Commentary
Preserve Camp Hale and other public lands for future generations
During a recent visit to the National Museum of the United States Army at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, I learned that by the end of World War II in 1945 the U.S. had 89 Army divisions deployed overseas, including 68 in Europe: 47 infantry, 16 armored, four airborne and one mountain — the 10th Mountain Division. […]
Smokescreens mask Front Range air quality problem — and solutions
Western wildfires billowed out another discouraging summer of visibly poor air for Denver and the Front Range. While the pollutants in this smoke are unhealthy on their own, they quite literally provided a smokescreen to our most enduring local air quality issue: harmful levels of ground-level ozone. We typically consider June through mid-September the height […]
These public servants think the public should stay out of their business
Colorado state agencies have a well-earned reputation for anti-transparent behavior. Throughout state government records are regularly destroyed, and the pandemic has exposed persistent disdain for transparency in the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. But an agency within the health department — the Air Pollution Control Division — has refined antipathy to open government to […]
How our laws block people from turning their lives around
What should the penalty be for someone convicted of a minor, nonviolent drug offense? Many on the left would say none at all, while some on the right would demand jail time or state-mandated rehab. Whatever their politics, nearly all Coloradans would agree that something as severe as a lifetime of penalties, with possible unemployment […]
Texas is the rule, not the exception: The constitutional right to abortion is under attack
Right now, the constitutional right to abortion care may as well not exist in Texas, the second-largest state in the nation. Texas passed the most restrictive abortion ban in the nation, effectively deputizing anti-abortion vigilantes to enforce it. It took effect Sept. 1. Both the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court […]
CU trades an insurrection speaker for a Steve Bannon apologist
What will it take for the University of Colorado to learn its lesson? The position of visiting scholar in conservative thought and policy at CU Boulder was never a good idea in conception, and it has proved humiliating in practice. It launched in 2013 for the express purpose of injecting right-wing teaching into course offerings. […]
Breaking down the debate over booster shots
For days, news outlets have lit up with the growing controversy over booster shots. The question: “Do Americans need booster shots, and, if so, when?” On the one hand, President Joe Biden announced his administration would aim to secure booster shots by the end of September. However, these plans were announced prior to a completed […]
Boulder agrees on the problems. Scholars agree on a simple solution.
Nearly everyone in Boulder agrees: Our open space is amazing but not if we can’t go outside because of the air quality; the University of Colorado has done a terrible job providing enough affordable student and faculty housing; the city, too, has a dearth of affordable housing and housing prices are out of control; we […]
Anger is the only reasonable response to COVID obstructionists
We were willing to debate the efficacy of masks. We agreed there should be balance between lockdown measures and economic interests. We patiently accumulated evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. We kept our cool through every quack remedy and grifter treatment. We offered guidance to the confused and correctives to the misinformed. We […]
5 facts anti-abortion activists get wrong
Want to reduce abortions? Great — but doing so doesn’t require unconstitutional abortion bans. Conversations on female reproductive biology have long been muted. The duct tape is often applied by religious and conservative sects that historically view even the most basic utterances of sexual education as lewd. The result? A fundamental lack of understanding of […]
Put the cost of oil and gas clean-up back where it belongs
If there’s one thing most Coloradans can agree on, it’s that our communities and public lands need to be protected. Laws and regulations are there to make that happen, but there are instances where the federal government could be doing more. One example: The federal oil and gas program has been failing Coloradans, undermining our […]
The whole system was indicted with charges in McClain case
Finally, the beginning of some justice for Elijah McClain. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser on Wednesday announced felony grand jury indictments against three Aurora police officers and two paramedics involved in McClain’s death. It was a relief, in a case so marred by abuse of power and betrayal of the public trust, to see public […]