Alex DeGolia for Holy Cross board
Local actions matter greatly in our fight against climate change. You have an opportunity to act right now. The Holy Cross Energy board election is happening this month, and my husband, Alex DeGolia, is running to represent the Western District.
We moved to my hometown of Carbondale in 2017. Alex wasted no time in investing in our community. He works for the Carbondale-based Catena Foundation and focuses on clean energy and climate strategy. He volunteers as a tutor for English in Action in El Jebel and serves on the board of the Thompson Divide Coalition. We welcomed our son Wallace in February. Having a child has further motivated us to ensure we are taking action to address the major environmental challenges we face, climate change chief among them.
I know firsthand that Alex is hard working, sharp and reliable. He holds a doctorate in environmental management and served in the White House as a natural resources staffer. As a Holy Cross board member, he will pursue practical and creative solutions to advance clean energy while protecting customers.
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Your ballot should have arrived in the mail. Don’t let it get buried in the stack on your counter. Dig it out, and cast a vote for Alex.
Tarn Udall
Carbondale
Misinformation leading to a correct conclusion
Fancying myself as something of a climate geek and with lotsa time on my hands, I’ve watched the Michael Moore produced and Jeff Gibbs directed documentary “The Planet of the Humans” several times. In it, Moore/Gibbs take a shot at the climate movement from a different angle, the left. Once I got past all the hype, inaccuracies and bogus conspiracy theories, I discovered the filmmakers have the same criticism of the climate crusaders I do.
Moore/Gibbs contend switching from fossil fuel to renewable energy won’t solve the climate crisis because the manufacture of solar panels and wind vanes use massive amounts of fossil fuel provided power. I never did believe changing power sources would make our climate problems go away, but it has to help. All these coal plants are shutting down for some reason.
The film grossly underestimates the value of batteries. That’s what makes wind and solar sustainable when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine and what propels electric vehicles. Yes, batteries require cobalt, and cobalt is mined in the Congo by child laborers. The way to attack that is to convince the Congo to enact child labor laws, not quit making batteries.
“The Planet of the Humans” correctly identifies the earth’s overpopulation as the root problem. This situation may take care of itself with the coming climate catastrophe, nuclear holocaust or the next viral pandemic.
One suggestion Moore/Gibbs offer I definitely reject is climate champions like Al Gore and Bill McKibben are motivated by profits. Neither is wealthy, and if they’d followed other pursuits, they could be.
Where the film is valid is in its conclusion the climate movement is too focused on supply and not enough on demand. I don’t accept supply side economics or supply side climate solutions. As long as there’s a demand for fossil fuels, there’ll be a supply.
We must cease being such voracious consumers of energy. We need to slow down. Walk, bike, take public transportation instead of driving. Take the train instead of flying. Get the major emitters of greenhouse gases off the roads and out of the air. Find ways to conserve energy around the home and workplace. Experience some inconvenience for the sake of the planet.
Fred Malo Jr.
Carbondale
Why is Scott Tipton so eager to bail out Boulder?
Democrat Rep. Joe Neguse sponsored H.R. 6467 to provide $250 billion of federal bailout funds to local governments including his own town of Boulder, Colorado.
Never mind that Boulder hasn’t exhausted its rainy day fund, pushed a $17 “living wage” for its staff and spends $6 million a year of its city budget on climate initiatives; Boulder apparently needs ranchers in Craig and peach farmers in Palisade to bail ’em out. and Rep. Scott Tipton is all too eager to help make that happen.
As of today, 140 Democrats have joined on as co-sponsors of this bailout bill and only five Republicans. The very first Republican to do so was Congressman Scott Tipton. As far as I’m concerned, Boulder should be the last to ever receive a dime of federal bailout funds.
A more responsible approach would be to let the Democrats bring the bill to the floor and then offer amendments to make sure cost saving measures and rainy day funds are exhausted before asking for federal funds that the government doesn’t have and can’t afford.
I took some heat last December for criticizing Congressman Tipton when he voted for a 2,000-plus page, $1.4 trillion spending package in less than 24 hours after the bill was introduced. This was pre-coronavirus and at the height of a strong economy. Now he’s signing off on every stimulus package he can find, no questions asked. Colorado GOP Chairman and Colorado Representative Ken Buck continues to caution that we can’t sit idly by while America goes bankrupt. I agree.
If you want a truly conservative representative who will fight to send President Trump better bills, then I’m your candidate in the upcoming Republican June Primary for the U.S. House of Representatives.
Lauren Boebert
Silt
Oath vs. vow
Does anyone else out there get sick and tired of the election year lies of incumbent politicians by both major parties in the far-off, distant land of Washington, D.C.?
For the past four decades I’ve compared what they say to how they voted constitutionally; you know, the Constitution they swore an oath to “serve and defend against enemies foreign and domestic.”
The historical, objective votes do not lie, as can be found at https://www.thenewamerican.com/freedom-index. When you enter “Scott Tipton,” you’ll find that his constitutional votes have steadily declined over the past nine years in office starting in 2011: 80%, 68%, 56%, 57%, 66% (2019).
The really cool thing about the website is that you will learn why the votes are right or wrong for our once strong nation.
When I took the Army’s oath to serve the Constitution, they didn’t give me an option to defend less than 100%, nor my son who is serving now.
How serious should the oath to the Constitution be taken before the USA is on its deathbed like Greece and Venezuela?
I certainly hope that all of the politicians listed on the website respect their wedding vows better than their wayward votes against the Constitution. Check it out; a huge percentage of the politicians are 20% or less, meaning they spend more time with their mistress (Marxism), than they do with their spouse (Constitution).
We already have U.S. constitutional term limits every election depending on the office; two, four, or six years before they have to face the electors again. The challenge is that we need more educated, freedom loving voters to elect constitutionally obedient candidates.
Tipton’s time has come to step down and allow Lauren Boebert the chance to turn our republic around constitutionally by making the states strong again. She deserves the chance to represent Colorado in the U.S. House, and if she can’t hit the 100% mark constitutionally, then you get to decide in two years if her term is up.
Vote for Lauren Boebert when the ballots are mailed in early June.
Jerry Law
US Army, retired
Glenwood Springs
Obamagate should be dropped
Our president has announced a new miscarriage of justice he is calling “Obamagate”; apparently one of the worst crimes ever. The story is that Obama wanted to sabotage Trump’s election and say that Russia had interfered. Consequently, the attorney general has applied to the court to drop charges on onetime National Security Advisor General Flynn. Flynn pleaded guilty on two charges of lying to the FBI about his dealings with Russia and is awaiting charges. The attorney general wants to investigate the investigators that investigated Flynn.
At the same time, the president is at the Supreme Court making a case that the president of the U.S. has total power and can not be investigated over things like payments to mistresses out of campaign funds or cheating on his taxes.
However, as was pointed out today, if the president can’t be investigated, then that applies as well to Obama. Obama could not have done anything wrong, and Obamagate should be dropped. Oops!
Are we having fun yet? And I guess that nasty old coronavirus didn’t go away like President Trump said it would back in February.
Patrick Hunter
Carbondale