CHRISTOPHER

signed up for the job, it does not mean they have to be exposed to it on their personal equipment with their personal accounts. At least keep the name calling, belittling and threats away from personal social media accounts for elected officials. I hope it becomes law.

Westy town hall announced

Here is an opportunity to share your opinions with the Westminster City Council. They will be holding a Town Hall gathering on Thursday, May 18th from 6:30-8:00 PM at Orchard Peak Academy at the School Café at 7395 Zuni Street. Us old timers would remember this location for the former Skyline Vista Elementary School.

Come share your thoughts and opinions.

State legislature sine die Regardless of your politics, we should admit the session of the state legislature which just finished was a “Whopper” and I am not talking hamburgers!

As political-types who follow the legislature know that the “off year” (the legislators are not up for reelection in November) can be wild.

Certainly, the Democrats lived up to the billing with a variety of high-profile bills including some bills that their own party rejected. Just to summarize, there were four-to-five gun control bills except for assault weapons which died in committee. There was the highly controversial “A Home for Every Colorado Budget” legislation spearheaded by our governor.

Fortunately, enough Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to strip the original bill down to authorizing an assessment of needed affordable housing throughout the state.

However, the House subsequently has put the onerous land use provisions back in as I write this column. It will go down to the wire as to the outcome.

Governor Polis’ idea was to usurp local decision-making and allow apartment developments in certain defined locations regardless of what city councils wanted and what land use plans called for. There was a bill that would have allowed cities to control rents as well as one designating locations for drug addicts to get their injections at supervised locations. Both were killed in committee. There were plenty more, but you get the picture.

Now, everyone take a deep breath and exhale. Maybe life will get back to some degree of normalcy.

Bill Christopher is a former Westminster city manager and RTD board member. His opinions are not necessarily those of Colorado Community Media. You can contact him at bcjayhawk68@gmail.com.

Biden pledged a veto if it did. Still, some of the detrimental ideas within the package could influence future policy. Speaking as an elected official who must make decisions related to the advancing climate crisis, that is unacceptable.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas responsible for 25% of today’s global warming. These emissions also rob mineral owners and local, state and federal governments of valuable royalties and revenues that are needlessly wasted when they could be funding schools and public services. Methane that doesn’t leak from oil and gas facilities and pipelines is money in the bank. The Natural Gas Tax Repeal Act (HR 1141) puts polluters before public welfare, and would be a giant step backward in addressing our nation’s climate crisis.

So, what does MERP do? It imposes a fee on excessive methane emissions from oil and gas facilities, incentivizing operators to use available technology to detect and repair leaks and prevent needless waste. This fee only applies to operators with large facilities that release over 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gas emissions each year.

MERP is a critical enforcement mechanism for the Environmental Protection Agency’s methane emissions reduction rule. MERP requires the EPA to measure emissions from oil and gas facilities directly. This helps us understand exactly how much pollution is coming from oil and gas facilities, so we can hold operators directly accountable for the pollution they cause.

Importantly, MERP also provides $1.55 billion in funding for its implementation, which would be directed to state agencies, communities, and industry operators - all of which would go away if the misguided HR 1141 were to become law.

This year’s Earth Day theme“Invest in Our Planet” - could not be more relevant. It was a struggle, to say the least, to get the Inflation Reduction Act over the finish line last year. The IRA represents a historic investment in addressing the climate crisis. It includes precedent-setting programs like MERP that help create good-paying jobs and achieve climate resilience and environmental justice.

Those pushing for repeal say that MERP is a tax burden for the oil and gas industry. With climate change wreaking havoc on our natural resources, an effective mechanism must be in place to guard against unchecked methane emissions. Oil and gas pollution contributes to high ozone days on Colorado’s Front Range, resulting in such poor air quality that it’s a health hazard for our children, the elderly and vulnerable populations.

As an elected official, I took an oath to protect my constituents’ health, safety and welfare. MERP does just that. MERP helps protect the health, safety and welfare of Colorado’s people. Reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas industry is crucial to helping us reach national climate targets and protect frontline communities from pollution.

I’m proud of Colorado’s recent progress in passing nation-leading rules reducing methane and other pollutants. But much more must be done. Addressing the toxic brown cloud must be a priority for our state and federal delegation members. When it was created, MERP had buy-in from stakeholders across the board, including industry operators who grasp the importance of lowering emissions. This is not the time to backpedal on such an important program, and I thank U.S. Representative Yadira Caraveo, who represents my congressional district, for voting against HR 1.

The time for bold decision-making on climate is now. We hold in our hands the power to leave our children a safe and healthy climate future.

BY JOHN RENFROW JRENFROW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Pools around the metro area are gearing up to open for the summer. at is, if there are enough lifeguards.

e years-long trend where pools have cut hours or closed altogether appears to be waning, though it’s still a possibility in some places, according to aquatics managers across the Denver area, who are more optimistic than in past years, but still concerned as summer nears.

For instance, South Suburban Parks and Recreation needs 250 lifeguards for its peak summer season but has only 183 ready to go.

Karl Brehm, the recreation dis- trict’s aquatics manager, hopes to get closer to the goal as summer approaches but wonders why applications are so slow to roll in.

“I have seen, more and more, less interest in the position,” Brehm said.

He’s been in the business for a long time. Brehm worked at Elitch Gardens for ve seasons and the Highlands Ranch Community Association for 16 years. He said he’s seen a general lack of interest, generationally, from young people who want to do the job. Fewer people are becoming CPR certi ed as well, he added.

“I’ve often wondered why we were having those issues,” Brehm said. “Back in the day, I remember if you didn’t have your job by spring break, you weren’t getting a summer job.” e problem could a ect South Suburban pools across the district, which serves more than 150,000 residents in Bow Mar, Columbine Valley, Littleton, Sheridan, Lone Tree and parts of Centennial and Douglas, Je erson and Arapahoe counties.

If he can’t hire enough lifeguards, hours at pools could be cut, Brehm said. It’s not for a lack of trying, though. e district has introduced incentives, bonuses, pay bumps and more in hopes of luring in more lifeguards.

South Suburban isn’t alone. ere’s a national lifeguard shortage, which was exacerbated by the pandemic. Lifeguard shortages a ected roughly a third of public pools throughout the country.

In response last year, Gov. Jared Polis announced a “Pools Special Initiative 2022,” in which Colorado introduced incentives. Chief among them was a $1,000 payment to those who completed lifeguard training to ght pool postponements and decreasing operating hours.

Now, out of necessity, hiring lifeguards is ongoing throughout the entire summer season, Brehm said. Lifeguards for South Suburban make between $15 and $19.14 per hour, per South Suburban’s website. A head lifeguard makes $15.75 - $19.93 per hour.

But there are additional costs to South Suburban. ough life-