2 weeks Ago
Climate change is decimating our natural world Recently, “Boulder County wildlife rehabilitators see uptick in orphaned wildlife during spring” an article in the newspaper pulled on the heartstrings of myself and everyone who read it. The increase in wildfires we as a community have seen during the past few years is taking its toll on local wildlife. More and more creatures are becoming orphaned, and the landscape is being threatened greater than before.
This will not change until climate change is tackled. Climate change is exacerbating wildfires, and the fires in Colorado are no exception. Unless we want the natural areas of Colorado to become charred remnants of nature’s majesty full of orphaned animals, we need to tackle climate change.
Colorado is a place known for the outdoors, however, unless emissions are curbed and the threat of climate change is taken seriously, our outdoors will become unrecognizable. Tourists who once loved to come and explore our landscapes will cease to come — and as a result, our incomes will be threatened — the things which we love to do could be in danger. There will be no more hikes through nature, no more cross-country skiing through the woods, no hunting, no fishing.
So, dear readers, I urge you, call your congressman, call your senators, your representatives. Urge them to act on climate change. Fight for those who can’t fight for themselves and help protect our wild.
Sam Becker, Louisville Bloated college bureaucracies driving tuition costs My thanks to the author of the April 15 letter, “College tuition should be based on income” expressing concerns about the necessity of acquiring debt-burdening loans should they decide to attend college. (It was also refreshing to read a letter seemingly written and signed by a kid to the Camera, fifth grade, and not, yet, another letter signed by a “kid” but essentially written by some adult, fearing the kid would sound less than a child prodigy.) We need a federal DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) , but a more discerning agency approved by Congress, to reduce the size of the bloated bureaucracies found at most colleges and universities today, including the University of Colorado, which is a main driver, along with reduced state funding, that is contributing to prohibitive tuition costs, and discouraging prospective students, like this letter’s author, from attending for fear of incurring a large, overwhelming debt.
Dave Smith, Boulder Healthy School Meals is a critical tool to addressing hunger Research shows us the health benefits of school meals, but I support Healthy School Meals for all because I care about children’s health and I care about creating more just communities. School meals are a critical tool to help children have a consistent source of nutritious food. This helps to address health and educational disparities.
They also help to take steps to support families who are in a cycle of poverty and work towards greater racial equality. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 18.8% of Black children and 15.
7% of Latinx children lived in food-insecure households, compared to 6.5% of white children. Research indicates that hunger among Indigenous people and many Asian American and Pacific Islanders is also significantly higher than average.
These disparities exist due to longstanding systemic racism and employment discrimination, which results in people of color being overrepresented in low-wage jobs and less likely to have adequate health coverage. This means more debt and less income to use to pay rent and buy groceries. Healthy School Meals for All is a critical component of addressing hunger and helping to advance both racial and food justice.
This helps level the playing field and reduce longstanding disparities in nutrition, health and education. It also saves families up to $1,300 per child per year. Food insecurity is linked to poor health and well-being in children.
As a community organizer, it’s important for me that we are breaking down issues like hunger in our state. I hope you will join me in urging our state lawmakers to pass House Bill 25-1274 to ensure that this effective and successful program is fully funded. Erika Cervantes, Denver.
