Climate change predictions are dire; we must act now
The worldās scientists are warning that an asteroid is on track to hit Earth in 20 years, threatening to cause damage worldwide, unless we take action right away to deflect it.
What do you think — should we maybe do something?
Actually it¶¶Ņõap not an asteroid, it¶¶Ņõap climate change. But the warning that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued on Monday is just as dire.
It is scientifically very likely that we, and certainly our children, will face a really dismal future if we donāt act now. This is not āscienceā in Dr. Evil air quotes, it¶¶Ņõap actual physics, like what we rely on for modern civilization.
We have the technology — that¶¶Ņõap not the problem. The problem is that the shift to solar and wind power isnāt happening fast enough. We need to put a price on carbon to squeeze fossil fuels out of the economy, while making clean energy cheaper.
Please tell your members of Congress to support a national carbon tax. If this is the first youāre hearing of it, you might think it sounds politically impossible, but it¶¶Ņõap a policy that can actually win bipartisan support because it¶¶Ņõap market-based. Conservative and liberal economists alike recommend it. The policy is called Carbon Fee and Dividend, look it up.
Climate change is as serious as an asteroid. A carbon tax is the nuke that will deflect it. Let¶¶Ņõap do this.
Dave Reed, Carbondale
It was encouraging to see a piece on how unions and advocates for climate change legislation can cooperate to address what is perhaps our biggest threat. Monday, the United Nations Report on Climate Change came out, giving us 12 years to solve the climate change problem and avert global disaster. It¶¶Ņõap a complex, global issue. It will take all of us approaching the crisis from a multitude of angles to solve it.
Steve Rasnic Tem, Centennial
Editorās note: Steve Rasnic Tem is an award-winning novelist and short story author
Hospital spending spree wouldnāt happen in Canada
Re: āHealth care can hurt,ā Oct. 7 news story
Denver Post reporter Christopher Osher highlights the links between Coloradoās hospital building spree and empty beds and unaffordable prices.
It doesnāt have to be this way. Canada funds hospitals with annual operating budgets, much as we fund fire departments.
Hospitals donāt have to bill individual patients for every aspirin and Band-Aid, so administrative costs are dramatically lower.
And they are not allowed to spend their budget surplus on capital improvements, which are funded by separate grants (like certificates of need, but with funding included).
Canadaās insurance system is universal (all residents are covered), comprehensive (first-dollar coverage for hospital, diagnostic and physician services), accessible (without user fees for most services), portable (across the entire country) and publicly administered.
And they do all this for half of what we spend. America can do better. It is time for expanded and improved Medicare for All.
Richard Bieser, MD, Denver
BLM and Zinke should collaborate with Park County hunters
Fall is a busy time for sportsmen like me, as hunters pursue big game.
Hunting and fishing generate nearly $3 billion in Colorado.
For several years, Park County, water providers, state agencies, landowners, sportsmen and other stakeholders worked with the Bureau of Land Management in Colorado on a plan for managing future oil and gas development responsibly in South Park.
Our community wants to ensure future development will not endanger South Parkās big game herds and Gold Medal waters.
The draft plan is expected soon. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke has ordered BLM to make energy development a large use of our public lands.
What about collaboration during this lengthy planning process between BLM, Park County, sportsmen, and others who live, work, and recreate in South Park?
Jerry Mallett, Salida
Scooters are a menace to sidewalks
Dear Denver leadership team,
Who thought it was a good idea to put mechanized scooters on the sidewalks with pedestrians in downtown Denver?
Us walkers are being run over and bullied by these scooters , and I want to know what the reasoning was to let this be approved was?
The scooters are running 20 mph and zooming around folks and it makes for a unsafe situation for folks walking downtown Denver.
But what I would really like to ask is who is liable in a case of an accident? The city? The scooter company? Or the rider who appears to not care ?
The only upside I can see, is the scooters have forced the bicycle riders back into the bike lanes which they didnāt use and off the sidewalks, but from a safety view point, I would take the bikes back over the scooters anyway.
How about giving the sidewalks back to the pedestrians?
John Jacks, Denver
Responses to The Post¶¶Ņõap endorsement of Polis
Re: āPolisā vision is worthy of your vote,ā Oct. 7 editorial
I find it interesting that the Denver Post has chosen to endorse Jared Polis for governor.
I did not know that fiscal responsibility was a disqualifying trait in a politician.
I will ask the same question, how does Jared Polis pay for all of these wonderful ideas?
The ticket adds up to well over $30 billion in new spending. Universal health insurance has been estimated to cost nationwide $32 trillion over 10 years. That means a $30 billion cost just here in Colorado.
This prediction came from the Congressional Budget Office, the same folks who thought the Affordable Care Act would lower costs. How did that work out? The reality is this one proposal will double the stateās budget. This does not include the free pre-school and other free program proposals.
How do you pay for this? Raise taxes? Do you really think Coloradans will vote for a $10,000 or more per-person tax increase?
This is the reality. It would be great if the government of Colorado could just snap its fingers and magically all of this free stuff would appear. Not going to happen. The reality is this will cripple the Colorado budget and destroy the economy of Colorado.
Here is the choice in the election, the reality of fiscal responsibility versus the pipe dream of free stuff. Hereās hoping the adult population of Colorado makes the educated choice.
Kevin McCarney, Clifton
Jared Polis was raising funds for education before he was even in politics!
Polis has fought hard to keep quality health care for all americans. He will protect Coloradoās natural resources.
The carbon tax, he supported, was one both parties supported to tax area of high carbon presence and encourage people to not use fossil fuels.
I canāt believe all the slander and lies in Colorado politics.
Better Colorado Now, and Protect Coloradoās Environment, Economy, and Energy Independence, and Colorado Petroleum Council are putting out accusatory ads about Polis.
These ācommitteesā are funded by oil companies who know Polis will fight to protect citizens (vote āyesā on Proposition 112) from an industry that does not care about Colorado citizens (see fatal fire explosion in Firestone and dozens of explosions and fires in the eight months since), and by rich people who want their tax cuts and a government that does not take care of the real people.
Jeff Osborn, Broomfield
Editorās note: Jared Polis has come out against Proposition 112.
I love The Denver Post (have been a full subscriber since 1986) but sometimes find myself at a loss to follow your endorsement logic:
On Oct. 7 you endorsed Polis for our next governor yet not much of his program is well defined:
ā¢ He knows the value of education and the need for āadequateā resources and is willing to āscrapeā together funding — does not sound like a viable plan;
ā¢ He plans to āexploreā private investment in our public-school system — has he actually talked with potential investors and have some level of agreement to invest;
ā¢ He shows āa willingness to problem solveā — āwillingnessā does not equal solid planning;
ā¢ Would ālikeā to have all renewable energy by 2040 — what are his āplannedā sources for this energy; does his plan have funding for retraining all the Colorado folks that depend on fossil fuel work for their livelihood?
And, finally, while I personally do not believe that government provided āuniversalā health care is a āhuman right,ā his ads are very misleading on the availability of this ārightā and who pays for it — there is no such thing as true āfree health careā and he should say that very clearly. It has not worked in England, Canada, or other places that it has been tried.
I have not decided on my vote for governor, but your endorsement of Polis did little to clear the air.
Ron Cole, Castle Pines
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