Show Date: Saturday, April 19
Show Location: Colorado State University
City: Fort Collins, CO
Guest Speaker: Bob Gough, Intertribal Council on Utility Policy
Issues of focus: Wind and solar potential in Colorado; supporting a renewable energy standard

Summary
Colorado is squandering its water resources and its choices in green energy development. The lifeblood of the Colorado River is being squeezed out and archaic water law has equated the contamination of water with its beneficial use. Water for agriculture, for water contracts with California, and for new energy-related projects will transform more of the region and the water resources. Additionally, the coal trains run from the Powder River Basin coal fields to Colorado's coal-fired power plants, where a significant percentage of Colorado's energy originates. Coal development in the region threatens more groundwater, both from the de-watering of aquifers and from proposed methane gas development. Some of these bad energy developments will contaminate more water on the Northern Cheyenne and other Reservations, the sources of the coal and methane gas projects. At present, less than l% of Colorado's energy is produced by renewable sources.

Colorado is the 11th windiest state in the U.S. Enough wind blows across Colorado to power the state 10 times over. Solar electricity could turn individual homes and businesses into small, community-based power stations in a state where the sun shines more than 330 days of the year.

Colorado should pass a Renewable Energy Standard requiring XCEL Energy (one of the largest utility corporations in the state) to get 10% of their electricity from renewable sources. A bill to do just this passed the Colorado House by a 2-1 margin, but was killed in the Senate in March 2003. Honor the Earth is helping build support to bring it back and win.

How a Renewable Energy Standard would help Colorado:

• Jumpstart renewable energy development by getting XCEL Energy to build more wind farms and invest in solar and biomass. The state should be challenged to get 10% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2010.
• Reduce dependence on fossil fuels and lower fuel prices
• Help struggling rural economies. In addition to capital, construction, jobs and local taxes, a farmer or rancher with good wind and proximity to transmission lines can earn $2,000-$4,000 per turbine per year in additional income.

Where People Stand
Supporters included House Speaker Lola Spradley, the Governor's Office of Energy Management and Conservation, XCEL Energy, most of the rural counties on the eastern plains, the Colorado Farm Bureau, and the environmental community.

Opponents included Coors Brewing Company, Lockheed Martin, and the Colorado Rural Electric Association, a group of 23 utilities that serve rural Colorado.

Fourteen states, including Texas and Minnesota, already have a renewable energy standard.

Action Cards:
Andy Sulkko Action Card
Senator Ben Campbell - Renewable Energy Action Card
Senator Johnson Action Card

Show Date: Monday, April 21
Show Location: Fort Lewis College
City: Durango, CO
Guest Speaker: Cal Seciwa, Zuni Pueblo & Earl Tulley, Dine CARE (Navajo)
Issues of focus: Supporting a renewable energy standard; destructive mining projects on Native land

Summary
We visited KSUT Four Corners public radio in Ignacio, Colorado for a live performance and interview. The session included great discussion on the many issues the tour had been working on, as well as a few special acoustic songs by Amy and Emily.

Fort Lewis College has a large percentage of Native students and we were fortunate to have our friends from Zuni and Navajo come up to speak and share with us. Honor the Earth is an ongoing funder and supporting of the efforts to halt the strip mine affecting the sacred Zuni Salt Lake in New Mexico and to stop the uranium mining on Navajo land in Arizona.

Action Cards:
Andy Sulkko Action Card
Senator Ben Campbell - Renewable Energy Action Card
Tristate Action Card

Show Date: EARTH DAY Tuesday, April 22
Show Location: University of Northern Colorado
City: Greeley, CO
Guest Speaker: n/a
Issues of focus: Wind and solar potential in Colorado; supporting a renewable energy standard

Summary
On the final day of the tour, also Earth Day, we hosted a press conference in Denver. We met with the press to highlight all aspects of the energy justice work of the tour and continue to make the link between the need for safe, clean, renewable energy and the ongoing oil-driven foreign policy. At the press conference, Winona, Amy and Emily were joined by Glenn Morris, Chair of the Political Science Department at the University of Colorado at Denver and American Indian Movement activist. Glenn discussed the link between activism and the diminishment of constitutional rights of individuals. Glenn is an attorney representing individuals whose names are part of the "Denver Spy Files," including an estimated 3,500 activists who are classified by the City of Denver under various terms such as "extremists". Honor the Earth wishes to support the exercise of civil liberties.

We had the entire tour crew together at the final show in Greeley and we would like to thank everyone for their hard work and devotion to the tour and its mission:
Shaun Chapman, Gwe Gasco, Sarah Haynes, Winona LaDuke, Natalie Marker, Matt Miley, Dana Powell, Amy Ray, Emily Saliers, Stacey Singer, Rick Stott.

And a very special thanks to all the students, universities and communities we visited along the way.

Action Cards:
Andy Sulkko Action Card
Senator Ben Campbell - Renewable Energy Action Card
Senator Dave Owen Action Card

Miigwech