Commissioners continue their fossil fuels delusion

The Garfield County commissioners press on with their march down the primrose path of reliance on fossil fuels revenues to finance county services. They gladhanded, commiserated with, and plotted against the environment with Jacey Albough, assistant to Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), at the Aug. 18 commissioners meeting.

Lee is the environmental rapist who wanted a provision to sell 3 million acres of public lands included in the GOP reconciliation bill. To their credit, the Garco commissioners, along with legions of environmentalists and outdoor enthusiasts, opposed that devious plan and got it removed from the mega-bill.

The deal was purportedly for opening up lands for affordable housing, but that was just a distraction for its real purpose — developing oil and gas operations for a product we don’t need and is to the detriment of our climate. Last year, this country produced more oil than any country in history and led the world in liquified methane gas exports.

Yes, energy demand is rising sharply with data centers and AI requirements and costs are going through the roof. It’s time to get focused on the cheapest power sources — wind, solar and batteries.

In a disinformation campaign similar to the one initiated in the 1990s when the detrimental effects of greenhouse gases were becoming common knowledge, the fossil fuel industry and their adherents are telling us renewables are responsible for the high prices. The Energy Information Administration reports coal and methane gas are vastly more expensive than wind and solar.

The most disappointing advocate of oil and gas is Commissioner Perry Will. With his background at the Division of Wildlife, you’d figure he’d have an environmental streak in him. Yet Will voted along with the other commissioners to approve almost 40 wells to be drilled by TEP Energy five miles northwest of Rifle near the base of the Roan Plateau.

There are two kinds of people in the West, those who believe our beautiful lands are to be cherished and protected and those who want to exploit them for profit. I thought Perry Will was one of the former, but it turns out he’s the latter.

Fred Malo Jr., Carbondale

Why complain? Why point out the hypocrisy?

Why complain? Why point out the hypocrisy? Why march? Why, why, why? When was it permissible to give three commissioners the power to decide on multimillion-dollar projects that have the potential to add additional methane to the air that we breathe, watch in horror as they insult the last administration for the regulations that were put in place to protect the citizens against toxic chemicals and covet our public lands for increased roads into them to drill and pillage for profits over people.

Then they applaud the drilling into our mountains for coal which is without scientific merit, ignore Holy Cross’s solar projects, and yet they win the votes of the people because it’s good for the economy of the region — it is comical.

I went to the commission meeting two weeks ago, it was pretty empty except for the few there to plead for a couple of thousand dollars to help with food banks and public radio. My request for 600 signatures asking for a town hall was accepted by Mr. Samson, passed to Rep. Hurd and as far as I can tell dumped into the circular file.

If the public can’t show up online or in person to petition our government I can’t imagine who will care when they shut down the voting in 2026.

Steven Kuschner, Glenwood Springs

Open letter to Rep. Jeff Hurd CO-3

The destruction of the Republican Party as a democracy-supporting party has ended. The movement which was begun by millionaire businessmen who supported Reagan and continued by Gingrich has reached its conclusion with the current administration.

These businesses chafed at environmental and health rules and regulations they deemed “unfair.” These rules for simple things like clean air and water and health and safety regs. I worked at a company for 29+ years and we had a handbook containing policies and procedures which filled 47 pages. Probably 75–80% of the topics in that handbook were instituted because someone had tried to beat the system to the detriment of everyone else who worked there.

If big corporations didn’t try to get over on the system or would have shown consideration for anything other than max profits, many of the regulations would not be necessary. Many of those regulations were put in place at the end of the 1800s into the early 1900s to curtail the abuses of workers and the general public by the robber barons. More were added during the Great Depression and still more in the 1960s and 70s as science caught up with the effects of industrialization.

The gutting of environmental, consumer protection and education agencies and funding will have serious and long-lasting consequences. Placing federal troops in cities to perform police work is a violation of everything this country holds dear and is looking like the prelude to a coup to keep Republicans in power. Taking a major stake in a private company after threatening the CEO is nothing short of Soviet-style tactics.

Please read some history and see where this headed. Will you stand up as a democratic patriot or an authoritarian stooge? By the way, I don’t see prices going down.

John Filippone, Carbondale