New Study Finds Colorado is Off Track on Climate Goals

On Tuesday, Conservation Colorado convened a press conference to take stock of where the state stands on its climate promises and where it may still be falling short.

The event centered on a new study by Sustainability Solutions Group, commissioned by Conservation Colorado alongside GreenLatinos, the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, Western Resource Advocates, and the NAACP CO-MT-WY State Conference. The analysis evaluates Colorado’s existing climate policies and maps out potential pathways for meeting the state’s emissions reduction targets.

Colorado’s current framework traces back to the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap, first released by Governor Jared Polis’s administration in September 2020. The roadmap set benchmark goals for cutting emissions compared to 2005 levels, calling for a 26 percent reduction by 2025, 50 percent by 2030, and 90 percent by 2050. A revision issued in January 2021 further committed the state to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by midcentury.

From the outset, environmental groups voiced concern that while the roadmap articulated ambitious goals, it lacked the specificity needed to ensure those targets could be met. Organizations including Conservation Colorado and Western Resource Advocates praised the direction of the plan but warned that it stopped short of outlining concrete, enforceable actions.

That critique resurfaced in February 2024, when the administration released Roadmap 2.0. The update revised the state’s emissions inventory and introduced a set of Near Term Actions intended to guide climate policy through 2026. In a letter opening the document, Polis pushed back on early skepticism, writing that nearly all of the strategies identified in the original roadmap had been implemented over the past three years.

Still, not all advocates were convinced. A joint statement released the same month by the Environmental Defense Fund, Western Resource Advocates, and the Sierra Club noted that the roadmap itself acknowledged Colorado remained off track for its near-term goals, while offering few new mechanisms to close that gap.

The new study presented Tuesday echoes that concern, while also pointing to opportunities. According to Conservation Colorado Vice President of Programs Katie Belgard and GreenLatinos Vice President Ean Tafoya, the findings show that additional policies delivering sharper emissions cuts could reduce the impacts of climate change while also lowering household energy costs and easing long-term Medicaid spending for counties.

Joining them at the press conference were SWEEP Executive Director Elise Jones, NAACP chapter president Omar Montgomery, Sustainability Solutions Group principal consultant Yuill Herbert, and Western Resource Advocates Deputy Director of Policy Development Stacy Tellinghuisen.

Herbert walked attendees through the study’s methodology, describing its goal as identifying sector-specific and economy-wide gaps that must be addressed to meet Colorado’s climate targets. The analysis tracked how energy sources such as gasoline, electricity, and hydrogen move through the economy, how they are ultimately used in transportation, heating, and household equipment, and how those uses translate into costs and emissions.

Researchers modeled six scenarios, including a reference case based on existing policies, a scenario built around new enforceable measures, and four low-carbon pathways that applied more aggressive targets to specific energy sources. Across the board, the results suggested that clearer, more targeted strategies would significantly improve the state’s ability to meet its climate goals.

Tellinghuisen closed the event by underscoring both the urgency and the possibility reflected in the findings. The analysis, she said, confirms that Colorado is not currently on track to meet its climate commitments. At the same time, it shows that the state has multiple viable paths forward, provided policymakers are willing to put stronger measures in place.

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