Letters to the Editor: September 18, 2008

Dear Editor,
The public has become completely unaware of what is happening in our own backyard, the energy corporations are at full force when it comes to the exploitation of our pristine ecological systems throughout this region. Their motives seem so innocent while they hide behind the smoke screen of their public relations that make these global corporations look as if they care about our communities and our environment.
As our local economy continues to grow so does the optimism that this is how things will continue to be for some time, as long as there is capital that can be made from the fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal) that are pocketed between the layers of earth beneath our feet. Though it seems there is a great fortune of wealth to be made from the oil and gas operations we know that the costs are even greater that come from the consequences of the unsustainable, unlimited and unregulated growth of an energy industry whose bottom line objective is to make as much profit as possible without having a responsibility to the environment.
The energy barons’ enormous profit shares seduce us into believing that we are going to get something out of sacrificing the last wild public places to companies that will make our local economy grow today, but tomorrow we will end up empty handed with an ecosystem that has gone bankrupt from the lack of responsibility from the land management. Because where oil and gas development is occurring the air, water and soil has become contaminated with the wastes and byproducts from the industry.
When the production pits used contain the discharge of potentially hazardous toxic wastes are torn, deteriorating or overflowing leach out and contaminate the groundwater, soil, and vegetation with benzene, arsenic, barium, cadium, chromium, lead, it effects humans, livestock, wildlife, aquatic life and micro-organisms.
As a native born in Rangley, I have slowly learned to respect the unique characteristics of this region with the many years spent working and playing throughout the mountain communities and the backcountry of northwestern Colorado. While hitchhiking across the country after going to high school, college and my first couple of jobs I began to miss the area that I knew and suddenly loved to learn about.
Everywhere I traveled was uniquely beautiful in the resources that supported the whole of our life support system, our biosphere. I also learned the real ground truth about some of those places being destroyed by the iron fist of our free market. Where complete ecosystems no longer existed in their original state instead I found things like the contaminated dead Colorado River near Yuma, Ariz., and the story was the same every place I went. I now understand the importance that every place has to the entire population and the complex ecological relationship between the snow that melts off our mountains to the ecosystems below them.
Then to see criminal oil companies up in some of the best roadless high country create rig locations that are making it so inhabitable that antelope, elk, deer and other endangered species cannot even live in their habitat without pollution destroying the vegetation and the ground water. The carcinogenic chemicals that are contaminating our public lands are being covered up in a media blackout, even though the criminal activity is done right out in plain sight. The pit liners that are made out of lousy material rip, tear or deteriorate are responsible for creating the largest un-talked about environmental crisis today.
We need a long-term strategy consisting of renewable technologies to begin our transformation from the outdated fossil fuel technologies. We can create green jobs that are good for the economy and our environment that utilize the unlimited resource of wind and sun. Otherwise the global elite’s agenda will destroy our complete natural systems in an attempt to control you and me through their designer infrastructure that considers our community and our environment expendable and will eventually leave us with nothing more than ghost towns surrounded by the skeletons of progress.
The puppets of the corporate crime syndicates are deliberately making this very nasty problem and if you think that I am kidding about these power monopolies, you have just been warned. To mention the toxic pollution in our water systems simply is not a battle between conservation and development, it is a battle over life and our future.
Kevin Amy
Dinosaur
Dear Editor,
To the U.S. Congress … people who are using the seniors’ Social Security Trust monies for their personal gain … how would you like it if some thugs took your savings for use in your elderly years to use, but you give it away to someone to splurge needlessly?
That is what you are doing by stealing the Social Security monies from millions of elderly people of this country for your own gain. A lot of the elderly get Social Security checks as their only income. That is their money, not yours. Stop your raiding of their money by stealing.
Your extravagant pension (tax) monies should be in the same pot as you put the Social Security monies as they do come from taxes.
You are all overpaid for your two days a week of service to the people who elected you. God is still very much seeing what you evil people are doing to His country.
Your lies on the news media are not forgotten by Him. You can be stricken by ill health or worse.
England could not destroy the U.S. Neither could World Wars I and II nor the U.S.S.R.
People in our government with help of other forces like the A.C.L.U. are slowly succeeding in destroying our nation by evil acts like driving God out of our lives and nation.
Without God, this nation will not be safe for God-fearing people. Greedy people beware: God is watching you.
Come on people: show you care, get out and vote Nov. 4.
Orval LaBorde
Meeker