Correction: The photo accompanying the April 18 cuisine review was improperly credited. It was taken by Rich Vossler of Denverdiscoveries.com.
Love Savage
Thank you, thank you, thank you for carrying Dan Savage’s column Savage Love!!! I usually get the Westword paper just for that column since I live in the mountains above Boulder and your paper is more relevant to me. Now if you could just reinstate the puzzle page with crosswords and sudoku I wouldn’t need the Colorado Daily either, and you would be the perfect paper in the world to me. Thank you also for This Modern World, the only “cartoon” I could ever need.
Christina Zahn/Ward
Don’t misrepresent biotech
As a farmer who has grown sugar beets in Boulder and Weld County for 37 years, I see the Boulder Weekly article “‘Monsanto Protection Act’ is more sinister than it appears” (DyerTimes, April 18) as another attempt to misrepresent the truth about biotechnology.
Section 735 of HR 933 protects farmers like me, not biotech companies like Monsanto, from the effects of lawsuits filed in opposition to biotech crops that had been thoroughly reviewed and approved by the USDA. In fact, the provision does not mention Monsanto a single time. Section 735 gives farmers assurance that once we have planted an approved product, we will be able to grow and harvest the crop we have invested in if new legal cases are filed.
I am not the only one who believes this measure is important — all major farmer organizations in the U.S. and several former secretaries of agriculture have expressed their support as well.
Let’s get one thing straight, Section 735 does not prevent federal regulatory agencies from stopping at any time the cultivation of unsafe biotech products if a real risk to human health or the environment is discovered. It also doesn’t restrict the rights to pursue judicial action. On the contrary, it ensures that regulation of biotech crops is scientifically sound, efficient and predictable. It’s worth noting that no court of law has ever found biotech traits unsafe for the consumer or the environment.
The legal challenges brought against biotech sugar beets a few years ago created a lot of uncertainly for my farming operation. One single judge’s decision could have jeopardized half of the U.S. sugar crop had it not been later overturned. I commend the legislators who supported The Farmer Assurance Provision for allowing me to use a technology that helps me manage my crop and maintain productivity with minimal impact in the environment.
Paul Schlagel/Longmont
Go municipal
Living in Boulder is for me, like many other people, a way to really define one’s personal aspirations by being surrounded by people who have similar passions and ideology. Among these is the concept of sustainability, and presently there doesn’t seem to be a better way to be a national leader than to adopt a municipal electric utility. Needless to say, I don’t think that investments in coal parallel residents’ interests, nor the long-term image of the university. To neglect the chance to be on the forefront of clean energy would be obstinate to what we value as Boulder residents, and how we view ourselves in the eyes of other Coloradans.
So, with this in mind, a decision must be made, and the outcomes will determine much more for future generations than we are currently aware of. With so many stakeholders moving in and out of our thriving city, it’s important to embrace opportunities to be on the cutting edge. This is one of those opportunities, so let’s keep moving forward!
Tim Jenkins/Boulder
