Correction: A June 21 story, “Heating up alternative energy,” should have said that to qualify for the new Elevations Credit Union loan program, buildings must have achieved a 15 percent energy “saving,” not “rating.” In addition, any customer can participate in the loan program to save energy; the 15 percent savings threshold is only required to qualify for renewable energy such as solar photovoltaic.
Oil wells vs. subdivisions
I was impressed with Paul Danish’s June 28 column “Oil wells vs. subdivisions” (Danish Plan).
Where many pundits must resort to comparisons of apples to oranges to sidle up to their point, Mr. Danish attacks straightaway in a frontal assault of massive logic.
In this case, regarding environmental responsibility, he has proved conclusively that people should be living in oil wells, not subdivisions.
I look forward to his upcoming column, “Coal mines vs. schools.”
Richard Wall/Lafayette
I hate to even engage this exercise in logical gymnastics. It’s giving me a headache some address Hopefully a tion, involved, rounding Creating by people ing the headache just thinking about it. But for some reason I feel the need to try to address this specious argument. Hopefully I can keep it short.
So, yes, it is true that in order to create a residential area and prepare it for habitation, some fairly industrial activity is involved, and yes, it could impact surrounding established residential areas.
Creating residences is somewhat industrial by nature, but necessary and unavoidable.
Communities need to grow, and people need places to live. I’m not arguing in favor of subdivisions, but that’s the basic fact of urban life.
Once people move in and start living in a community, no, obviously there should not be more unrelated industrial activity going on in the same area, zoned residential. That’s why we have zoning in the first place, to keep different types of land use from interfering with other types of land use. It’s very common sense.
Fracking is a rather extreme industrial process by definition, harnessing the power of a water and chemical cocktail that we, the people in residential areas, are not legally allowed to know the contents of, under pressure great enough to literally fracture the bedrock 5,000 feet below us.
No big deal. Fracking is not going to lower my heating bill nearly enough to make me feel OK with the risk. I’d rather be cold than slowly poisoned, or worse.
I’m not at all embarrassed to say, in this case, not in my backyard! No thank you.
Who are these people cheerleading for this madness anyway? I’d like to know who is paying them.
James Allison/via Internet
Paul is right on point. Finally an article that speaks common sense about fracking wells that keep our cars running and our homes heated.
We all want renewable forms of energy, but the timeline is not immediate. I would like to know where the problem wells are so I can get involved. I don’t know of any, and the drilling techniques are amazing so to eliminate surface impact.
Water contamination where? Please let me know! Fracking is done at 8,000 feet or 7,500 feet below ground water. I drink Boulder water every day proudly, and absolutely no evidence is available of contamination.
Thank you Paul! Don Fort/via Internet
The last straw
(Editor’s note: The following is an open letter to Al Lewis of Dow Jones.) Hi Al, I can’t take it anymore. There is nothing “conservative” at all in the Republican/ Tea Party agenda, only radical changes to what was once considered the
American way of life.
Meanwhile, a mega-billionaire can buy an entire Hawaiian island; the CEOs of Chipotle can pull down $38.2 million but pay their shareholders no dividends; the average household has lost 40 percent of its worth; cutting Social Security, food stamps and public employee and teacher pensions are claimed to be the cure for the economic crash and the federal debt; the mainstream media has been co-opted by corporate money; and the next generation seems completely oblivious and happily content with their iPhones, tweeting one another and watching YouTube.
I really can’t believe what I am seeing and reading these days. And five days of 100-degree-plus heat in Colorado in June! And the climate change deniers prattle on, and we seem to be entering a long era of resource wars.
Sign me up for medical marijuana now! The ’60s have never looked so worthy of a return visit.
Robert Porath/Boulder
