While Colorado is earning praise from climate advocates for its new mandates to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, developers and their economists are giving D and F grades to the state and its capital city, blaming the regulations for a noticeable decline in some projects.
Representatives for developers and property owners are flagging new data showing a marked drop-off in investments and revenues from commercial projects in Colorado. That decline, they said, follows directly on the heels of Colorado’s adoption of some of the nation’s boldest carbon-reducing strategies.
The regulations include the Energize Denver ordinance, adopted unanimously by the Denver City Council in 2021. The ordinance seeks to reduce carbon emissions from larger commercial buildings by 30% by 2030 and by 80% by 2040…