Correction: There’s still time! The Town of Carbondale’s holiday tree recycling service across from Town Hall is operating through Feb. 2.
Re: Ps&Qs
Mrs. Perry opines all “Trumpublicans” foster a lack of opportunity, desperation and poverty for criminals. “They try to prevent education and acceptance.”
Jeannie paints the majority of the U.S. electorate sporting horns while “following our naked emperor.”
So angry and unhappy. So sad.
Bruno Kirchenwitz
Rifle
Sidewalk shoveling
Dear Friends and neighbors, if you’re going to be away from your abode for more than 24 hours, kindly make arrangements for your sidewalk(s) to be cleared of snow, ice and slush during your absence. Absence may make the heart grow fonder, but it doesn’t absolve us of the municipal responsibility to keep our sidewalks safe for pedestrians.
Appreciatively,
Laurie Loeb
Carbondale
Climate mess
Scientists Svante Arrhenius and Guy Callendar warned of the effect of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere on global warming in the early 20th century. In 1977, ExxonMobil scientists informed the board of directors of the detrimental ramifications of their products on the climate.
Did Big Oil tell the world? Did they make immediate plans to switch to renewable sources of energy? No, the oil tycoons kept it a secret. When the secret got out a decade later, they commenced a disinformation campaign to refute the scientific findings. That may have been the capitalistic move, but it hardly served the common good.
So here, a quarter of the way into the 21st century, where are we? We’re dangerously close to crossing five of the eight climate tipping points established by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and predicted to exceed the other three by 2030. The world isn’t on track to achieve the emissions reductions required to keep us below 1.5°C of warming by 2030 and current cutback plans are insufficient to get there.
The United States has just elected a president who believes global warming is a Chinese hoax designed to ruin America’s economy, has vowed to “drill, baby, drill” and revoke President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the only significant piece of climate legislation ever passed nationally.
The way to see a path forward is often to examine the mistakes of the past. That’s why it’s prudent to view the film “The White House Effect” — a documentary about the battle to remediate the greenhouse effect during the George H.W. Bush administration in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Spoiler alert: the climate lost.
The lesson is capitalists won’t engage in the efforts to combat climate change until they’re convinced it’s profitable. We must persuade them there’s no long-term financial gain in destroying our planet’s climate.
350 Roaring Fork is presenting “The White House Effect” at the Carbondale library Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 6pm. Come and see how our past can guide our future.
Fred Malo Jr.
Carbondale
DAPL
With just weeks left before Donald Trump returns to the White House, we are running out of time to lock in protections for our climate and communities. One critical action President Biden can take right now is to permanently shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).
The pipeline is currently operating illegally, even as the ongoing legal battles surrounding it are reaching a critical point. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe continues to fight against corporate and state interference to protect their sacred land and the safety of surrounding communities.
In 2020, concerned citizens urged President Biden to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline, and he listened. Now, we must continue to press him to take immediate action on DAPL before Trump takes office. The risk of further environmental harm and disruption to Indigenous land is too great to ignore.
President Biden must prioritize the permanent shutdown of DAPL in his final days in office. The fight for a cleaner, safer future is in our hands, and we cannot afford to miss this opportunity.
Evan Michael
Glenwood Springs
Library board
It is deeply disheartening to see the Garfield County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) appoint far-right conspiracy theorist and outspoken anti-LGBTQ+ advocate Stephanie Pierucci to the Garfield County Library Board as Carbondale’s representative. This decision feels especially troubling given the BOCC’s refusal just last year to appoint Hanna Arauza to the board on the grounds that her views didn’t reflect her Rifle community.
A quick glance at Pierucci’s public Facebook page reveals views that are alarmingly out of step with the Carbondale I know — a town that values inclusivity and diversity. While Pierucci’s posts cover a range of conspiracy theories, I’ll focus on her comments about the LGBTQ+ community, which are particularly concerning.
Pierucci has publicly stated:
- “Pride has been perverted. It’s not about love.”
- “(The Pride) movement all together is abuse of kids, especially girls.”
- “There are TWO SEXES. Psychological gender dysphoria
isn’t normal.” - “Stop celebrating drag shows. Cut out the incessant Pride parades and drag story hours.”
Pierucci claims expertise on these matters, citing her employment of a trans man and her relationships with LGBTQ+ individuals. Yet her statements perpetuate harmful stereotypes that are damaging to the LGBTQ+ community and not reflective of Carbondale’s values.
The library board plays a crucial role in shaping a public resource meant to serve everyone. Appointing someone who openly disparages marginalized communities sends a damaging message. Carbondale deserves a representative who fosters inclusion, not division.
It’s vital that our community stands up for its core values. We cannot allow such extremist views to go unchallenged. Let’s ensure that Carbondale remains a place where all people feel seen, supported and celebrated.
Ashley Stahl
New Castle
Giving thanks
The Holiday Baskets Program, run entirely by volunteers, was once again a joyful community effort. For 43 years this program has provided new toys, gifts, clothing and food for people in need in our valley. This past holiday we served 264 families — 1,043 individuals!
We are so grateful to the more than 300 volunteers who purchased individual gifts, shopped for entire families, sorted, wrapped and transported gift bags. And we certainly appreciate those who made monetary donations which enabled us to give over $50,000 worth of food and other gift cards.
In addition to all our volunteers, I especially wish to thank our steering committee, Elaine Bonds, Marsha Cook, Kathy Dreher, Suzi Jenkins, Elizabeth Parker and Bobbi Teliska, who spent countless hours and lots of energy matching families with Holiday Angels and making sure all the gift bags were ready on pick-up day. We also thank the 13 agencies who referred the families and delivered their gift bags. We are extremely grateful to Mike Garbarini who developed an online system allowing us to go paperless. Mike carefully monitored the applications and assisted the agencies and volunteers. We greatly appreciate the Aspen Chapel Gallery for serving as a drop-off site for gift bags and wrapping and St. Peter’s church in Basalt for providing space in which to coordinate and distribute the thousands of gifts and gift cards.
It was truly a joyful experience to witness the generosity and caring of so many members of our community!
Anne Blackwell
Holiday Baskets Program
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