Letter to the Editor

This Independence Day I’m reflecting on our Founders’ attempts to reintroduce a radical notion. Simplified, the Founders created a grand experiment to see if ‘We the People’ could govern ourselves through representatives to make our voices heard to create laws, and thus, communities we wanted.

Today I’m compelled to focus on one failure of representative democracy that poses an imminent danger to the people of Boulder County – the kind of danger that many privileged people don’t often have to personally face.

Hydraulic fracturing is set to begin in the coming months in Boulder County. The catastrophic results wrought by fracking will hurt you and your family if you don’t stand up and prevent it from ever happening. The time is upon us. No more moratoria, no bans allowed (say the County Commissioners). We are poised to allow permanent damage to our beautiful Boulder open spaces. Because of the failure of representative democracy, only ‘We the People’ through direct action can protect our land, air, and water.

You may say, “This tree hugger must be exaggerating.” Nope. Did you know that Boulder County already has an “F” rating for air quality?

Did you know that it is impossible to prevent accidents related to oil and gas extraction no matter how strict the regulations? Things blow up, things leak, toxins get in your air and water. “Safe regulation of oil and gas development” is an oxymoron.

Please join the Boulder County Protectors in standing up for you and your rights to clean land, air and water, health, and a quiet peaceful community. We will need to get out of our homes and fight this one with our physical presence. Contact bouldercountyprotectors@gmail.com and join the Facebook page to fight the good fight.

Sharon Cascone