Climate · 2026
2026 · Climate. This issue in: 2026 2023
People on the 2026 ballot who answered this cycle’s question. Answers from earlier years stay on those years' pages.
Climate hushing: political leaders now seem reluctant to connect negative everyday experiences to climate change and its driver, carbon pollution. How do you plan to be vocal and lead on climate?
forum
Lisa Ann Jacobs
Empower Our Future climate forum · October 6, 2026
Boulder needs to legislate that new construction is only allowed to have heat pumps, no gas or oil infrastructure.
Quoted from an automatic transcript. Check the recording. Watch at 21:42 · Empower Hour 2026-10-06 Climate & Energy Forum with Boulder Boulder Mayoral Candidates. (Empower Our Future, YouTube)
Taishya Adams
Empower Our Future climate forum · October 6, 2026
how do we accelerate on the implementation and to Achilles comments do so in a way that holds people accountable, make sure that our budget and resource allocation are sufficient.
Quoted from an automatic transcript. Check the recording. Watch at 13:34 · Empower Hour 2026-10-06 Climate & Energy Forum with Boulder Boulder Mayoral Candidates. (Empower Our Future, YouTube)
Aaron Brockett
Empower Our Future climate forum · October 6, 2026
We need to continue to increase our investments in wildfire preparedness, but not at the expense of our incredibly important climate work.
Quoted from an automatic transcript. Check the recording. Watch at 20:30 · Empower Hour 2026-10-06 Climate & Energy Forum with Boulder Boulder Mayoral Candidates. (Empower Our Future, YouTube)
Jameson Goldstein
Empower Our Future climate forum · October 6, 2026
I think it's important that we bring awareness to this issue, but we don't bring awareness to it in a way where people are fearful of what's to come.
Quoted from an automatic transcript. Check the recording. Watch at 15:26 · Empower Hour 2026-10-06 Climate & Energy Forum with Boulder Boulder Mayoral Candidates. (Empower Our Future, YouTube)
Fred Smith
Empower Our Future climate forum · October 6, 2026
we need to make gasoline pay its way and fossil fuel companies to pay their own way.
Quoted from an automatic transcript. Check the recording. Watch at 11:42 · Empower Hour 2026-10-06 Climate & Energy Forum with Boulder Boulder Mayoral Candidates. (Empower Our Future, YouTube)
Aquiles La Grave
Empower Our Future climate forum · October 6, 2026
If we want cleaner buildings, we have to make permits easier.
Quoted from an automatic transcript. Check the recording. Watch at 18:12 · Empower Hour 2026-10-06 Climate & Energy Forum with Boulder Boulder Mayoral Candidates. (Empower Our Future, YouTube)
13 on this ballot are not in the source for this question. Silence is not a no.
Xcel says it will deliver 100% clean electricity by 2050, not Boulder's 2030 goal, and has presented no concrete plan under the 2020 franchise agreement. What remedies would you propose for Xcel's failures to deliver, at the city level, at the PUC, or at the state level? And would you be open to inviting cities that have gone to market for their electricity to come to Boulder to educate us about life after Xcel?
forum
Lisa Ann Jacobs
Empower Our Future climate forum · October 6, 2026
I do not expect that Excel will do better. Cities can own their own sources of power, which residents love,
Quoted from an automatic transcript. Check the recording. Watch at 27:45 · Empower Hour 2026-10-06 Climate & Energy Forum with Boulder Boulder Mayoral Candidates. (Empower Our Future, YouTube)
Taishya Adams
Empower Our Future climate forum · October 6, 2026
I think there needs to be a much stronger partnership and advocacy with our state representatives and the Public Utility Commission.
Quoted from an automatic transcript. Check the recording. Watch at 29:27 · Empower Hour 2026-10-06 Climate & Energy Forum with Boulder Boulder Mayoral Candidates. (Empower Our Future, YouTube)
Aaron Brockett
Empower Our Future climate forum · October 6, 2026
the interactions with Excel over the last few years have been extremely disappointing.
Quoted from an automatic transcript. Check the recording. Watch at 24:55 · Empower Hour 2026-10-06 Climate & Energy Forum with Boulder Boulder Mayoral Candidates. (Empower Our Future, YouTube)
Aaron Brockett
Empower Our Future climate forum · October 6, 2026
I would be absolutely interested in sitting down and talking to other cities
Quoted from an automatic transcript. Check the recording. Watch at 26:19 · Empower Hour 2026-10-06 Climate & Energy Forum with Boulder Boulder Mayoral Candidates. (Empower Our Future, YouTube)
Jameson Goldstein
Empower Our Future climate forum · October 6, 2026
I think it's very important that we take this issue to the state level.
Quoted from an automatic transcript. Check the recording. Watch at 36:59 · Empower Hour 2026-10-06 Climate & Energy Forum with Boulder Boulder Mayoral Candidates. (Empower Our Future, YouTube)
Fred Smith
Empower Our Future climate forum · October 6, 2026
But I think you need to find benchmarks with Excel and say by 2033, you need to do this and this, or you get fined millions of dollars
Quoted from an automatic transcript. Check the recording. Watch at 35:11 · Empower Hour 2026-10-06 Climate & Energy Forum with Boulder Boulder Mayoral Candidates. (Empower Our Future, YouTube)
Aquiles La Grave
Empower Our Future climate forum · October 6, 2026
six years of disappointing meetings should absolutely change your strategy.
Quoted from an automatic transcript. Check the recording. Watch at 31:46 · Empower Hour 2026-10-06 Climate & Energy Forum with Boulder Boulder Mayoral Candidates. (Empower Our Future, YouTube)
Aquiles La Grave
Empower Our Future climate forum · October 6, 2026
So I believe one of those options is us absolutely going to market for energy.
Quoted from an automatic transcript. Check the recording. Watch at 31:52 · Empower Hour 2026-10-06 Climate & Energy Forum with Boulder Boulder Mayoral Candidates. (Empower Our Future, YouTube)
13 on this ballot are not in the source for this question. Silence is not a no.
Xcel is preparing a decade-long remediation of nearly 2 million tons of coal ash at the Valmont power station. Should Boulder use its franchise and partnership agreements with Xcel to require strong, independent air quality monitoring throughout the cleanup? And if so, how specifically would you do this?
forum
Lisa Ann Jacobs
Empower Our Future climate forum · October 6, 2026
Given Excel's history of unfair deceptive business acts, then I would not trust their monitoring results.
Quoted from an automatic transcript. Check the recording. Watch at 43:11 · Empower Hour 2026-10-06 Climate & Energy Forum with Boulder Boulder Mayoral Candidates. (Empower Our Future, YouTube)
Taishya Adams
Empower Our Future climate forum · October 6, 2026
And I would really love to see that model used for the coal ash.
Transcript note: 'That model' is the Rocky Flats Stewardship Council, which she described just before.
Quoted from an automatic transcript. Check the recording. Watch at 47:17 · Empower Hour 2026-10-06 Climate & Energy Forum with Boulder Boulder Mayoral Candidates. (Empower Our Future, YouTube)
Aaron Brockett
Empower Our Future climate forum · October 6, 2026
But I will say that our best opportunity here does lie with the state legislature.
Quoted from an automatic transcript. Check the recording. Watch at 41:45 · Empower Hour 2026-10-06 Climate & Energy Forum with Boulder Boulder Mayoral Candidates. (Empower Our Future, YouTube)
Aaron Brockett
Empower Our Future climate forum · October 6, 2026
As of last year, all new construction has to be electric only with no fossil fuel usage
Transcript note: Said in his remaining time on this question, responding to Lisa Ann Jacobs's earlier call for an all-electric requirement.
Quoted from an automatic transcript. Check the recording. Watch at 42:38 · Empower Hour 2026-10-06 Climate & Energy Forum with Boulder Boulder Mayoral Candidates. (Empower Our Future, YouTube)
Jameson Goldstein
Empower Our Future climate forum · October 6, 2026
So overall, listen to the community and listen to the scientists on this one.
Quoted from an automatic transcript. Check the recording. Watch at 39:03 · Empower Hour 2026-10-06 Climate & Energy Forum with Boulder Boulder Mayoral Candidates. (Empower Our Future, YouTube)
Fred Smith
Empower Our Future climate forum · October 6, 2026
My point is it's going to be real short answer is to study hard, get many opinions and don't rush into it and do it the right way.
Quoted from an automatic transcript. Check the recording. Watch at 46:27 · Empower Hour 2026-10-06 Climate & Energy Forum with Boulder Boulder Mayoral Candidates. (Empower Our Future, YouTube)
Aquiles La Grave
Empower Our Future climate forum · October 6, 2026
So I would absolutely use the franchise agreement to the extent possible to push for written agreements and binding legal agreements with Excel to fund that monitoring
Quoted from an automatic transcript. Check the recording. Watch at 39:51 · Empower Hour 2026-10-06 Climate & Energy Forum with Boulder Boulder Mayoral Candidates. (Empower Our Future, YouTube)
13 on this ballot are not in the source for this question. Silence is not a no.