They're not coming for your gas mower, they just don't want you to be able to buy one. How you can help the rural/urban divide. And how the Colorado Senate votes (not speaks) on transparency.
They may not be coming to snatch up your fossil fuel powered equipment, but they will take away your choice to be able to buy one.
Again, with the election safely behind us, those regulatory agencies which previously (at the direction of Polis?) demurred on more extreme moves such as taking away your ability to buy gas-powered lawn equipment, are now making noises that they may consider ... wait for it ... taking away your ability to buy gas-powered lawn equipment.
Details are in the article linked first below. I'll leave it up to you to read up on it.
What I want to spend the last bit of this post on is telling you what you can do if you disagree. Sign up for Air Quality Control Commission updates. Go to the second link below and sign up at the email at the bottom of the page (see the screenshot).
Watch for meetings about things like this in your inbox. Sign up and speak up. Send an email with your written comments.
As I have said before, we need people from a pragmatic, real-world perspective to join the conversation to help balance the voices of the environmentalists who pack the comments full of volunteers speaking from the same script. You need not be an expert. You need not be silver-tongued.
You just need to be willing to speak up. You just need to be willing to ask "is this the proper role of government?"
https://coloradosun.com/2023/04/26/colorado-gas-mowers-blowers-sale-ban/
https://cdphe.colorado.gov/aqcc-public-participation-and-hearing-guidance
Concerned about the rural/urban divide?
The video below came up in my Youtube suggested videos recently. It's an old one. I'd seen it before. Seeing it again with fresh eyes (and post the 2022 election), gave it new relevance. It struck me as a good token to remind you. I bet if you watch it it will seem just as relevant to you now as it would've 5 years ago (save for the Trump references).
If you are concerned about the urban/rural divide in this state, I have part of the solution.
If you live in a rural area, speak up. Join a group that can amplify your voice. If you write well, consider writing op eds. Open up to others in some way or another what your world looks like. Share the constraints that put boundaries on your day to day.
If you live in an urban area and don't have relatives involved in Agriculture, fix that. Make friends (online or in person) with someone who is in Agriculture. Drive to a tiny town in a far-flung part of the state and eat at a small restaurant. See if you can tour a working Ag facility. If social media is your thing, I have some recommendations. Janie Van Winkle's page and Rachel Gabel's are excellent and entertaining ways to learn more about what it's like to be in cattle. Colorado Farm Bureau is another good page to follow to see more of the farming side. Lastly, add The FencePost to your daily rotation of online news to read.
We're not going to agree on everything. I also don't see the population numbers changing greatly in my lifetime such that rural Colorado will get the influence at the Capitol that it used to enjoy. That doesn't mean nothing can change, however.
If we understand each other better, I can't help but think that both sides will be more apt to consider the other's perspective more.
Before signing off, let me ask you for your help. If you have ideas for either group, please share in the comments below!
https://www.facebook.com/JanieVanWinkleSeeJaneRanch/
https://www.facebook.com/RachelWrites/
https://www.facebook.com/ColoradoFarmBureau/
https://www.thefencepost.com/
Government transparency is a value we all TALK about sharing, but when it comes right down to it, do the politicians in the Colorado Senate act on their stated values?
Sen Kirkmeyer, per the CFOIC article below, put forth an amendment on Sen Hansen's recent CORA bill that would have made the Democrats' secret, quadratic voting system something accessible by a CORA request.
Then her amendment was promptly voted down without comment by any other Senators (see attached screenshot).
It's fine to talk about things. It's fine to stand up and speak about your values.
It's a whole other matter when, presented with the opportunity to ACT on those values, you sit quietly by instead of either affirming your beliefs with action or explaining why you believe that the action doesn't affirm your value.
We citizens got neither from the Senate, and that's a shame. We deserve better.
If nothing else, I want you to remember the votes made on this amendment for the future should you hear a "NO" voter taking about the importance of transparency.
https://coloradofoic.org/lawmakers-vote-down-proposal-to-open-records-on-secret-ballot-system-at-colorado-statehouse/