Your Letters

Drill here, drill now

On Aug. 22, we lost power for 45 minutes; a week later we lost power for more than three hours. These events made me ever more mindful of how much we depend on energy, how disruptive it is to be without it for even a short time, and imagining what it would be like to live without it altogether.

We rely on energy to heat and cool our homes; cook our food; run all of our household appliances, TVs and computers; provide power for lighting, factories, vehicles, ships and planes, to name just a few. Energy is basic to our very existence.

Politicians have been proclaiming the need to reduce our dependency on foreign oil for more than 40 years, but our dependency on foreign oil has continued to increase. We have vast supplies of natural resources in our country. We have the best technology in the world to extract it cleanly, safely and with the most ecologically friendly methods. Yet, incredibly (seeming too unusual or improbable to be possible), many politicians and “environmental” groups are committed and determined to shutting down all domestic efforts to develop our own natural resources of coal, oil, natural gas or hydro-electric or to build nuclear energy facilities. And the President Obama is advocating the misguided notion of Cap and Trade legislation to tax carbon emissions at such exorbitant rates that, as he has said: “would put the coal companies out of business and, of necessity, cause the energy rates of every American to skyrocket.” All this while sending billions of our tax dollars to Brazil so they can drill for oil. This is insane.

It is time to make it known that we will no longer sit idly by while our politicians and radical activists systematically dismantle our Constitution and our way of life. It is time to stand up and make our voices heard with clarity and resolve.

We need to drill here, drill now; mine here, mine now; expand our hydro-electric power and do it now; build more nuclear power plants and do it now.

Leon Garot

Glenwood Springs

What's hidden is not a gem, it's a lump of coal

As I pondered the deceptively beautiful Hidden Gems ad in a recent edition of the paper this morning, it occurred to me why the name of the the campaign seems so fitting: There's something hidden alright, but it's not gems, it's an agenda. And this agenda isn't a gem — it's a lump of coal. It's elitist and selfish at its core.

It says, “I don't like you, your ATVs, your snowmobiles, or your general way of life. I perceive you as a threat and I want to eliminate you completely from the public lands we are supposed to share.”

I understand the concerns of nonmotorized users. I am a nonmotorized and motorized user myself. I don't want to be run off the road when I'm hiking or snowshoeing. So as a motorized user, I slow down and take it easy around others, I stay on trails where I'm required, and stay off sensitive ground. I think most responsible users do the same. If they don't, maybe we need more education and enforcement instead of wilderness (an extreme designation).

As for the other pretextual concerns voiced by wilderness advocates, they just don't stand up to common sense. Wildlife obviously adapts to humans — witness the abundance of wildlife in our valleys. Degradation of land is an issue that can be addressed by education and enforcement (stiffer penalties for going off the trail) rather than shutting everyone out.

We share these lands — all of our tax dollars go to maintain them, and we should all be able to enjoy them. Let's work together to protect and enjoy the lands we love instead of hoarding them for a privileged few.

Respectfully,

Dendy Heisel

Glenwood Springs