has worked for several years in reaching out to them — and their work is beginning to bear fruit. Colorado CCLers have recently joined this effort. Learn about CCL’s agriculture strategy and how you can get involved. 

(Article suggested and written by Doug Alde of the Denver South Metro chapter.)

Family Farm goes Electric! Jack's Solar Garden Tour

By Virginia Black and Moira Hill, Longmont CCL chapter

In September, Byron Kominek, owner/manager of Jack’s Solar Garden reached out to the Longmont CCL chapter to offer a socially-distanced, “in real life” tour of their new community solar garden, a national model for how agriculture and solar can co-exist on the same land.

Located in Boulder County, the solar aspect of the farm features more than 3,200 solar panels creating 1.2MW of energy — enough to power over 300 homes. The solar panels are situated at a height of 6 or 8 feet high off the ground. The electricity produced is available to subscribers — so far the largest is In The Flow: Boutique Cannabis. Boulder County, which collaborated with the founders in visualizing and enabling community solar gardens in the county, and the City of Boulder are also significant subscribers to Jack’s Solar Garden.