Lime-green monsters on wheels
Re: “Dockless scooters on way back to Denver,” July 26 news story
Along with these companies apparent disregard of a recent city removal order, they are disregarding pedestrians too.
As I was standing on a street corner at Colfax and Broadway, I was almost hit by one of these lime-green-mini monsters. As far as I could tell, the operator of this obnoxious little vehicle did not even bat an eye.
Looking for a rational reason for these so-called dockless scooters, I read that the release of these lime green scooters on the streets of our city is supposed to cut down on the number of cars on streets. Not!
In downtown Denver, you can take a bus, ride on the light rail, jump on the mall shuttle, or rent a bike. Oh yeah, and you can choose to walk. Walking has long been the choice of individuals to be healthy and to remain healthy.
I predict that the lime-green scooter is a fad.
Signed, a faithful pedestrian who has lived and worked in this city for over 40 years.
Christina Panczyk, Denver
Rocky Flats could be dangerous
Re: “A visit to Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge carries little risk … ,” July 20 commentary
Krista Kafer’s opinion piece on Rocky Flats is just that: “opinion.” She is neither a chemist, geochemist, hydrologist, atmospheric scientist, or an expert on radioactivity. Like many, she doesn’t understand the argument of the lethality of plutonium particulates. She falls into the pablum of “background radioactivity,” which is not the argument of the many qualified scientists who have studied the site extensively and objectively, and who understand the dangers of the lethal toxins remaining “in our collective back yard.”
A study is only as good as the questions to be answered by it. Most don’t understand that questions answered in the past (like, how “clean” are the top 6 inches of soil upon remediation) have nothing to do with many of the questions being asked now: How will burrowing animals affect the deeper soil profiles, bringing lethal particulates to the surface? How will the vicious windstorms that regularly blast this land distribute those particulates, landing in lungs, in gardens to be uptaken in one’s food, and more? How will flood events, such as recorded in 2013, transport these “nasties” off the site, to nearby neighborhoods? There is much we still don’t know about the site — operations and accidents were largely kept in secret. We don’t yet know what we don’t know!
R.L. Rittmaster, Superior
U.S. needs to act on Rx prices
Re: “Patients look outside U.S. for meds,” Aug. 2 news story
The article by Sarah Gantz in the Features section of the Thursday paper told yet again of people needing to get expensive prescriptions outside of the U.S. Many of the people interviewed had insurance and even so, the cost to them for their prescriptions was up to three times higher here than in Canada, Mexico and even in Holland. When is our government going to do what other countries have done and negotiate prices with big pharma? Americans cannot afford their medications. Congress needs to do something and soon.
Joy Urbach, Denver
Fuel standards are critical
Re: “Administration: Driving would be riskier with tough fuel standards,” Aug. 1 news story
Relaxing fuel standards is a horrible idea for the planet. What is Congress thinking? California is on fire, our polar ice caps are melting, and we are eliminating fuel efficiency standards that are within our human control — to further contribute greenhouse gases to the planet? Isn’t Congress thinking about future generations, or biodiversity, or the kind of planet we are leaving our children?
If we don’t regulate the automobile industry and encourage fuel efficiency with the consumer, we squander our ability to make things better. The science community denounces this decision because evidence is overwhelmingly pointing to humans contributing to climate change. I struggle to understand why our country continues to empower the oil and gas industry. Such heartless greed.
Kristin Kerr Gannon, Louisville
