Time to transition
from Xcel
Today policy is at a crossroads; a decision must be made whether to adhere to decaying remnants of our past or to forge ahead. The Boulder City Council made a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: to have 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030. It’s unclear how we can do this without the establishment of a local utility due to Xcel’s energy source only being 22 percent renewable.
Xcel has refused to compromise and the reason is clear: Xcel is not accountable to the people of Boulder, but accountable to shareholders alone. The millions of dollars that Xcel siphons out of Boulder every year alone warrants a transition.
The move toward cleaner power is not just practical, but moral. Boulder has the opportunity to take a moral stand on an issue as crucial as climate change. Boulder’s fight for local power is unique and it is one of the only opportunities available to make headway on climate change.
Future generations won’t thank us for hesitating. Boulder has twice voted for municipalization, yet Xcel interferes without regard for democracy. Colorado isn’t the state of coal and smog, but one of mountain vistas and crystalline lakes. A locally controlled utility is our best tool in ensuring this remains true for future generations.
Jai Rajagopal/Boulder
Bothered by Danish
Paul Danish’s piece condemning the water protectors of Standing Rock for the needed clean up after their forced removal bothered me [Re: “The Cannonball River Slobs,” Danish Plan, March 2]. I wondered how to respond. The response came on a long walk home.
On the night of March 7, I found myself in a state of anger. The repair shop neglected to have my car available for me to pick up after hours and I had missed the last bus home by two minutes. Missing my scheduled Local Food Revolution webinar, I began the five mile walk home along Hwy 36 in a huff. Slowly, I remembered my Steps to Knowledge practice for the day.
It called for me to be grateful for those who have erred against me. Joy slowly began to fill my experience as I viewed the stars, sang and appreciated how it felt to walk myself home. I wondered if anyone might stop and offer me a ride.
Sure enough, half a mile from home, a woman had turned around to offer me a “safe ride” home. With grace I thanked her. Her extension of help triggered the deeper reason why I wanted to respond to Paul.
Most of us are blindly diving into a new human-created reality of decline, confusion, chaos and great suffering. This new reality has various names but a common denominator; that we will be required to care for others and our planet in ways perhaps never imagined just to survive. As an individual, it is better to face this now and prepare than to wait until it is too late. As a world community, the suffering can still be lessened to some degree if we can make the necessary decision to leave the remaining fossil fuels in the ground.
Many at Standing Rock are aware of this truth, one that James Hansen started to bring to light in the ’80s. Thank you North Dakota for cleaning up the Standing Rock protection site. Thank you earth protectors, people protectors and helpers of kind. I am grateful for the deeper seed of knowing within each person that can call them to face the truth of our declining world and, if followed, will lead them to know how to act responsibly.
Tamara Visser/Boulder
