Colorado Rising

Our community packed into Patagonia for the Boulder premiere of Thirsting for a Future, a new documentary from filmmaker Christi Bode and Moxiecran Media exploring K-12 climate and water education across our state. Thank you to everyone who came out to watch, connect, and be part of the conversation!

We were especially proud to see our annual Youth Unity Rising Summit featured in the film, alongside our own Giselle Arroyo, Climate & Youth Justice Director. Seeing Colorado’s youth-led climate movement represented on screen, in a room full of the neighbors and organizers who make that movement real, was a genuinely special moment for our community.

After the screening, the evening turned into exactly the kind of gathering we love hosting: a lively panel conversation featuring youth leaders from our new Sustaining Tomorrow Youth Council. A huge thank-you to panelists Evan Gu, Megan Liao, Muriel Soutiere, Mia TallBull, Allie Morton, Lauren Poole, and Erin Greenwood, along with filmmaker Christi Bode, for sharing their perspectives and fielding questions from the audience. Hearing directly from the young people leading this work, in their own words, is what made the night unforgettable.

“How we prepare youth for today’s reality will shape tomorrow. Climate and water education plays a powerful role for K-12 students, yet access to these experiences remains uneven across our state,” said Christi Bode, Producer at Moxiecran Media. “This film highlights the inspiring ways educators, parents, and community organizations are stepping up to bridge that gap and turn climate anxiety into meaningful, hands-on action.”

Documentary highlights and featured stories include:
● Cross-State Watershed Connections: Following an innovative Watershed Pen Pal program that connects students in urban Aurora with peers in the Roaring Fork Valley, exposing students to the journey water takes across the Continental Divide to Front Range taps.
● Indigenous Ecological Knowledge: Highlighting Indigenous perspectives and cultural connections to water in the Four Corners region through dialogue with neighbors from the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and Navajo Nation.
● Youth-Led Civic Action: Demonstrating how high schoolers translate classroom science into real-world civic impact through initiatives like student-designed no-idling campaigns to improve local air quality.
● Overcoming Institutional Barriers: Addressing the real-world challenges educators face—including tight instructional schedules, funding shortfalls, and local political pushback—and showing how community organizations fill critical educational gaps.

Throughout Fall 2026, Thirsting for a Future will screen in theaters, school auditoriums, statewide conferences, and community centers across Colorado, accompanied by interactive post-film discussions and youth leadership forums designed to activate local solutions. It will air on Rocky Mountain PBS on November 8, 2026 at 5:00 pm.

Watch the trailer here: https://vimeo.com/1168884984

RSVP for tomorrow’s screening at Patagonia Boulder & read full speaker bios at the link in our bio!

On August 30, we had our first meeting with the “STYC Council,”: where local youth identify issues affecting their community and take action through education, community-driven solutions, and advocacy! In our first meeting, everyone got to know each other and shared about pressing environmental and mental health issues circulating in Colorado’s environment and among youth.

So many insightful comments and stories were brought up today: a highlight of the day was the Play-Doh activity where youth created visual representations of environmental issues. Council members created representations such as an oil spill in a lake on fire, lungs to represent air pollution, and a dried-up lake representing drought.

We’re thrilled for what’s to come, and for the momentum we’ll build together! All the youth in this council are so inspiring; the future is looking bright for Colorado!

Climate and water education play a powerful role for K-12 students in Colorado; however, not all students have access to it… 🌎

This 30-minute film showcases what the fight for climate and water education looks like in Colorado in 3 different geographies, with a broader look at how youth are shaping their own future.

Thirsting for a Future premieres at Patagonia Boulder on September 16. Join us for a film screening and conversation with youth leaders from Good Trouble Climate Network, Colorado Rising’s Sustaining Tomorrow Youth Council, and the filmmaker, Christi Bode.

Doors open at 5:45 pm with the film screening at 6:15 pm. The event is open to all, and food will be provided at no cost.

This weekend, in partnership with the River Sisters, Patagonia and Denver Parks & Rec, we cleaned up 1,140 pounds of trash from the South Platte! 🗑️💪

More than 7,100 oil and gas wells have been drilled within a mile of the river, with 1,500+ spills reported in the last 10 years.

That’s why protecting the Platte — and supporting the people who have cared for this river for generations — matters.

Colorado Rising is proud to partner with the River Sisters Congreso, supporting their work to uplift Indigenous strategies, practices, and leadership along the Platte.

Clean rivers. Strong communities. A healthier Colorado. 💙

The oil and gas industry has used deceptive tactics to exert outsized political control in Colorado. This strategy threatens our health and safety. The Union of Concerned Scientists documented four basic disinformation “plays” in the state. Colorado legislators and regulators have not done enough to hold the oil and gas industry accountable for its deception and political interference. We must continue pushing for Fossil fuel companies active in Colorado and their trade groups to stop spreading climate disinformation and pay their fair share of the climate, environmental, and public health costs of fossil fuel production and combustion.

Help us educate Coloradans by sharing this post!

Have you signed our Open Letter of Support to Stop the Expansion of Fracking in Colorado? Have you shared it with a friend? https://www.safeandhealthyco.org/

Source: Colorado Targeted by Fossil Fuel Industry’s Disinformation Playbook https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2022-01/Colorado-Targeted-by-Fossil-Fuel-Industry-Disinformation-Playbook-u.pdf

In materials filed with the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) on August 28, 2026, Extraction Oil & Gas (a wholly owned subsidiary of SM Energy) pivoted its drilling plans for the Draco Oil and Gas Development Plan (OGDP) to avoid minerals owned by the Town of Erie, and to include an additional DSU south of the proposed pad, which lies entirely underneath the Front Range Landfill in Erie, Colorado.

Extraction Files Amended Draco Drilling Plan In materials filed with the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) on August 28, 2026, Extraction Oil & Gas (a wholly owned subsidiary of SM Energy) pivoted its drilling plans …

Is there a leaking well near your kid's school? 🏫

Old, low-producing marginal wells are scattered across Colorado's Front Range, often right next to homes, schools, and playgrounds. They leak. They contaminate soil and groundwater. And most people never give them a second thought.

Join us this Thursday, June 4 at 5:00pm to learn what we can do about these overlooked wells near Colorado schools.

🔗 corfc.org/marginal-wells/

TOMORROW! Friday, May 1st, as part of a nationwide commemoration of International Workers’ Day, we’re joining the International Day of Action to uplift May Day that centers working people, and the demand for dignity, justice, democracy, and investment in our communities.

Denver: Join United Denver at 4pm for Allies on Alameda at S. Franklin / Alameda Ave (Cherokee to Steele).
JeffCo: JCEA-JESPA Redlines at major Alameda intersections between Sheridan & the C470 overpass to cover the street from west to east (Sheridan, Wadsworth, Kipling, Union, and the bridge at Alameda/C470).

There are other rallies and May Day events across the state, such as at Festival Park in Castle Rock from 10am - 2pm or Acacia Park in Colorado Springs from 2 - 6pm. Choose one close to you and protest with your local community in solidarity!


denver .youth.coalition