Alternate energy: a new industrial revolution
Re: “Windy West gains support,” Jan. 22 Writers on the Range column.
I want to commend Auden Schendler on his column, with one exception: his statement that “wind is also inextricably linked to its opposite: fossil-fuel generated electricity, which is required to cover a windmill’s downtime.” While he is correct in stating that wind isn’t the be-all solution to our energy needs, his conclusion that polluting fossil-fuel plants are required to make up the difference is not only defeatist, but wrong. Combined with energy-efficiency measures, wind farms, solar farms and other clean energy sources can supply all the electricity our society needs.
But to get there, we must detach ourselves from archaic ways of thinking. We don’t have to blindly continue building more coal-fired power plants. We can choose instead to open our eyes to the devastation being wrought by global warming and commit ourselves to launching a new industrial revolution.
Fossil fuels represent the past. Today’s challenges require 21st century solutions. The severity of the global warming crisis will not allow for incremental steps. Only a full-scale response will do. Let us devote that unique American ingenuity and can-do spirit to creating a clean energy paradigm today. Tomorrow may be too late.
Tom Weis, Boulder
Military’s don’t ask/don’t tell policy
Re: “A smaller set of rights in the service,” Jan. 31 David Harsanyi column.
Thanks to David Harsanyi for an insightful and thought-provoking article on the limited rights of gay and lesbian Americans, especially those who desire to serve their country by joining the military. No other segment of our society is asked to serve in silence and celibacy if they choose to offer up their lives to their country. Who would have thought that in the 21st century, the U.S. would lag behind the rest of the civilized world in respecting individual rights across the broad spectrum of sexual expression?
Given the example and the record of openly gay servicemembers from other countries who fight beside our troops in Iraq, can we finally see that the U.S. military’s main counter-argument involving “unit cohesion” is just an excuse to continue the prejudice and bigotry which gays and lesbians have always faced in this country?
Dean Wilkins, Dillon
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Mara Boyd surely knew at the time of her memo to her superiors – in which she revealed her sexual orientation – that it would lead to her dismissal. I question her suitability as an Air Force officer, as she is unable to subordinate her sexual preference to the military mission. An officer must follow rules and regulations and execute orders even when they conflict with personally held beliefs. She should know that there are many homosexual men and women serving in branches of the military who do not and will not flaunt their sexuality; rather, they put duty, honor and country first.
It’s too bad this young woman sacrificed her education in order to make a statement, but in the long run it may be for the best, as her interpretation of integrity and honesty seems immature and inconsistent with a military vocation.
I wish Ms. Boyd well in whatever career she may choose. I would only advise that in the best interests of all she strive to separate her personal and professional life.
Thomas, A. Bergel, Lakewood
Proposed smoking ban for Colorado
Re: “Smoking-ban fight rekindled,” Jan. 31 news story.
It was disappointing to learn that the state Health and Human Services Committee believes the rights of casino workers to breathe clean air is not as important as the rights of all other workers in Colorado.
As a casino patron, I can attest to the fact that the secondhand smoke in our gaming towns is intolerable. Smokers are in the minority, yet they contaminate the air for everyone. Employees are afraid to speak up for fear of losing their jobs. No one is asking smokers to give up their cigarettes, only to allow non-smokers their right to breathe clean air.
You can’t light up while watching a Broncos, Avs or Nuggets game, yet people still go to the games. You can’t light up on an airplane, but people still fly. If smokers are unable to light up while gambling, they will still gamble. That is what they go to the casinos for, to gamble.
Every credible study shows secondhand smoke causes cancer, respiratory diseases and even death. It is time to provide our citizens with the ability to work and enjoy entertainment without risking their lives.
Stephanie Lane, Denver
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I would like to recommend that while our state looks to ban smoking as a legal activity for adults, it should also ban the sale of tobacco products within our state borders. It seems to me that Colorado should not profit from the taxes on the sale of products that our state legislators, in their infinite wisdom, have determined should be outlawed.
Gee, I wonder where all those tax dollars (which we smokers pour into the state with every tobacco product purchased) would come from next? Higher taxes on ice cream?
Carol Kerstner, Thornton
Hunting licensing
Re: “Legislators target landowner voucher abuse,” Feb. 1 Charlie Meyers column.
Sportsmen across the state owe a debt of gratitude to The Post’s outdoors columnist, Charlie Meyers. Not only does he keep the fun stories in front of us, he also sheds light in places we’re not so eager to look.
The latest chapter in the ongoing landowner license saga demonstrates how his vigilance has paid off. Average big-game hunters who cherish hunting in Colorado are more than frustrated and ashamed to see our Division of Wildlife sell the best areas to the highest bidder, and Meyers has helped make us all aware of the problem.
Let’s hope that state Rep. John Soper’s proposed legislation to change the landowner license system takes off and redirects our great hunting heritage in this state for future generations.
Marc Oliver, Fort Collins
Stock quotes online only
Your decision to eliminate the stock listings from the Denver Post business section is a huge disappointment.
Two years ago, the stock listings included 52-week high and low, dividend, yield, PE ratio, sales and the daily high, low and closing price. Then you went to a condensed version and I wrote that the “new” listing format didn’t contain nearly as many details. Now you have gone from bad to worse by totally doing away with stock listings.
You’ve really let down the people who relied on you for their financial news. The Internet has its place but it can’t replace the printed news at our breakfast table.
I hope you will reinstate the stock listings and give us the news we want and need. Otherwise The Denver Post is failing its mission and becoming less relevant as a source of useful information.
Donald E. Van Lew, Thornton
Colorado Voices
If you have good ideas and a writer’s touch, we hope you’ll apply for Colorado Voices. It is a den for part-time columnists, a feature we created in 1999 as a forum for contributors from across the state.
Send us two sample columns, 600 to 700 words each, along with a cover letter describing your background, your interest in Voices and whatever else you think we need to know. (Check out some previously published Voices at www.denverpost.com/opinion.)
Deadline for entries is 5 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 20. E-mail them to us at voices@denverpost.com (no attachments, please), or by U.S. mail to Mary Idler, Denver Post Editorial Page, 1560 Broadway, Denver CO 80202. Provide your address, phone numbers and e-mail address.
Typically, our Voices write every other week for three months. Once published, you’ll get a modest honorarium, impressive clips and bragging rights.
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