Denver is losing
Denver is losing — thanks to the state legislature and organizations such as Christie Donner’s Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition — a gentle, thoughtful police chief. How can one possibly much less effectively uphold the laws of Colorado when our legislators trivialize crimes such as they have? That, and the police department being sued for attempting to stop insurrections such as the one following George Floyd’s death?
True, the officer in that incident stepped over a very important legal line; however, using that as an excuse for the inexcusable destruction of public and private property, arson, assault, and even murder is outrageous! A protest is what MLK and others did. Namely, legions of people marching down streets vocally condemning an unjust act.
If anything, Chief Pazen (talk to the first responders, e.g., paramedics, fire and police that were forced to be on the scene) and his officers were exceptionally lenient with those criminals.
Organizations such as the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, with assistance of a — to put it kindly — enabling legislature, are conceivably creating a new era of vigilantism. In a sense, the stunning, legal increase in firearm sales is indicative of that. Worst case? Fewer incarcerations but more funerals.
Bill Leake
Golden
Reduce air pollution
As a physician, I have witnessed firsthand how the air we breathe impacts the health of residents, particularly children, older adults and those living with asthma, COPD, heart disease and diabetes. So when I retired, I joined with the Colorado Sierra Club to help them fight for clean air and water.
It is also why I’m writing in response to the Gazette’s Sept. 1 editorial, to highlight the impact of pollution from buildings on our health for your readers. Furnaces, hot water heaters and other gas appliances in our homes emit nitrogen oxides (NOx), a particularly nasty pollution into our outdoor air. I have learned that gas appliances in Colorado homes produce over 4 times more NOx than gas power plants -heavy industry you certainly wouldn’t want to live next to. NOx itself is harmful to health, but also leads to the formation of ozone — which acts like a sunburn of the lung, and can also be deadly. Many counties in Colorado earned an ‘F’ for ozone pollution in the American Lung Association’s State of the Air report. In fact, the Gazette reported how ozone was so bad in the Denver Metro and the Front Range that the region may have their air quality further downgraded to “severe” nonattainment, a dangerous distinction.
We all deserve to breathe healthy air. Since we don’t have it yet in Colorado, as a health professional I believe it makes sense to take further measures to reduce air pollution from all sources — including gas appliances.
Texas and Utah have already taken action to improve the health of residents with low-NOx appliance standards. The quality of the air we all breathe is critical to our health, it’s time to take it seriously and clean it up.
Our health and lives depend on it.
Jan Douglas, MD
Denver
China’s beleaguered ChristiansAt last, the United Nations is speaking out against China’s repression of Muslim Ugyhurs in Xinjiang province. The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has issued a report declaring “serious human rights violations” that “may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.”
But the Ugyhurs are not the only persecuted religious minority in China. Christianity has been under siege for decades, but no one is talking about it anymore. Is there any evidence to suggest that Beijing’s “crimes against humanity” refers only to non-Christian religions?
Where is the outcry over China’s beleaguered Christians who no longer have a voice?
Brian Stuckey
Denver
A third world country
After reading the 2022 Xcel Odyssey editorial in the Sept. 6 Gazette, everything becomes very clear.
The reason the Democrats are lying about climate change being caused by coal fired power plants to scare the American people into thinking if you eliminate all fossil fuels it will stop climate change!
The Democrats want to turn our country into a third world country and wipe out the American oil companies. They have tried to control the American oil companies and they can’t.
The Democrats want the government to control every facet of our life, including the automobiles we drive and what temperature we set our thermostat in our home.
The government basically owns the utility companies. If the Democrats can bankrupt, wreck, ruin, starve, overregulate and eliminate the American oil companies they will have successfully destroyed our free enterprise system.
Trig Travis
Aurora