Colorado Governor Calls for Tougher Climate Goals as Fires Rage

(Bloomberg) -- Colorado Governor Jared Polis called for more aggressive climate goals in the state as wildfires forced the closure of Rocky Mountain National Park and triggered the evacuation of nearby towns.

“We are seeing drier, hotter conditions in our state,” Polis said in an online briefing with reporters. Stronger climate polices are needed to reverse the trend, “before it becomes even harder in Colorado to prevent the kind of fire season this year that might even called historic.”

The state’s current climate plan calls for cutting greenhouse-gas emissions 90% by 2050 and sources 100% of the state’s electricity from renewable sources by 2040.

Much of the U.S. West is under threat from wildfires as a megadrought turns the landscape to tinder and a run of dry, windy weather stokes new blazes. The size and intensity of wildfires have increased with declines in western spring snowpack and warmer temperatures reducing air moisture in the region.

The East Troublesome Fire on the west side of the continental divide is one of eight active blazes in Colorado that have together burned more than 325,000 acres. The Cameron Peak fire on the north side of the national park is now the largest in state history. About 550,000 acres have burned in total this year.

The National Weather Service has issued red-flag warnings across Colorado, Utah and California, with extreme fire weather expected to persist in the Golden State through Friday. In California, fires this year have scorched more than 4.1 million acres and prompted utility PG&E Corp. to cut power to about 32,000 customers Wednesday evening. In Utah, a utility owned by Berkshire Hathaway is warning it may cut power to 1,800 people to avoid fires caused by downed live wires.

Authorities in Colorado have ordered the mandatory evacuation of the resort communities of Grand Lake and Estes Park. Pre-evacuation orders are in effect elsewhere.

But rain and snow will sweeps the region on Sunday, potentially bringing down the curtain on the worst of the fire season in the mountain west, said Dave Houk, a meteorologist with AccuWeather.com.

“This may actually, more or less, put an end to the Colorado fire season,” Houk said. “That is being a little optimistic, but certainly it will be better going forward.”

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