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Revitalizing Colorado’s economy with clean energy falls short, yet again
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Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Revitalizing Colorado’s economy with clean energy falls short, yet again

A second attempt at defining nuclear energy as a clean energy source died in the Colorado State Legislature last week, despite a robust turnout of supportive citizens across the political spectrum that outnumbered opponents two to one.  Senate Bill 24-039, titled “Nuclear as a Clean Energy Resource” and introduced by Sen. Larry Liston, would have classified nuclear as a clean energy source, allowing it to be considered for local clean energy project financing and added to the list of energy sources that count toward meeting the state’s 2050 climate targets. As a Colorado native concerned about protecting my beautiful home state, I testified in favor of the fact that nuclear energy is clean, acknowledging that it offers carbon-free energy.  As an accountant by trade, I al...
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Democrat turns tail on proposed pet tax after voter backlash
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Approved, coloradopeakpolitics.com, Commentary, State

Democrat turns tail on proposed pet tax after voter backlash

By Colorado Peak Politics A lawmaker who ruffled the fur of Colorado pet lovers with her bill mandating state registration of our four-legged children plus a mandated pet tax has turned tail and now plans to withdraw her measure. State Rep. Reginal English, a tax-and-spend Democrat from El Paso County, quickly came under fire on social media for her bill. It imposed fees of $8.50 on every pet with a designated caregiver, $25 for pets without designated caregivers, and $16 for pets that were permitted to breed. Channel 7 first reported English’s “decision to pull the bill was not because she felt pressured by the backlash.” Yet reported a few sentences later: English said the decision to pull the bill was not because she felt pressured by the backlash, but came ...
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Wildlife officials sued for skipping NEPA regs to release wolves in Colorado
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Approved, coloradopeakpolitics.com, Commentary, State

Wildlife officials sued for skipping NEPA regs to release wolves in Colorado

By Colorado Peak Politics Radical big city environmentalists have been using federal red tape against westerners for decades to kick us off the public lands in our backyard and deprive us of every livelihood it provides, from natural resources to recreation. It’s past time for some payback. So thank you Colorado Conservation Alliance for filing a lawsuit against the state and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to follow those same rules and regulations in their zealous pursuit of turning loose apex predators loose in the high country. The Fence Post reports from the lawsuit: The defendants did not conduct the environmental review process under NEPA for the action of taking an apex predator (the gray wolf) from a population hundreds of miles away and introducing...
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The fear and reward of ‘Standing in the Gap’
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Approved, Commentary, Local

The fear and reward of ‘Standing in the Gap’

By Bradley Beck | Special Contributor The almost empty Town Hall meeting room was soon to be filled with an angry mob. I was, to say the least, anxious. I arrived early so I could sign up to speak first, and get it over with. Just prior to me addressing the Town Council, a representative from Coloradans for Responsible Energy Development (CRED) asked if I would present the 300-plus signed petitions of my neighbors who were opposed to an upcoming fracking moratorium proposal in my town.  This Town of Erie meeting 10 years ago was to consider banning new oil and gas development in our community. I could not sit on the sideline. Too much was at stake. The Town Trustees were under intense pressure from anti-energy development activists. It was an issue I was ready and willing to ...
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In a different time, ‘The Great Communicator’ unified America
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Approved, Commentary, Mark Hillman

In a different time, ‘The Great Communicator’ unified America

By Mark Hillman | MarkHillman.com Forty-four years ago this month, Ronald Reagan won the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary, vaulting him on a path to the 1980 nomination and a landslide victory over President Jimmy Carter. The last presidential candidate to largely unite the country, Reagan defeated Carter 489-49 in the Electoral College and 51%-41% in the popular vote.  Four years later, he won 49 states and 59% of the popular vote. Reagan “rose from the ashes” of Barry Goldwater’s 1964 presidential campaign thanks to his “A Time for Choosing” speech, writes Peggy Noonan in her Reagan biography, When Character Was King.  Goldwater could define what conservatism was against, but “Reagan could define it by what it was for: for greater individual auth...
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Caldara: Talk radio’s not dead, but is showing its age
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Approved, Commentary, completecolorado.com, National

Caldara: Talk radio’s not dead, but is showing its age

By Jon Caldara | Complete Colorado (You can listen to this column, read by the author, here.) I must have hit that age. Nostalgia keeps overtaking me. I remember a Colorado that had thriving, competitive newspapers in every city, along with equally thriving local radio to keep them in check. There was a time when local radio was big. Colorado, and the Front Range in particular, had some of the most competitive radio wars in the country due to more stations than similarly sized metro areas. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allocated radio frequencies very miserly, so one station’s broadcast wouldn’t bleed into another’s. And since the Front Range market was so far away from other big urban markets, we had more radio real estate available. Hard to have lo...
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It’s Almost Morning in America
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Approved, Commentary, National, Real Clear Politics

It’s Almost Morning in America

By Lynn Friess | SOURCE: REAL CLEAR POLITICS It might not seem like it right now, but it’s almost morning in America again. Americans of all sides are waking up. Democrats, Independents, and Republicans are uniting around shared concerns. Big city mothers aiming to rescue their children from failing schools and suburban moms losing their kids to woke educators are both waking up to the broken education system, where administrators get bigger and bigger salaries while kids suffer. Meanwhile, both “granola” foodies and conservative farmers are becoming aware of the broken food system, where small farmers struggle, and it’s impossible to ban chemicals we know harm our kids. Despite citizens trying to effect change, their efforts are in vain against the flood of lobbying dolla...
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Don’t mark your calendar for March 7
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Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Don’t mark your calendar for March 7

Thank you in advance for staying home on Thursday, March 7, 2024. I know it’s such an imposition every other year to attend a few hours to meet with your neighbors to elect your precinct committee persons and delegates to the county assemblies. Make sure you have all your excuses lined up as to why you can’t participate in the Colorado Caucus. I know you would rather complain about how bad the candidates are for this next election cycle, rather than participate and help nominate your chosen candidate to run for office. I know a great Netflix series you are watching takes priority over your civic responsibility. I know you must wash your hair that night because the weekend is coming up. I know it will take at least a month to find a babysitter with such short notice. I know all the ex...
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Why are there RINOs but no DINOs?
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Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Why are there RINOs but no DINOs?

Democrats don’t trash their own party members for being “insufficiently” woke, a Socialist or a leftist, while Republicans routinely dismember their own party members for being “insufficiently” Conservative, anti-tax, anti-abortion and so on. Republicans attacking their fellow GOPers as Republicans in Name Only (RINO) has no parallel stigma on the other side – Democrats in Name Only (DINO.) That’s because the Democrats have learned they win when they charge as a single fighting unit. Republicans are too often fragmented into warring factions. If only Republicans put the same passion into supporting their Republican candidates that they pour into sabotaging and undermining them.  The sainted Mike Rosen, dean emeritus of Denver talk show hosts, schooled his vast audience for ma...
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