Colorado’s quiet transformation leaves working communities behind

By Scott James | Commentary, Scott K. James

I am sounding the alarm on the quiet erosion of Colorado’s values, warning of a top-down agenda that’s silencing everyday citizens.

Not the Colorado of glossy tourism ads and climate conferences.

The real Colorado.

The one where:

• Kids worked ranches and feedlots, not “sustainability internships.”
• You and I went to Northeastern Junior College, Aims, CSU, UNC, CU – not Cornell, Yale, or Harvard – and that was good, solid, honest.
• We measured a person by whether they showed up and worked, not by what panel they spoke on.
• A neighbor expanding his cow–calf operation was a reason to crack a beer, not a reason to clutch pearls about “emissions.”

Colorado used to be:

• Free.
• Pragmatic.
• Optimistic.

We built. We fixed. We figured it out.

We didn’t try to micromanage each other’s lives with climate spreadsheets and “behavior-change strategies.”

We kept our nose on our side of the fence unless someone needed help.

We knew that when a buddy opened a new business, or expanded a farm, or drilled a well, it meant more prosperity for everyone – the original rising tide lifting all boats.

Now?

Some of the people running this state look at that same prosperity and see a problem that needs to be “managed down.”

If I had a wagon, I’d still want to go to Colorado – the one where a man could walk a mile high and breathe free.

But the wagon already rolled in.

A flood of outsiders showed up from places they helped break – California, coastal cities, and beyond – and now they’re standing here, in our home, telling us how to live.

Weld County is bursting with promise – and that’s exactly what scares them.

Look at the county I represent and love:

• Agriculture that feeds people.
• Oil and gas that keeps the lights on and the economy moving.
• Land and space and sky.
• The University of Northern Colorado.
• A medical school about to come online.
• Aims Community College giving regular kids a real shot.
• Thirty-two municipalities full of people who still believe in work and community and possibility.

I want:

• data centers here,
• nuclear here,
• geothermal here,
• To help my buddy, Dr. Andy Feinstein at UNC, build a College of Energy and Technology here to anchor our future.

Weld County is the part of Colorado that builds the future.

And yet, down in Denver and Boulder, there’s this tightening fist of “green” central planners and professional activists who look at all that possibility and see something that must be controlled, slowed, taxed, “mitigated,” regulated, or outright stopped.

They don’t live here.

They don’t pay Weld County bills.

But they sure as hell have opinions about what our future is allowed to look like.

The moment that broke me last night.

While I was sitting in that fog of burnout, the phone rang.

Insiders told me:

“Commissioner, Elise Jones has lined up over 40 people to come to the Transportation Commission and accuse the Governor of failing on greenhouse gas goals – and demand toll money be siphoned into transit.”

Let’s be clear who these 40 people mostly are not:

• They are not the guy white-knuckling I-25 at 6:30 a.m.
• They are not the woman driving between shifts to keep up with rent and groceries.
• They are not the farmer hauling equipment.
• They are not the trucker trying to get goods to market.

Because those people are at work.

The folks who show up in the middle of a weekday to deliver coordinated talking points about “climate goals,” and “mode shift,” and “reimagining transportation” are almost always part of the advocacy machine – funded, organized, handed a script, and deployed like a political theater troupe.

And tomorrow, that theater will be called “public comment.”

The headlines will say:

• “Coloradans demand action.”
• “The people speak out on climate.”

And the Governor will be able to shrug and say:

“I heard the people.”

No, you didn’t.
You heard the activists.
There’s a big difference.

The people were at work, paying the bills your policies keep inflating.

That realization is what broke me – and woke me.

Because this is all performative and pre-planned.

The fix is in before the meeting even starts.

READ THE FULL COMMENTARY AT SCOTTKJAMES.COM

Scott K. James is a second-term Weld County Commissioner and former Mayor of Johnstown, Colorado. A fourth-generation Colorado native and 40-year radio veteran, he’s been recognized by both the Colorado Broadcasters’ Association and Colorado Counties, Inc. for his public service and communication leadership. James is a strong advocate for individual liberty, limited government, and rural communities. He lives in Johnstown with his wife, Julie, and their son, Jack.

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.