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Show The Park Record A-20 Continued From A-18 EASTER BRUNCH APRIL 16, 2017, 11AM–3PM $49 ADULTS | $24 CHILDREN (AGES 3–11) BAKERY DISPLAY banana bread , pumpernickel, croissants, pullman brioche, donuts CHARCUTERIE & CHEESE sopressata, chorizo el ray, finocchiono, prosciutto, smoked salmon & trout beehive cheddar, snow canyon edam, smokey blue, adelle camembert BREAKFAST ITEMS egg frittata, french toast, smoked bacon, chicken sausage SALADS baby kale, seeds, dried fruits, shaved roots, champagne vinaigrette heirloom tomato, beets, pearl pasta, shrimp, grainy mustard dressing quinoa, avocado, marcona almond, super greens, broccoli, lemon herb dressing RAW BAR shrimp, oysters, sashimi VEGETABLES & FISH cranberry bean cassoulet truffle cheddar whipped potatoes roasted roots cauliflower gratin harissa rubbed butterfish SOUP lobster chowder vegan soup CARVING STATION slow roasted buffalo tenderloin & honey glazed ham, huckleberry jus, horseradish crème, stoneground mustard TO FINISH Selection of desserts from our Pastry Shop 2100 FROSTWOOD DRIVE | PARKCITYWALDORFASTORIA.COM | 435.647.5566 Mountain Town News rejoicing. The plan requires a gradual bending of power sources to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 32 percent by 2030. Unless carbon capture and storage technology advances rapidly, this puts coal at a great disadvantage. Coal plants were already closing in droves. They’ve been losing out to cheaper natural gas, which has fewer greenhouse gas emissions and can be dispatched in a matter of minutes, unlike coal plants, which take about a day to crank up. This makes natural gas a better fit with renewables, whose prices have tumbled dramatically in the last five years. But coal plants in the Rocky Mountains have also been closing because of their dirty environmental footprint, not even considering greenhouse gas emissions. The sulfur dioxide and other emissions contribute heavily to regional haze, also called smog. For example, PacifiCorp announced it would close its power plant at Kemmerer, Wyoming, located south of Jackson Hole. The plant provides power for Park City. The reason: the electricity wasn’t needed, because of improved energy efficiency, and to upgrade the plants to reduce pollutants was too expensive. In northwest Colorado, TriState Generation and Transmission and other electrical providers have agreed to shut down a 427-megawatt power plant at Craig by 2025. This is 42 miles west of Steamboat Springs. Again, the problem is regional haze — also called smog — and other environmental pollutants. In New Mexico, it’s the same story. There, two units of the San Juan Generating Station are to be shut down by the end of this year, noted Colorado paper Durango Herald. The Herald reported Public Service Co. of New Mexico is Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, April 8-11, 2017 deciding whether the remaining units at the San Juan complex will operate beyond 2022. At the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association conference, former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter pointed to action at state and local levels, along with that of private companies, all aiming to clean up energy sources. Among those pushing are a variety of Republican governors in an organization called the Conservative Energy Network. “What this makes me believe is that no matter what happens at the federal level for the time being, there are opportunities,” Ritter said. Wyoming didn’t join that coalition, even if Gov. Matt Mead continues to prod his state into making changes. Jonathan Schechter, writing in the Jackson Hole News&Guide, while pondering his own mortality, wants Wyoming to similarly quit denying that the day for the end of coal is drawing nigh. Wyoming has been living high as the go-to source for lowsulfur coal since the 1980s. You can still see mile-long coal trains grinding their way through Denver’s booming LoDo section on their way to plants as distant as Texas, Mississippi, and even, for a time, Florida. But nearly 40 percent of the nation’s coal-fired power plants closed between 2006 and 2016, and most remaining plants are on the verge of functional obsolescence. In 20 years, Schechter observes, nearly 90 percent of the plants will be 40 years old or older. As these plants close down — likely to be replaced by natural gas and renewables — “so too will the market for Wyoming’s coal, and with it the economic benefits coal has bestowed upon our state.” Wyoming has no income tax. That simple fact, as much as the amazing sight of the Teton Range, may explain why Jackson Hole rivals Aspen for billionaires per capita. “When the day comes that income is taxed, Jackson Hole will start to become home to a much different demographic,” Schechter concluded. Some extremes in the town manager shuffle GRANBY, Colo. — In Colorado, the town manager shuffle in municipalities along the Continental Divide continues, but with an odd twist. Granby is gaining a new town manager, Aron Blair, who will arrive from Fresno, California. Fresno has 508,000 people and is located 308 feet above sea level in the agricultural munificence of the San Joaquin Valley. Granby has about 1,200 people and sits at about 8,000 feet elevation in a place suitable for growing lettuce, radishes and not much more. At Dillon, it’s an inverse story. Tom Breslin is leaving as a town manager this summer for a permanent relocation to South Carolina. In other words, he’s leaving a place that used to have, before the climate began warming, a growing season of 24 days to a place that breeds all manner of creepy, crawly things. But then he’s hopped around a bit in his career: 20 years as a firefighter in New York City, law school in New York, a county manager in Clear Creek County, public works manager for Vail Resorts and, at last, the posting at Dillon. Breslin told the Summit Daily News that his formative experiment in public administration came from his years in Clear Creek County, located on the other side of the Eisenhower/ Johnson tunnels. “You have to be patient, and it’s a really good idea to be transparent with the community… that way the community has the opportunity to be involved in the decision-making process. They might not always like what’s decided, but it’s important to have them involved.” In Granby, elected officials chose Blair because of his “background in urban planning, economic development, downtown enhancement” in his work in Fresno, Granby Mayor Paul Chavoustie told Sky-Hi News. Wow, what a lot of snow in Jackson Hole Jackson, Wyo. — The Teton County fairgrounds in Jackson are looking pretty ugly right now after being the dumping ground for streets plowed through the winter in Jackson. The snow is piled 55 feet high, the tallest seen in at least 20 years. And it’s dense snow, too, packed down to make room, reported the Jackson Hole News&Guide. N DI RT ITT BA Y G R N ME D F ITTY MB OU ER NDI NG ! |