Protecting our state’s snowpack and the world’s environment
Re: “Warming leading to shrinking snowpack,” Jan. 11 news story
In the last week we have learned that 2023 was the hottest year in the last 100,000 years and that our snowpack is shrinking. This is causing increased drought, heat waves and forest fires.
As citizens, there are steps that we can take both personally and policy-wise. Locally we can support new legislation that will increase density near transit. We can advocate for street designs that allow pedestrians and cyclists safe access to our streets. This will reduce vehicle miles traveled and clean our air. We can switch to heat pumps when our existing water heaters and furnaces are nearing the end of their useful lives. We did and they work well.
Nationally, we can support Sen. John Hickenlooper’s , which will make renewable energy more accessible and cheaper. Any of these actions would be helpful. In combination we can create a safer, more livable environment.
Bob Walker, Denver
Over 30 years ago, I taught my then 2-and-a-half-year-old son how to ski on the slopes of Eldora. He soon left me in the dust, so to speak, as he came to enjoy the sport as much as I have since learning to ski in New Hampshire.
As I read about the latest study on how climate pollution is responsible for shrinking snowpacks worldwide, I wondered whether my son’s 9-month-old daughter will ever be able to experience the joy of skiing in our beautiful Colorado mountains. I’m also wondering about the impacts of the shrinking snowpacks on our $4.8 billion Colorado ski industry that employs over 46,000 people.
In Colorado we’re fortunate to have lots of sun and wind that already provide affordable safe and clean energy to many. We just need to go faster so that everyone in Colorado can benefit from cheaper, safer energy and less polluted air — and hopefully, skiing in Colorado’s mountains for years to come. When it comes to climate action, later is too late.
Susan Secord, Boulder
We are human above everything else
Growing up in California in the 1950s and ‘60s, I don’t remember my parents ever specifically telling me about “identity.” But I did know, in my soul, that I had one primary identity: human. I realized very early that every other aspect of who I was — female, very secular Jew, white, upper middle class, educated — were all way down my identity scale.
It was an unspoken value in my home: See people as people first; all the rest are layers that add interest and texture but should never be seen to detract from the humanity of each individual.
As I read so much in today’s news about conflicts around the world, here at home in Congress or our own state legislature, I hope, probably naively, that all of us can take a collective deep breath and remember our shared primary identity: human.
Lois Court, Denver
Editor’s note: Court is a former state senator from District 31.
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