Join the Fight Demanding Xcel Energy Transition to Clean, Affordable Renewable Energy
Xcel Energy is the largest provider of energy in the state of Colorado. If you live in the Metro Denver area, chances are Xcel is your electric utility. Thanks to community and activist efforts over the years, Colorado has passed measures forcing the company to increase its use of clean, renewable energy. Despite this, Xcel still sources 63% of its energy from fossil fuels and continues to oppose efforts to move faster.
Meanwhile Xcel siphons over half a billion in profits annually to Wall Street investors, and seeks to grow that annually, despite electricity becoming cheaper thanks to renewables.
A key opportunity to shift Xcel to clean, affordable and renewable energy is its Electric Resource Plan (ERP). An ERP is a ten year plan for how Xcel will power the state and how much they can profit from it. The ERP maps out what coal and gas plants close and by when as well as what new projects like wind and solar will come on line.
Xcel’s Plan to Increase Our Energy Bills and Continue Fossil Fuel Profiteering
Xcel released their preferred plan in 2021 and unsurprisingly they want to keep profiting off fossil fuels at the expense of us and the planet.
Key items include:
- Increasing our energy bills to line the pockets of Wall Street investors
- Running the state’s largest coal plant, Comanche 3, until 2035
- Running the Cherokee CC gas plant until 2055
- Running the Arapahoe gas plant until an unknown date
Continued pollution and fueling the climate crisis literally means more death in already suffering communities.
Denver Ecosocialists’ Clean Energy Plan for the People
Instead we need a plan that will lower our energy bills, transition to clean energy and democratize the grid.
We demand the following:
- Close all coal plants and the Arapahoe and Cherokee gas plants by 2030
- Transition to 100% renewable energy for Denver by 2030
- Help coal and natural gas plant employees’ transition to new jobs by covering their workplace training costs and guarantee them a well-paying union job
- Increase rooftop solar by lifting the net metering cap and paying us fully for the electricity we contribute to the grid from solar panels
- Democratize the grid by building rooftop solar, parking lot solar, community owned storage, and upgrading the grid to support this distributed energy.
- Finance all new projects through public banking to save money and invest money back into our communities (not Wall Street).
- Lower our energy bills by passing on the savings renewable energy will bring, not allow Xcel to keep raising rates and pocketing the profits.
How We Win
Xcel’s Electricity Resource Plan must be approved by the Public Utility Commission (PUC), a section of our state government. The PUC exists to,
“serve the public interest by effectively regulating utilities and facilities so that the people of Colorado receive safe, reliable, and reasonably-priced services consistent with the economic, environmental and social values of our state.”
Four governor-appointed people serve on the PUC-
- Republican Doug Dean, Director
- Democrat Eric Blank, Commissioner
- Democrat Megan Gilman, Commissioner
- Independent John C. Gavan, Commissioner
Their track record of regulating Xcel “consistent with the economic, environmental and social values of our state” is a mixed bag, to put it generously. However, when public attention is on, they have followed through with their responsibilities.
It’s up to each of us to raise our voices and make clear to the PUC that they need to stand up to Xcel’s lobbyists and do the right thing by passing a plan that reduces our energy bills by shifting to clean, affordable and renewable energy.
Thousands Of Us Commented on the Plan
All Colorado residents, regardless of age and citizenship, can leave a public comment on Electric Resource Plans. Every comment is read and tallied by the PUC.
Over a thousand people commented in favor of clean energy, much more than the opposition. You can read those comments by visiting the Colorado Government’s Archive of Electronic Filings.
Search for Documents with a Proceeding Number of 21A-0141E and Document Type Comments.
Pueblo Residents Demand the Comanche Coal Plant Close
On October 28, 2021 over two hundred Pueblo residents spoke out against Xcel’s plan to run the state’s largest, dirtiest coal plant, until 2040. 2030 is the absolute latest we can run coal to avoid the worst of an already worsening climate crisis.
Over Hundred Coloradans Speak Out at the Statewide Public Hearing
Hundreds again showed up on December 2, 2021 to continue demanding a swift and just transition. The meeting was scheduled to end at 6pm but ran well past 7. Person after person spoke out in favor of the above demands.
Organizing in Response to the Final Electric Resource Plan
The Public Utility Commission will announce their final decision on Xcel’s Electric Resource Plan in the spring of 2022.
We’re organizing contingency plans for the various outcomes that could come out from this process. Whatever the PUC decides, we’ll continue to work to end the fossil fuel era, democratize the grid and win energy justice.
If you have any other questions or just want to get involved, email us at ecosocialist.committee@denverdsa.org or attend an upcoming meeting.
We have a world to win!
The Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Teslas in Tunnels
Local officials approved the development of a network of tunnels for one of the most nonsensical means of transportation ever conceived – Teslas in Tunnels. As per the Verge report, “dubbed the “Vegas Loop,” the system will allow passengers to hitch rides in Teslas to and from places like the hotel casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, the city’s new football stadium, the Las Vegas Convention Center, and McCarran International Airport.” As usual, the Loop is a pet project of a union-busting New Gilded Age autocrat: Elon Musk.
The idea is not difficult to understand. Instead of restricting cars to the surface, the rich will build more roads underground but reserved for companies whose profits go back to Elon Musk and his shareholders. The Boring Company – probably the most apt name for a corporation specializing in inefficient and unhelpful transportation “innovations” ever coined – says “roads must go 3D,” after all.
Breathtaking stuff.
Supposedly, this network is “citywide.” Even a cursory glance at the proposed map shows the truth. The tunnels are not citywide. The tunnels will link the Strip to the Convention Center and Downtown. Beyond that, the tunnels will cross west all the way to the incredibly-distant landmark of Arville Street and as far east as the remote Thomas and Mack Center.
The Boring Company has done every possible thing to avoid interacting with locals. The “citywide” network avoids most of the city where the people live and reside. Even though we – the clerks, the casino workers, the cooks and the waiters – built this city, the vast majority of us do not receive the benefits of development.
The Vegas Loop is designed around the consumption needs of the wealthy and the tourists. Both groups, both whiter than Las Vegas’s local communities, can reach their next consumption feasts by hailing fancy, shiny Teslas underground. The novelty even comes with a feel-good bonus. For the small price of lining Musk’s pockets with yet even more money, they can use electric vehicles – how progressive! How advanced! Ignore the cost of current electric vehicle development on the environment vis a vis lithium extraction, of course.
Teslas in Tunnels do nothing more than facilitate the flow of capital. In the short term, that is largely the river of gold from one casino to another in Las Vegas. In the long term, as more and more consumers enjoy the comforts of Teslas, the tunnels lead back to more and more purchases of Teslas. Capital flows from tourists to Boring and from Boring to Tesla, all of which proceeds to Elon Musk. The people see none of the money and none of the benefits.
Las Vegas development tends to follow this capital-centric trend. Billionaires view Vegas as a neon playground for their egoistic fantasies, designed not around beneficial public policy but rather whatever unhinged whims possess them. Conveniently, these fancies allow them to collect more and more capital, funding more and more of their ego trips in the desert.
Their harebrained impulses face little resistance. Usually, policymakers and decisionmakers meekly obey the billionaires’ decrees with stamps of approval on each and every ego trip development scheme. In this Wild West of a new Gilded Age, anything goes as long as you have the money to back it up. That includes Teslas in Tunnels from the Boring Company, a plan straight out of a cyberpunk dystopian novel.
If the needs of the people were served, these 29 miles of tunnels connecting 51 stations would be the advent of a new subway system across Las Vegas. The tunnels would expand west to Summerlin, throughout North Vegas, and link Eastside with the rest of the city. A subway would not only be a more efficient transportation system than cars in tunnels; it would also combat the exact issues that the Boring Company point to as their excuses for further capital accumulation, like decreasing road congestion. A subway would just solve those issues more effectively.
Teslas in Tunnels is one of the most vapid projects for transportation ever devised to date. The best we can do with the entire scheme is let Elon Musk build his tunnels and then promptly take them over to build our subway. Policymakers should take note.
Organizing Within and Outside the Halls of Power
Today we’re talking with Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest and her district manager Justin Freeman about how they are bringing their socialist office directly to the community they represent and are building power not just to win elections, but pass legislation that meaningful changes the lives of the working class in Brooklyn like the Less is More bill, which was signed into law this year, and Public Power and ‘Good Cause Eviction’ bill which are top priorities for DSA electeds this upcoming legislative session.
And it’s not just the power in the halls of government that is being challenged by organizers in New York City right now. Workers are taking on one of the most powerful and influential Ivy League universities and newspapers in the country at the same time. We’ll hear from RPM’s own Chris Carr who is one of many union members of the Student Workers of Columbia currently on strike and from one of the New York Times’ Wirecutter union members who plan to strike on Black Friday.
Follow Phara and Justin on twitter @phara4assembly and @JustinR_Freeman
and get involved with Phara's office at bit.ly/pharaoffice
An open letter to the National Political Committee
We believe in a democratic organization where members are accountable to each other and it is time that we hold Representative Jamaal Bowman accountable. His actions and statements run counter to our values and our recently adopted national platform. Within the last few months, Bowman has voted in favor of $3.3 billion in military aid to Israel and $1 billion in funding for Israel’s Iron Dome, as well as toured Israel, posting pictures of himself with the leader of an apartheid regime.
These are not inconsequential actions that can be written off as a difference of opinion. As our national political platform states, “as socialists living in the heart of the American empire, we must oppose imperialism and work to address, cease, and heal the harm caused by our ruling class.” In May, DSA also released a statement claiming that it stood “in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle against apartheid, colonialism, and military occupation, and for equality, justice, and self-determination.” However, with his actions, Bowman sides with the ruling class in upholding imperialism.
Bowman’s actions are not abstract. By directly supporting Israeli aparetheid and endorsing Zionism, Bowman condones the continued Israeli settlement of Palestinian land, as well as the forced displacement, genocide, and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. This is happening in real time —as we see in Sheikh Jarrah and in the open-air prison of the Gaza Strip, for example. This stands in direct opposition to the portion of the national platform that calls for solidarity with Palestinians and “for equality, human rights, and self-determination, including the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.”
Here in Las Vegas, our chapter has developed a close relationship with Palestinian rights organizations and we count them among our strongest allies locally. To continue to ignore these actions by a national representative of our organization, the face of one of our largest campaigns, compromises our coalition and forces us to betray comrades with whom we have shared struggles.
Las Vegas DSA calls on the National Political Committee to demonstrate a commitment to our organization’s values by standing in solidarity with Palestinians and expelling Representative Jamaal Bowman from DSA.
ACAB, Especially Eric Adams
Election day was Tuesday and DSA’s 30+ nationally-endorsed campaigns were put to voters. With a nearly 70% win rate for DSA's campaigns nationally, there's much to discuss about organizing for socialism at the ballot box and the rising tensions between the left and the existing Democratic establishment. On tonight’s show, we'll share provisional election results and an interview with a DSA-endorsed candidate for Somerville, Massachusetts City Council, Tessa Bridge.
Here in NYC, Eric Adams has -- unfortunately -- swept to victory as mayor. Adams has publicly distanced himself from the left and socialism, so to extend the courtesy, let us just say that *all* cops are bastards. How are we going to beat Adams and the bourgeois, capitalist interests he represents? We discuss that question live with our comrade Robert Cuffy, a union city worker and police abolitionist who organizes with NYC-DSA's Labor Branch and Afrosocialist Caucus.
We also hear a report from RPM's antifascist correspondent Amy Wilson on the rise of far-right organizing in New York City around the wedge issue of mandates for COVID-19 vaccine.
Keep up with the results of DSA's nationally-endorsed races as they develop, thanks to our comrades at Metro DC DSA: https://washingtonsocialist.mdcdsa.org/station-z/dsa-races-2021
Close the Comanche 3 Coal Plant
The Comanche 3 Coal Plant is the largest single source of air pollution in Colorado. It’s a massive generating station southeast of Pueblo where you can see the smoke from miles away. To avert the worst of the climate crisis we need to shut it down as soon as possible.
A Bad Idea from the Beginning
One of the tragedies of the Comanche Coal Plant is that it was built in 2010. We were already experiencing record-breaking heat waves and other extreme weather events from climate change. It was clear then that building new coal plants was a death sentence.
Yet, Xcel Energy pushed for the project and the Public Utility Commission (PUC), responsible for regulating Xcel, gave the project the green light.
The project cost nearly a $1 billion to build. Since it came on line, not only has the electricity been dirty, but it has struggled to even work. Break downs have cost hundreds of millions of dollars to fix. It’s one of the most expensive, unreliable sources of energy in our state.
It’s criminal that Xcel built this coal plant and that the PUC allowed the project to go through.
Glaring Example of Environmental Racism
The Comanche Coal Plant sits near the heavily working class and Latino city of Pueblo. One out of every ten adults has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, more than twice the state average. As is so often the case, frontline communities endure the worst harms of running coal while Wall Street investors reap the profits.
Join the Fight to Close the Comanche Coal Plant
Originally Xcel planned on running the coal plant until 2070. After public outcry and determined organizing, that date was pushed back to 2050, then again to 2040 and now finally 2035. However, the science is clear that coal needs to wind down by 2030.
Xcel just proposed its ten year plan to the Public Utility Commission (PUC). The PUC is responsible for listening to public comments and deciding what the final plan will be.
Hundreds of people have already submitted comments telling the PUC to close all coal plants, especially Comanche 3, by 2030.
Luckily, the PUC has new commissioners from the one that approved construction of the plant in the first place. We have a good chance of convincing them to do the right thing, but we need to show an outpouring of support for closing the coal plant to make that happen.
Three ways to help Close the Comanche Coal Plant
- Write a comment demanding that the Comanche 3 Coal Plant close.
- Join our DSA Climate Comment & Watch Party on December 2nd
- Email ecosocialist.committee@denverdsa.org to join us in building power for a Just Transition
Expel Jamaal Bowman
AN OPEN LETTER TO DSA’S NATIONAL POLITICAL COMMITTEE FROM MADISON AREA DSA
On multiple occasions since his election, Representative Jamaal Bowman has used his office and public stature to work against the political positions of the Democratic Socialists of America and the principles of socialist internationalism. Bowman has demonstrated that he is unfit to be a DSA member and spokesperson for our organization. The role of a socialist elected official is to be a tribune for the working class and oppressed, to project our movement’s politics and attract wide layers of our class. Representative Bowman’s recent actions and statements run completely counter to this role and are grounds for expulsion from DSA. Madison Area DSA requests Bowman’s removal as a member of DSA and by extension as a representative of our organization.
On July 28th, 2021, Bowman voted in favor of $3.3 billion in direct military aid to Israel. Again eight weeks later on September 23rd, 2021, Bowman voted with the majority of the House to approve $1 billion in funding for Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system. In last summer’s bombing campaign, the Israeli state murdered at least 256 Palestinians, including 66 children, destroyed residential building complexes, and displaced over 72,000 people. Bowman’s votes allow these crimes to continue and extend further.
If actions are not enough, his public statements reveal his thinking. On Monday, October 18, Jamaal Bowman tweeted in response to the death of George W. Bush’s Secretary of State Colin Powell: “As a Black man just trying to figure out the world, Colin Powell was an inspiration. He was from NYC, went to City College, and rose to the highest ranks of our nation. Sending love, strength and prayer to the family and friends of Secretary Powell. Rest in power sir.” These comments legitimize one of the top architects of the criminal invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, who in turn is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Afghans and Iraqis, the plight of countless refugees, and the many working-class veterans killed, disabled or driven to suicide. Bowman’s comments here and elsewhere demonstrate a conscious commitment to reinforce the political order and ingratiate himself with its rulers.
Career aspirations should not be allowed to compromise DSA’s strong stance of support for Palestinian national liberation. Our conventions, platform, and national working groups have repeatedly placed us in solidarity with the Palestinian people, and in favor of the tactics of boycott, divest, and sanction. A statement released on behalf of DSA on May 13th made this explicitly clear. We have no reason to expect different from Bowman in the future, and this is simply not compatible with our aims in DSA.
Madison Area Democratic Socialists of America calls for the revocation of Jamaal Bowman’s membership as demonstrative of “substantial disagreement with the principles or policies of the organization”. Bowman’s further association would only serve to misrepresent our politics as democratic socialists and move us away from our political goals.
Solidarity Has To Be Experienced To Be Believed
Strategic Escalation with Zohran Mamdani
As regular listeners of Revolutions per Minute know, we are living in a time of many overlapping campaigns for justice for the working-class. Sometimes, organizing campaigns result in victory and opportunities for celebration while looking toward the next goal. Other times, campaigns require strategic escalation. On tonight’s show, we’ll speak to New York for Abortion Rights about a key victory in the struggle to protect access to abortion for all. We’ll hear from NYC-DSA member and Assemblymember from District 36 in Astoria Zohran Mamdani on the New York Taxi Workers Alliance sit-in at City Hall and why he’s going on hunger strike alongside taxi workers to demand debt forgiveness.
Finally, we travel to Little Rock, Arkansas, with Malik, a former NYC-DSA organizer, who is using lessons learned from NYC to build socialism in his hometown.
Follow New York for Abortion Rights at abortionrights.nyc.
Follow Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani at @ZohranKMamdani and learn more about the New York Taxi Workers Alliance sit-in at @NYTWA.
Follow Central Arkansas DSA at @CentralARKDSA.