I call Earth Day, “Red Day!” Quoting Denis Hayes, the principle founder of Earth Day, “We must place a firm cap with no loopholes on the amount of carbon fuels we consume each year and ratchet that cap down at a prescribed rate every year in the future until we hit something very close to zero. Only a federal law can accomplish this goal.”Quoting the dear leader in January 2008 to the San Francisco Chronicle, “Under my plan, ah, of a cap & trade system. Electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Even if … regardless what I say about whether coal is good or bad, because I’m capping green house gasses.” “…That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.”As I see it, the goal is to starve us of energy, by driving the cost to the point we can’t afford it anymore. If people and businesses do not have access to low cost energy sources, then staying in business will be more difficult. This in turn will continue to kill the economy. When the Government controls energy, they control us!I have no ill will to those that are trying to find ways to perk up business in a horrible economy! I am a business owner myself. I have a problem when, in this case, the green movement is used as a vehicle to push business sales & activity. Nearly everything involving the green movement is at the core, anti-business, anti-profit. The green movement is often against the products businesses sell and is always against the energy required to provide those products. So most business owners who embrace the green movement are in reality embracing something that is opposed to their very existence on nearly every level.The Government can spend trillions of dollars, on the blatant takeover of the American economy. They have effectively killed off NASA. The Government is attacking all traditional sources of energy, yet so far there has been zero attempt by this Government to come up with a viable and affordable plan to produce “Green” energy. The goal is control, not green!Lee PerkinsNew Castle

Flying to Puerto Rico, across the Eastern U.S. to Washington DC, really made me appreciate the importance of the Hidden Gems campaign in securing a few remaining roadless areas as wilderness.It is evident from the air that our nation is completely cross hatched with roads. Every bit of land is plowed, paved, built up or grazed down. Only a few portions are left for indigenous habitat and that is only because it was fearlessly planned for and fiercely protected.Touring Puerto Rico, I came to hugely appreciate nationalized forests and ocean beaches. Between the cities and industrial areas are pockets of protected, unspoiled land and shore with clean air, clear water and vibrant life. Soon these were the places we sought out and these are my richest, most cherished memories of Puerto Rico.It is wise of us to take this opportunity to add to the inventory of unspoiled places even as the roadless rule is being litigated in Denver. I applaud the courage and perseverance of people willing to brave our “extract and develop” mindset in pursuit of wilderness protection.Honor your Mother, Honor Earth Day.John HoffmannCarbondale

I am Emily Adams, a 5th grader at Basalt Middle School.I would like to share with you my vision for Earth Day in a slide show presentation that I have made.All images within the show were created by myself since I was eight years old. Some of my friends have been kind enough to share a few quotes in the presentation.Here is the website link to view my show and I would appreciate your comments: http://www.visualizeaplace.com. In addition to my show, you will also see images and words created by the Roaring Fork Valley Home School kids about their observations of our environment.Please feel welcome to forward my show to others, so we all can work together to create a healthy planet!Enjoy!Emily Adams

Why did four people from the district attorney’s office and the sheriff’s office have to go to London for the Bebb-Jones extradition case? It’s a good thing they got stranded by the volcano or we wouldn’t have found out about this apparent waste of our tax dollars. Was this trip really necessary? Why couldn’t they have done their interviews, etc. online or through video conferencing? I guess we’re paying for their extended stay as well. I’ve flown to London myself, and I know that tickets aren’t cheap. It’s good to know that they’re “working feverishly” to try to get back, “sure they are”. It’s also a comfort to know that the district attorney’s office is functioning just fine without them thanks to the Post’s in-depth reporting. I’d like to see an article in this paper explaining if and why this trip was necessary, and how much it cost the taxpayers of this county. In today’s economy, this kind of apparently frivolous free for all of spending needs an explanation. Fly for free, free hotel, free meals, expense account, company credit card, all paid for by us taxpayers. Someone needs to be held accountable for this kind of behavior. These people aren’t royalty. Where’s the outrage?Stephen DavisGlenwood Springs

After reading your letter, I was overwhelmed by your knowledge or lack thereof of our political landscape. I like to consider myself a centrist and do my best to see both sides of out political process. I was struck by a few of the comments that you made. Regarding the Democrats blindly watching the sweetened news from MSNBC, CBS and ABC … Do you honestly believe that Fox News has cornered the market on truthful, honest reporting? I have not seen Fox News take a truly fair and balanced approach since the beginning of this last election cycle and they seem to get worse every time I watch them. I am not saying that the left-leaning networks are right or wrong, but please do not think that democrats are blind, deaf and dumb when it comes to the political process and only get the facts by watching the talking heads of media networks. I respect people who have different opinions and consider that to be one of the best things about this country. In reading your article, I get the impression that most of your letter was a repeat of the talking points of the conservative media and not your own thoughts on what ails this country. I agree that our country is in desperate need of new faces in our government, neither left or right, but just intelligent people who can think farther out than the next election cycle. I will be doing my best to vote out both the Democrats and Republicans who I believe are more interested in their jobs than our future. Please try to see what the grass looks like on the other side, you may not find it greener, but as long as you can see the other side it’s a start. I would love to hear more from people that are not spouting out insults and understand that our problems are on both sides of the aisle and will not be fixed until we realize it. If they are not working for you vote them out … Republican and Democrat.Douglas BrownGlenwood Springs