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Ski Resorts

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Potawatomi Bingo Casino. Northstar-at-Tahoe™ Resort Environment. Northstar California is often asked by guests and outside agencies to report on its environmental initiatives.

Northstar-at-Tahoe™ Resort Environment

Below are some of the questions frequently asked, and the resort's responses: Policy ActivismRenewable EnergyWater and Energy EfficiencyTransportationWaste Stream ManagementPurchasingEnvironmental Reporting and AccountabilityCommunity Sustainability Policy Activism Q: Has your ski area actively supported environmentally progressive local, state or federal polices or legislation involving forest and land management issues that impact mountain ecosystems and environments through letters of support, support of ballot initiatives or through other means? Keep Winter Cool - Ski Area Action. Snow is the essential ingredient in winter sports, and ski areas around the country are concerned that global warming could have a serious effect on their business. So they’re taking action to fight the problem on many fronts.

For starters, ski areas are leading by example: using energy efficient technology and increasing the use of renewable energy in their operations -- using wind energy and solar energy to power buildings and lifts, applying energy-efficient building technologies and saving energy by replacing inefficient equipment. They’re also working with lawmakers to pass sensible, safe limits on global warming pollution and support increased use of clean, renewable energy.

Can Vail's ski resort cut its energy use 10 percent? - By Daniel Gross. The balmy weather in Vancouver, which delayed some of the Olympic downhill events, highlights the danger warmer winters pose to ski resorts. The situation isn't as dire in the higher-elevation resorts of the Rockies, but these large businesses—think of the Trapp Family Lodge on steroids—still worry that a warming planet could melt their businesses. Vail, Colo., the home base of gold medalist Lindsey Vonn, where I spent a chunk of a recent week desperately trying to maintain my balance, is the largest single ski area in the United States: 32 lifts, 198 trails, 63 miles of snowmaking pipe, and six on-mountain restaurants. Its parent company, Vail Resorts, which has a $1.3 billion market value, has a lot to lose from climate change and a lot to gain from cutting energy use.

The company spent about $27 million on energy in 2009. The collapse of the Copenhagen Accord and the continuing onslaught of global-warming deniers may have made a cap-and-trade regime unlikely.