State of the Campaign 02/06/2026

Wounded Colorado

When you drive some of you favorite places – like along the Colorado River from Glenwood to Junction can you feel the regret? Does it feel like there is a freshness, a natural innocence that is missing or at least damaged. Do you turn to look away from the fracking installations and strip-mined hillsides. Where are the animals that you remember, the bald eagles that used to perch along the river. If you are an old timer does it smell like it used to?

Colorado is currently navigating a "polycrisis" of persistent drought, high winds, catastrophic wildfire cycles, and deteriorating air quality. These natural stressors are compounded by industrial legacies like fracking and mining, creating distinct regional organizing priorities. Overlying it all is climate change.

This was Climate Awareness Week and it doesn’t take being an old timer or having NOAA and NASA dialed up on your computer to be aware. Today the temperature reached 70 degrees, there have been two light snowfalls and the snowpack is down by 50%. Working out back today I was already thinking about wildfires, wondering if we would have ashfall this year again – you know, where it covers your car in ash? Along our stretch of I-70 salt is taking the place of snow and the whole world looks dry, dry, dry.

Regional Impact Matrix

Region	Primary Climate/Industrial Hits	Top Organizing Issues
Northern Front Range	Ozone, fracking, 2013 flood recovery, hail	Air quality, health, drilling near schools
Southern Front Range	PFAS water contamination, heat, smoke	Clean water (military families), asthma
Western Slope (All)	I-70 mudslides, 416 Fire, Colorado River stress	Water security, tourism, "Just Transition"
Mountain Corridor	Grizzly Creek Fire, canyon closures, housing	Road reliability, economic resilience
San Luis Valley	Groundwater depletion, severe drought	Water rights, agricultural survival
Eastern Plains	Crop loss, soil erosion, heat extremes	Farm viability, insurance, wind/solar siting

 

The friction caused by environmental shifts is now costing billions. Conservative estimates suggest that between 2025 and 2050, Colorado faces $33 billion to $37 billion in additional costs directly attributable to climate change. This averages out to roughly $1.4 billion per year in costs that are ultimately passed down to taxpayers, businesses, and homeowners.

 

Recreation & Tourism: The "Snow and Smoke" Tax

Tourism is Colorado’s lifeblood, but the "predictability" that travelers pay for is eroding.

• Ski Industry: Winter recreation is projected to lose between 29 million and 32 million skier visits through 2050 if snowmaking cannot keep pace. Snowmaking alone is becoming a massive overhead cost, estimated to drain $75M–$100M from resort budgets over the same period.

• The Summer Slump: In 2024 and 2025, Colorado’s tourism growth slowed to 0.3%, far below the national average of 4.2%. Travelers are increasingly citing "wildfire smoke uncertainty" and "extreme heat" as reasons for choosing other destinations.

• Infrastructure Choke Points: Road closures (like I-70 in Glenwood Canyon) cost the state millions in lost commerce and tourist spending every time a mudslide occurs on a fire-scarred slope.

Agriculture & Ranching: Aridification and Land Loss

Colorado is currently losing farmland faster than any other state in the U.S.

• Farmland Loss: Between 2017 and 2022, Colorado lost 1.6 million acres of farmland. While some is due to urban sprawl, much is due to "buy and dry" water transfers and persistent drought making the land unviable.

• Water Scarcity: In the Colorado River Basin, water availability is projected to drop by 30%. For a sector that generates $47 billion in annual economic activity, even a 5% drop in productivity due to water restrictions represents a multi-billion dollar hit.

• Livestock Stress: Ranching faces a "double whammy" of rising feed prices (as hay crops fail) and reduced weight gain in cattle due to extreme heat stress.

 

The "Hidden" Economic Drivers

The largest financial impacts aren't always in the sectors we see, but in the systems that support them:

 

Sector	Estimated Impact (through 2050)	Key Driver
Public Health	$24–$25 Billion	Primarily heat-related mortality and respiratory illness from smoke.
Infrastructure	$8.3–$8.7 Billion	Repairs to buckling roads, stressed bridges, and outdated stormwater systems.
Insurance	58–65% Premium Hikes	Colorado is now the 6th costliest state for home insurance due to "dual catastrophes" (Hail + Fire).

Colorado is “wounded”. Our public servants have in many cases failed to protect the public from greedy entities that sought to pillage our land, water and sky. We now have so many gigatons of carbon released into the atmosphere by human activity that the Earth is literally shutting down. Two heat-transporting ocean currents are no longer functioning, it’s become just “normal” not to drink the water anywhere, heat-related deaths are up and suicides are up nearly 40%.

"This is not ignorable, nor is it fixable without human intervention. We can no longer just plant trees and hope they suck up enough carbon. An interstate network of Direct Atmospheric Carbon Removal facilities is the only way out now. Thank God we have the proven technology (climeworks.com) and still have enough resources to set up carbon capture hubs in a patchwork of U.S. states, led by Colorado. But first we must look to where the problems began. Companies are in buisness to make profits. Government is there to ensure that profit-seeking does not harm citizens. We need much more active leadership in the Colorado Governors office to protect citizens and repair damage that's been allowed to happen - in the case of climate change, setting up a Direct Atmospheric Carbon Removal network. Sound impossible? It's not. Our campaign has run the numbers and we are ready to go to work. The other candidates are just wandering around picking up broken pieces of the environment without addressing the underlying cause. Running for governor in Arizona in 2018 I was the ONLY ONE talking about climate change. Now the problem is obvious, but it's almost too late to fix and I am the ONLY ONE talking about the solution. In November 2026 I hope more people are listening and taking action with their votes."

 – Dr. Christian R. Komor, Candidate for Colorado Governor 2026