At the Colorado’s transportation commission’s December 2021 meeting, 10 out of the 11 commissioners in attendance approved a new rule requiring the state’s Department of Transportation to direct its dollars to projects proven to lower greenhouse-gas emissions. This nationally-leading rule will require the state Department of Transportation and the state’s five metropolitan planning organizations to measure the climate impact of planned projects and offset them if they exceed a given amount, including a detailed model showing exactly how emissions will be reduced. State officials estimate the rule could shift some $6.7 billion by 2050 toward public transit, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, construction emission reduction, and other environmentally friendly strategies. Commission Chair Kathy Hall introduced the motion as “the biggest thing this commission has ever been asked to do.”