Letters | Fossil fuel apologist

0

Correction: The May 3 cover story, “Garden wars,” referred to the North Boulder Recreation Center as the East Boulder Recreation Center.

Fossil fuel apologist

(Re: “Think globally, and fry locally,” Danish Plan, May 3.) I am sure Paul Danish considers himself a global warming/climate change/fossil fuel realist. After all, our modern world is currently completely dependent upon the burning of fossil fuels, and that is not going to change at any time soon.

However, it is discouraging when he parrots neo-conservative attempts to discredit alternatives to energy production. Any small redistribution of heat caused by wind turbines is miniscule in comparison to the worldwide distribution of long-dormant quantities of carbon dioxide, water and energy spewed into the atmosphere by the burning of fossil fuels.

No level of denial can negate the simple fact that what we are doing daily is altering the climate and weather patterns of the planet. How severe this change will be is yet to be determined, but it does no good whatever to be a constant apologist for the fossil fuel industries.

Robert Porath/Boulder

Wrong take on NoBo

(Re: “Best Big Breakfast for the Bucks,” Best of Boulder, April 26.) We’re really disappointed in the illinformed, gratuitously insulting characterization of the residents of North Boulder that accompanied the staff pick of the North Boulder Café in your recent “Best of…” feature.

We agree with the praise of the Café but, as a retired teacher and a freelance part-time grant writer from lower middle class families, we strongly object to being described as trust fund babies with NIMBY attitudes. If your staff had bothered to examine the facts or follow the issues (as other staff members have done so stupendously well with Valmont Butte), they would have found that nearly half the housing units north of Violet are “permanently affordable,” and that doesn’t even include the two mobile home parks. They also would have found that the opposition to the facility for the chronically homeless was based on sound land use principles, the seven social service facilities already in the area along with more subsidized housing under development, and a total lack of transparency and accountability on the part of the developer — not opposition to helping the least fortunate among us. If

you lived here, you too might believe that concentrating all the city’s down-and-out residents in one small area is a bad idea for everyone, including the down-and-out.

In any event, reasonable people may disagree about policy, but reasonable people do not use cheap-shot, snarky stereotypes to describe people they know nothing about. Responsible journalists would know better.

Gail Promboin and Bob Burnham/ North Boulder

Free Seth Brigham

I’ve got to say, as a longtime political gadfly (on temporary hiatus) I find the city’s use of a restraining order against Seth outrageous.

Correct me if I am wrong, Seth [Brigham] is not showing up at the homes of council or staff and he is sending e-mail through the city’s official channels. If this is the case, what’s the problem? Anybody in the audience could be a threat.

The right of citizens to bring forth their grievances to government officials is one of our most fundamental rights. He also has the right to speak his mind. If [city councilmember] KC [Becker] wants to sue him for libel or slander, she should. I want Seth to be free to speak his mind so that I may speak my mind. Black folks haven’t had true constitutional rights for all that long, so I get a little agitated (politically agitated) when government officials want to take them away.

If the president cannot stop extremist preachers from burning flags and Korans or protesting against the GLBT community at the funerals of dead soldiers, what makes you think you have a case?

I think that city staff and council are going to just have to put up with his mess. If you can’t stand the heat …

You already have police officers at the council meetings. If he commits a crime, arrest him. Even then, he would still have a right to come to council meetings. Again, correct me if I’m wrong, even ex-felons are allowed to come to meetings and send emails.

Ignore and delete his emails (as many of you have sometimes done with mine). I don’t like what he does, but I support his right to do it. He’s mean. Get over it.

Today it’s Seth. Who’s next? I think you need another legal opinion on this.

Respectfully submitted, Tim “Black Cowboy” Thomas/via Internet P.S.: Didn’t the occupiers show up at the city manager’s house? Were they banned from council chambers?

The fracking truth

The water drop: H O Jo peers 2 through large, black-rimmed glasses and reminds us to: “KEEP IT CLEAN ‘cause WE’RE ALL DOWNSTREAM”. H O Jo is a mas- 2 cot for the program “Keep it Clean Partnership” and has suggestions about what we can do to decrease water pollution. We should: “never put anything down the storm drain, and not overwater. Excessive runoff wastes both water and chemicals you may have added to your yard.” Thanks Jo, these are good suggestions. Another thing that we can do to reduce the risk of chemicals polluting our water is to ban hydraulic fracturing.

During hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, millions of gallons of chemical Koolade, water mixed with sand and proprietary chemicals, are pumped into a well. Fracking fluids might contain benzene and other toxic chemicals. Most of the water used in fracking will be removed from the hydrological cycle. Colorado is a semi-arid region and can’t afford to sacrifice so much water.

The statewide snowpack is reported to be about 52 percent of average. Farmers are being outbid by energy companies for water. I grew up on a small dairy farm. The water that we used to grow crops also supported some wildlife. (Including a wildlife wannabe Holstein named “Jumpy” that thought she was a doe. She always managed to jump out of the pasture but never back into it. I think that she spent more time in the swamp than she did in the barn.)

During droughts, other farmers might ask my dad if it would rain again. He would answer: “It always has.” We also had well water and ponds to help us through droughts. Today, farms in Boulder County might run the risk of having their wells or ponds polluted by fracking fluid.

We all live downstream.

Kristen Marshall/Boulder

Thankfully one level of government, Boulder County commissioners, is concerned about fracking and has passed a moratorium.

What is seldom discussed is the appalling amount of water itself used in the process — 200,000 to 300,000 gallons per “shot” — amounting to 2.9 billion gallons in Weld County alone last year and lost to other uses through chemical contamination. This, while we individuals are urged to conserve water!

Next to air, water is most essential to all life — Colorado is already short of water for agricultural and residential/ commercial uses, to say nothing of the drying of the Colorado River and the increasing fragility and drawdown of the Oglala aquifer.

Where are the priorities here? Of course, oil and gas companies say there is no need for concern and, of course, fracking makes money — does anyone remember the story of King Midas? Everything he touched turned to gold, including food and water — imagine his ultimate fate.

N. Hartman/Boulder


Dishing on Louisville

(Re: “Dreams of free meals,” Cuisine, April 26.) Hi, saw your article today on food bloggers in Boulder. Wanted to make you aware of our Louisville website and Facebook page, and although we are not restaurant reviewers or food bloggers, we report on the food scene in Louisville.

Our goal is to promote the independent restaurant owner and increase awareness of Louisville’s dining offerings.

Check it out! www.thelouisvilledish.com.

Marilyn Davenport/Louisville