The Temperature | Are tougher social media regulations coming to Colorado?

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Hey there, Colorado, and welcome to another edition of The Temperature, where this week we will begin with a question for you:

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We’ll keep delivering news and information that informs your life in climate and health, with a great (and free!) example tonight at our 6 p.m. online panel on “The New Car Culture.” Don’t let the title fool you, our panel gets into everything from bike lanes to flying cars to ensuring women who buy EVs have a safe public place to charge them.

Now, let’s turn to the news, where we have details about a new proposal for regulation of social media in Colorado to promote better mental health.

HEALTH

Can Colorado regulate social media to better protect kids’ mental health?

This combination of images shows logos for companies from left, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. (AP Photos/File)

Lawmakers in Colorado are poised to introduce a bill that will crack down on social media companies and require them to show young users warnings about the harms of social media use, according to an advocacy group that backs the effort.

Kyle Piccola, the vice president of communications and advocacy for Healthier Colorado, said the bill would require social media platforms to show in-app warnings to youth in Colorado with “information and resources about the harms of social media” after one hour of continuous use. The warnings will repeat every hour and more frequently at night. The bill would require warnings to be shown to social media users ages 13 through 17.

A second section of the bill would require the state Department of Education to develop a resource bank with research and other information on how social media use impacts mental health, brain development and overall well-being. This information would be publicly available, allowing parents, teachers and young people to learn more about the effects of frequent social media use.

Piccola and Alexis Alltop, Healthier Colorado’s policy manager, said the bill was written to track what social media companies are already doing with opt-in screen time reminders. For that reason, they hope the bill avoids the fierce opposition and subsequent litigation that have beset other states’ attempts to regulate social media.

“We feel we have taken a really common sense approach,” Piccola said. “This is not going to impact them as much as some of the other policies proposed in the past.”

Still, he said he doesn’t know where social media companies stand on the proposal.

The proposal comes as a new poll, commissioned by Healthier Colorado, shows widespread concern in Colorado for social media’s impacts on the mental health of young people and broad support for policies to rein in the platforms.

In the poll, which surveyed more than 900 registered Colorado voters last month, 88% of people said they believe there is a youth mental health crisis and 82% of people said they believe social media has a negative impact on youth mental health.

When asked whether they would support a state law to impose requirements on social media platforms to prevent adverse mental health effects, 75% of people said yes. The concept drew strong majority support across all age groups and income levels, from Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated voters and from parents and nonparents.

“This is just overwhelming,” said pollster David Flaherty, who conducted the survey with a second pollster, Chris Keating. “I also feel that people do not believe this is an undue burden.”

Piccola said he expects the bill to be introduced as soon as this week.

INSURANCE

Colorado had a record-busting open enrollment period

The website for Connect for Health Colorado, the state’s health insurance exchange, photographed on July 26. (John Ingold, The Colorado Sun)

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With a large number of people losing Medicaid coverage as the state churns through eligibility renewals, this year’s open enrollment period figured to be a big one in Colorado.

It did not disappoint.

When the annual open enrollment window closed earlier this month for people who buy insurance on their own, nearly 250,000 people had signed up for a plan through one of the state’s two health insurance exchanges.

That number includes 237,107 people who signed up via Connect for Health Colorado, the exchange where people who are eligible for federal subsidies can shop for coverage. That’s nearly 18% more people than signed up during the 2023 open enrollment window, and it marks a record for the exchange.

Of those who signed up on Connect for Health, 77% are receiving financial assistance.

In a statement, Connect for Health CEO Kevin Patterson said he is elated with the number.

“We’ll be digging into our open enrollment data to see what exactly is driving this increase in sign-ups shortly,” he said.

The remaining 12,485 people included in the enrollment figure signed up through Colorado Connect, a separate exchange where people who are living in the country without legal immigration status can shop for coverage and potentially receive state-funded subsidies. (More on this in the chart section below.)

This is the second year for the insurance program, known as OmniSalud. The 2024 enrollment figure is about 20% higher than last year’s, after state officials increased the number of subsidized spots available by 1,000.

Lastly, Colorado Option plans saw a big jump in enrollment. There were 80,655 people who signed up for a Colorado Option plan for 2024, accounting for about a third of all plan selections. That’s up from 13% of plan selections in 2023.

MORE HEALTH NEWS

Colorado considers allowing sales of raw milk in latest “food freedom” legislation. A bipartisan bill at the state Capitol that would allow farmers to sell unpasteurized milk from their farms or at farmers markets won unanimous support in its first legislative committee hearing last week. Why is this surprising? Because raw milk can sometimes be a source of serious foodborne illness, which is why public health agencies generally warn against drinking it. But, as Jennifer Brown reports, the bill reflects the growing power of the “food freedom” movement, and sponsors say it is also a way to promote local agricultural products.
— The Colorado Sun My family’s $2,000 popsicle and why health care costs so much in Colorado. If you’ve been reading The Sun’s running High Cost series, you’ve been treated to a run of great stories on how Colorado became such an expensive place to live. Last week, it was my turn — with a story about an ER visit, a pricey popsicle and a lesson in why health care can cost so much even when you have insurance.
— The Colorado Sun Nearly 90% of people who are homeless in Denver were already living in Colorado, report shows. There’s a notion that a large number of people who are homeless in Colorado are living on the streets by choice. But a new survey by the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative found that 90% of people said they did not choose to become homeless. And, as Tatiana Flowers reports, 88% of people reported that their most recent permanent address was in Colorado, rebutting the notion that large numbers of people are moving to the state with the intent of living on the streets.
— The Colorado Sun Colorado has the nation’s third-longest waitlist for people charged with crimes and ordered into psychiatric treatment. People who have been found incompetent to face trial or not guilty by reason of insanity in Colorado are waiting an average of 66 days for a bed at one of the state’s two mental health hospitals. The reason? The number of staffed beds at those hospitals dropped last year as the hospitals struggled to find staff.
— The Colorado Sun

ENVIRONMENT

Baking turns from gas pipelines to electric avenue

An award-winning energy efficient home in Fraser, built by University of Colorado students, included a clean electric induction stove rather than a traditional gas appliance. (Casey A. Cass, University of Colorado)

Can an electric oven crisp up that restaurant pizza crust to old-country standards?

Will an induction cooktop sear that aged T-bone to please a steakhouse crowd?

Chef Andy Forlines, former Broadmoor apprentice and current restaurant consultant, is prepped to convince fellow foodies both answers are “yes,” and that it’s time for more commercial cooks to give up the gas.

Electrification of restaurant kitchens is a next-level effort in the movement to sharply reduce fossil fuel use across all sectors of the American economy. Utilities and cars were the first wave of electrification, and now green advocates and industrial innovators want to see faster adoption of electric home heat pumps, water heaters and cooking appliances formerly run on gas.

A project called Electric Avenue, from the progressive retail coalition Good Business Colorado, is helping commercial and retail kitchens learn how to give up natural gas, and how to change cooking methods to capitalize on the advantages of electric. Forlines taught a class during the National Western Stock Show in the demo kitchen at Colorado State University’s Spur campus.

“It’s educating people up to realize that they’re not giving up anything,” Forlines said. “Heat is heat. The food doesn’t really care what the source is.”

Bakers say electric ovens can be much closer to instant-on than older gas models that sometimes take hours to reach full heat; some bakeries leave their gas ovens running 24 hours to avoid down time.

New electric ovens are part of programmable systems that can improve a large kitchen’s workflow in dishes that have multiple stages or need to stay warm, Forlines said. The computerized, clean-electric models may in themselves be pricier than a comparable gas appliance, Forlines added, but revamping a kitchen offers savings. Electric over gas can eliminate the need for expensive, massive exhaust hoods that combine with mandated fire-control systems.

Electric appliances can be 95% efficient in transferring energy into usable heat, Forlines said, compared with 35% in many gas appliances.

Just as plumbers and HVAC suppliers need information on heat pumps and rebates, restaurateurs and chefs need help with electric cooking techniques and equipment costs, Forlines said.

And everyone, from the entrepreneur to the customer, must have an open mind, Forlines said.

People can adapt quickly to electric cars, smartphones and smartwatches, he said. But when it comes to the comforts of cooking and food, he said, “there seems to be kind of a backward-looking view as well. Gas is traditional, and it’s what we like and what we see.”

We’ll be talking in coming days with electric adopters in the food world, including Sexy Pizza and Rebel Bread, and will bring you more of their electric-chef insights at ColoradoSun.com.

MORE ENVIRONMENT NEWS

MLK Jr. weekend gave us great storms. Guess what? We need another. Big storms are glorious for vital snowpack, but hey it’s Colorado and the High Plains, so every week that goes by means we need more, Shannon Mullane reports. Snowpack vs. average looked a lot healthier. But keep it coming, snow gods.
— The Colorado Sun Jaffe on leaking pipelines. A pair of sugar beet and corn farmers would seem an unlikely duo to take on the oil and gas industry and the state’s biggest utilities over the issue of pipeline safety, but that is exactly what Mark and Julie Nygren have done, Mark Jaffe reports.
— The Colorado Sun BLM sets aside Eastern Colorado land, but leaves oil and gas in play. A new management plan for millions of acres in South Park, Arkansas Valley and the Eastern Plains does create new land protections, but also continues a legacy of oil and gas drilling, critics charge.
— The Colorado Sun Ranch land needed: 500,000 acres or bust. The Phillips family has been faithfully ranching Chico Basin for nearly 25 years, and inviting the public in to learn about conservation practices and life in the West. Now they and their 1,500 cattle need a new home, after the state land board chose someone else to run the sprawling ranch, Michael Booth reports.
— The Colorado Sun This chart shows sign-ups for health coverage on Connect for Health Colorado, the state’s health insurance exchange, and on Colorado Connect, which administers the OmniSalud program that makes insurance subsidies available for a limited number of immigrants who lack legal documentation. Click the image to go to an interactive version of the chart. (John Ingold, The Colorado Sun)

We told you above about Colorado’s record-breaking open enrollment season. Here’s another way to look at it.

After years of relatively flat growth, the past four years have seen a steady increase in health insurance sign-ups via Connect for Health Colorado, the state’s insurance exchange. That increase is even more prominent when including the impact of Colorado Connect — the portal where immigrants living in the country without legal status can sign up for subsidized coverage through the OmniSalud program.

It’s important to note that enrollment for OmniSalud’s subsidies is capped at 11,000 — to be eligible for subsidies, people must make less than 150% of the federal poverty level, or less than $45,000 per year for a family of four. Because of these caps, spending on OmniSalud is not tied to the level of immigration and the slightly increased enrollment in the program this year over last has little-to-nothing to do with the influx of migrants Colorado and other states have seen.

Money for OmniSalud’s subsidies come from the Colorado Health Insurance Affordability Enterprise, which is funded by a fee on health insurance companies and hospitals. Money from the enterprise also goes to fund the state’s reinsurance program and to provide enhanced subsidies to people also eligible for federal subsidies through Connect for Health.

CLIMATE

Ad blitz by fossil fuel companies. They’re out to defend their essential role as pumping reaches records.
— The Guardian Face/palm: Gas cars are getting less efficient. It’s because we love big SUVs and trucks, and Colorado is guilty, guilty, guilty.
— Washington Post Are EVs losing momentum with U.S. consumers? Pair this with the story above about inefficient new gas cars.
— WSJ

HEALTH

Denver’s mayor says he met his goal to shelter 1,000 people. But meeting the next goal — moving those 1,000 folks into permanent housing in order to shelter 1,000 more people — will be harder.
— The Colorado Sun The dead-end street where migrants are searching for the American dream. Some of the few migrants still living outside after Denver’s massive effort to find enough temporary housing are staying alive through determination and help from an army of volunteers.
— The Colorado Sun Tired: The COVID vaccine. Wired: The flu vaccine. As respiratory virus season rolls on, many more people are getting their flu shot than their COVID booster, which is weird.
— STAT Climate change is scary, but thinking that you’re a butterfly may help. In part to help people deal with anxiety over climate change, a CU professor has created a guided performance enabling people to visualize transformation. If you ever wanted to see Colorado Matters host Ryan Warner dressed as a caterpillar, here’s your chance.
— CPR

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’Til next week.

— John & Michael

Corrections & Clarifications

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