32 » Friday, February 5, 2021
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Eco-Sense An Electric Future By: Judi Smith
The 2021 year should prove more productive for those individuals interested in preserving – protecting – restoring the environment. President Obama, who took the deterioration of our planet seriously, helped to create the Paris Accord, a world-wide endeavor to prolong the life of our planet. President Trump pulled us out of that agreement, severing the relationship Nov 4, 2020 (no other country has ever withdrawn). On January 20, 2021, President Biden rejoined this group of 195 nations (only Turkey, Iran, Eritrea, Iraq, South Sudan, Libya and Yemen do not participate). Similarly, over Barack Obama’s eight years in office, some restrictions were placed on the depletion of natural resources. Donald Trump reversed most of these and opened more federal lands to oil and gas drilling by increasing available leases. Between the election 2020 and inauguration 2021 monthly lease purchases doubled. This necessitated the current moratorium on leases that allows time to study and formulate a plan for the future. Not all of these leases are active wells yet. Leases merely reserve the right to drill, thereby restricting the ability to set future limitations. Once the lease is signed, there is no necessity to drill until demand exceeds current supply. 53% of all oil leases on federal land are not yet in production along with 77% of those offshore. The moratorium cannot affect these contracts. An additional 92.4 million acres offered for lease have not been accepted and therefore are subject to the moratorium. Petroleum is a finite resource and its current depletion far exceeds any possible renewal. It cannot last forever. This makes it very valuable: financially, of course, but consider the cost, to future generations, of inconsequential use. Currently, “gas and oil” heats our homes and operates our transportation system. While we are work-
ing on viable substitutions for those uses, there is another realm to consider. Petroleum is also extracted to become, as plastic, certain products which require its lightweight, indestructible, waterproof properties. Is the immediate convenience of single use packaging or straws, plasticware, and plastic coated paper worth facing a world without when we have consumed the existing? Other aspects of the Executive Orders from Wednesday, January 27th include a legitimizing the climate crisis as an essential element of U. S. foreign policy and national security considerations, creating a National Climate Task Force, and appointing a Special Presidential Envoy for Climate. These endeavors propose setting a target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and devising a new plan for climate resistant infrastructure, creating American jobs, and retraining individuals in need of employment. Most of all, it establishes scientific integrity and evidence based policies. The oil and gas industry, of course, believes U.S. citizens are not up to the task of redirecting our energy purchases. They appear confident that U.S. households will simply continue our current buying habits, even when renewable options are, in the long run, less expensive than further depletion of oil and gas reserves. Interestingly, the business world is, gradually, embracing the coming changes. All major car companies have proposed new electric models, but the most significant development is the General Motors announcement of the phase-out of gasoline and diesel powered passenger cars by 2035. They are constructing a plant dedicated to building new batteries (extended range and lower prices), and they are designing 30 models of electric vehicles, beginning with a 2022 Hummer pickup. Our world is changing. Agree? Disagree? Questions? Comments? RRRcyc@signsandwishes.com.
Photo by Barb Kostohryz
Taskforce Believes There WAS A Viable Answer To Keep Living Center In EP To The Editor: It is likely that by the time this letter is published, the Estes Park Health Board of Directors will have formally initiated the process of closing Estes Park Living Center, the town’s only skilled nursing facility. An initial reading of the Board’s proposal, with public comment in two minute intervals, was conducted last Tuesday, January 26th. In this meeting, the Board repeated what it has stated in numerous press releases, “A financially viable approach to keeping the Living Center in operation has not been identified.” This is a statement of opinion, not of fact. When the Board’s desire to close the Living Center first came to light, a small group of townsfolk, alarmed at the potential loss of the Living Center, formed a Taskforce to see if something could be done to save it. It was a complicated issue which required a thorough financial review, an understanding of senior care trends, expected population growth, government sponsored senior health programs, and federal corona virus relief. To assist in this effort, the Taskforce hired a former Estes Park Hospital Chief Financial Officer to work with us. The Taskforce also vetted its work with an existing skilled nursing facility operator in Fort Collins. After months of work, the Taskforce developed a full financial framework that would have created a financially vi-
able Living Center capable of providing the quality care our community has come to expect. A Living Center still physically connected to, yet organizationally and financially separate from the Hospital district. So, contrary to the Board’s statement, a financially viable approach had been identified. It’s just that the Board didn’t agree with the framework. Essentially, it came down to the opinions of the current CFO, supported by a national consulting firm, against a past CFO and a successful Fort Collins skilled nursing facility operator. This is a passionate issue for many, particularly those who have family members at the Living Center who will now need to relocate their loved one hours away. During the January 26th meeting when the Board summarized its argument to close the Living Center, members of the Board spoke of harassment and bullying by the public. My thoughts went to the Living Center residents and whether they felt bullied by the Board. As citizens of Estes Park who respect the efforts of those who built the Hospital/Living Center complex decades ago, as well as those who have supported it since with taxes, donations, and service; we hope the Board has made the right decision and not a premature one. Ron Keas, Karen Sackett, Peggy Lynch, Wendy Schuett, Shelley Powers, Wendye Sykes, Tara Moenning, Phil Moenning and Gerald Mayo
Photo by Jim Ward