Soapbox

from The Durango Telegraph, June 24, 2021

Top Story

As you may have heard, President Biden has laid out a bold plan to create millions of jobs, while protecting our lands, air, water and environment for generations to come.

It’s called the American Jobs Plan. If enacted, it will invest billions of dollars into developing our nation’s climate resilience and clean infrastructure – delivering high-paying jobs and clean energy to communities across the country.

The only problem is … nothing has materialized yet. And it falls on us. Our members of Congress need to hear how important these investments are to us as Durangoans, Coloradans, Americans and humans. To amplify our collective voice, we need your help – yes, you! Please urge your members of Congress to support the American Jobs Plan today.

How? It’s quite simple. If you live nearby in Colorado, your senators are Michael Bennet (202-224-5852) and John Hickenlooper (202-224-5941), and your representative is Lauren Boebert (202-225-4761). Use those phone numbers to call each of their offices and briefly explain that investing in clean jobs, climate resilience and renewable energy is important to you, and that you urge them to act on the American Jobs Plan now. It takes 5-10 minutes of your time, and by doing this together, we can increase the impact of our voice and overall odds of swift climate action.

Thank you for doing your part in proactively addressing the climate crisis; it is so appreciated and so very much needed.

– Alex Whittow, Durango

Selective filibuster memories

Echo Gray and Karen Maloney seem to have selective memories when it comes to the filibuster. If it hadn’t been for Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nevada) killing the filibuster so that Obama could ram through lower court judges without Republican support in 2013, Trump would have never been able to appoint three Supreme Court justices. In all, Trump appointed almost 200 lower court

justices thanks to Reid.

So, Echo and Karen, be very careful what you wish for. – Dennis Pierce, Durango