Michael Fanelli
Climate Desk ReporterMichael Fanelli is the inaugural reporter for Aspen Public Radio’s Climate Desk. He moved to the Roaring Fork Valley in June 2025, after living and working in two very different parts of Alaska. A Southern California local, he got his start in public radio at KCRW in Santa Monica.
At Alaska Public Media in Anchorage, he hosted the statewide morning news and reported on stories ranging from glacier tourism and EV’s to a bagel oasis. Michael was most recently the news director of KRBD in Ketchikan, where he covered local issues like homeless services and kelp entrepreneurship, plus an occasional bizarre story about imitation totem poles. His work has been recognized on several occasions by the Alaska Press Club, including an environmental reporting award for a story about federally funded heat pumps.
Michael is excited to live in a place with a little more sun and a lot less rain. Say hi if you bump into him while exploring the natural beauty of the Western Slope.
-
A passenger train struck a semi-tanker truck off Highway 6 just east of Rifle Wednesday morning. The tanker driver sustained minor injuries, but no other injuries were reported. -
Snowpack levels have improved in the Roaring Fork River Basin, but are still only 17% of normal. Hydrologists say potential for a significant wildfire season remains, and water supplies will still be stretched thin. -
Desde octubre de 2023, Aspen exige a los restaurantes que practiquen el compostaje, lo que ha evitado que miles de toneladas de materia orgánica acaben en el vertedero y ha reducido las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero. -
Pitkin County recently approved an updated management plan for the North Star Nature Reserve. While the process has been contentious in recent years, Elizabeth Stewart-Severy reported for Aspen Journalism that the county has been pouring resources into balancing the community and ecological interests in the area. -
A new study from Western Colorado University found that winters with low snowpack tend to yield wildfire seasons that destroy more live biomass. The findings don’t bode well for Colorado forests this summer, but the worst outcomes can still be avoided. -
Since October 2023, Aspen has required restaurants to compost, keeping thousands of tons of organic material out of the landfill and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
-
The unseasonal warmth that broke longstanding temperature records across the West last week was a hit to Colorado’s already low snowpack. Climate change drove the heat wave, but scientists say it’s still an outlier in today’s world. -
The historic heat wave that hit the western U.S. last week was made at least five times more likely due to climate change. Scientists say it would have been “virtually impossible” in a world without human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. -
Commissioners narrowly agreed to advance a substantially reduced request for a wildlife crossing study. The board will consider final approval of the funding on March 25. -
El Distrito de Protección contra Incendios de Aspen está a punto de convertirse en la primera estación del país en adquirir la nueva tecnología de Seneca, una empresa emergente de California. Los responsables de incendios afirman que podría ser un "cambio radical" para la respuesta rápida ante incendios forestales de difícil acceso.
