Perspectives
A more egalitarian economy
It’s easy to get depressed. Every social advance that progressives have won is in danger. There is a growing despair over the inability of traditional politics to address the immense economic/environmental/political crises and the deep crevasse between the rich and ...
Paying to pump
Denver was number three in a survey of the top 10 oil-and gas-cities in the world done by Rigzone, an industry employment and data clearinghouse...
Journalistic stings go mainstream
Here’s a problem of professional ethics right out of today’s headlines: If a news organization prohibits its own staff from using certain reporting techniques — say, deception — should it publish information that somebody else gathered using those forbidden ...
The next NAFTA, but worse
You can win some impressive victories against corporate power on the local level. Boulder voters declared that corporations aren’t people and money isn’t speech. Cities across Colorado (and other states) have passed fracking bans and moratoriums...
Towns fight back against fracking
A growing boom in natural gas drilling near homes and schools prompted the city of Longmont to vote last July to bar new oil and gas permits in residential neighborhoods...
A half-century later, the environmental movement returns to its roots
It’s been more than four decades since the first Earth Day event held on April 22, 1970. And since that time it is fair to say that the environmental movement has had its ups and downs. So where does it stand today, and what should we expect moving forward? When it ...
Boulder County Democrats in conflict
A recent Pew survey states that 50 percent of conservative voters and 35 percent of progressives say that it’s important to live where most people share their political views. In Colorado, this political self-segregation is seen in the stark differences between ...
Cooperating on health care
Many people believe Obamacare (or the Affordable Care Act) established a universal health care system like those that exist in every other industrialized country...
After the deluge: What I told city council
On Sept. 17 I ended up the first to address the Boulder City Council during citizen participation. Several council members were nodding their heads by the end of the first sentence ... but soon they stopped. Here’s what I said, prettied up for print...
Arizona’s immigration law
The Obama administration is considering suing Arizona to block implementation of its harsh new immigration enforcement measure, SB 1070. The Justice Department doesn’t have much time — barring a judicial stay, the law goes into effect July 29 — and a decision, to sue...
