Press Release

Regional greenhouse gas report available

Tracks progress toward community climate action goals

Aspen, CO - The Pitkin County Region Comprehensive Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report 2023 is now available. Pitkin County, the city of Aspen, the town of Snowmass Village, and the town of Basalt partnered to collect data and produce the report, demonstrating a continued commitment to address each community’s climate action goals. The report highlights that despite robust community support for ambitious climate policies, there is still a gap between current practices and our long-term goals, indicating a need for more regional partnership. 

The report compares 2023 emissions across the region to 2019 pre-pandemic levels. Total emissions increased by 22% from 2019, which is largely attributed to higher quality vehicle emissions estimates and the new data source of methane emissions from the abandoned Coal Basin mine near Redstone. Additionally, the increase in emissions reflects the substantial economic growth occurring valley wide since 2019.

“This new report provides agencies with an improved and a fuller picture of carbon emissions generated by our communities post-pandemic, giving us actionable information about where to focus our ongoing emissions reduction efforts,” said Tim Karfs, City of Aspen Sustainability Programs Administrator.

Key findings include:

• Total regional emissions increase: Total regional emissions in 2023 were 753,732 metric tons of CO₂e (Carbon Dioxide Equivalent) which represents a 22% increase from 2019. 
• Cleaner electricity leads to a decrease in building sector emissions: The report outlines how regional utility efforts to shift electricity sources to renewable energy has led to a 2% decrease in emissions from all buildings, despite increased energy consumption.
• Transportation sector emissions increase: The report leverages new big data sources to more accurately depict on-road transportation activity. As a result, vehicle emissions are shown to increase substantially from 2019.
• Coal Basin mine methane is 9% of total regional emissions: Recent work quantified the amount of methane passively leaking from the abandoned coal mine complex. Community partners such as the Community Office for Resource Efficiency (CORE) are developing solutions to mitigate these emissions.
• Solid waste emissions increase: Despite the success of community waste diversion programs, total landfilled waste increased from 2019, which shows the need for ongoing attention to reduce waste. 

While the findings show progress in reducing emissions from the largest source (buildings), they also underscore the need for more aggressive action and regional approaches to meet emissions reduction goals. Recent policies, such as house size limits, energy budgets and building code updates are expected to significantly reduce emissions but are not reflected in the 2023 data.

“Our communities are working aggressively to curb emissions from buildings, and we expect to see significant decreases in this sector in the next report. However, that means we will see transportation, waste and other emissions make up a greater proportion of the total. Solutions will have to be regional in nature which presents opportunities for future collaboration to meet our goals,” said Michael Port, Pitkin County Climate Action Analyst.

To view the full report, visit: aspencore.org/emissions-inventory.

For more information, visit: pitkincounty.com/1560/Climate-Action. 

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For more information, please contact: 

Michael Port, Pitkin County Climate Action Analyst

Phone: 970-379-2031 

Email: michael.port@pitkincounty.com

Tim Karfs, city of Aspen Sustainability Programs Administrator

Phone: (970) 309-9959 

Email: tim.karfs@aspen.gov