Monday letters: upside-down flag, local weather change, Boebert

Displaying our American flag upside down

Displaying the American flag upside down is to “convey a sign of distress or great danger.”

We unequivocally mean no disrespect to our former or current service men and women. We have had and lost family members fighting and serving this great country and understand what the American flag represents. With that said, there have been comments for and against our decision.

We didn’t make this decision lightly or out of spite. We are concerned for the direction this country is going. It seems like nothing is off-limits anymore; the bigger the shock value, the more acceptable it becomes. Where have ethics, morals and discretion gone?

It seems a lot of our state’s residents are liberals as well as holding the highest office in the country. Where is the balance of power that is necessary for a healthy government that is supposed to serve the people (on both sides) and not their personal agendas?

This liberal agenda is being shoved down our throats, and the media, big tech and those supposedly representing the “people” are in this bed together, and any opposition is met with censorship and disdain (unworthy of one’s consideration or respect).

This government now is flaunting its arrogance and disdain shamelessly. It sent billions of dollars to foreign countries while licking their ice cream and sending pittance to the American people who are struggling to pay their bills and for whom food on the table is a luxury.

They held this country’s people hostage all the while waiting for the election. They want to add a state and increase the Supreme Court so they can secure and further their liberal and socialist agenda. Socialism is advocating governmental ownership of the means and distribution of goods — a system in which there is no private property. They are picking and choosing which laws to enforce or ignore.

This is a country of law and the freedom to work hard and reap what you sow. These individuals are willfully and openly destroying what our veterans fight and died for. No accountability.

Family residents since 1892.

Mary James

Carbondale

Climate change laws

I have spent a lot of time over the past decade trying to make a dent in climate change. I have served on boards and many committees. I’ve donated to campaigns. I have written dozens of letters and columns on environmental issues. I’ve taken many classes on sustainability at CMC. I read reports and articles on the environment all the time. I would use stronger language, but I am really ticked off.

Recently, I’ve been talking to the sustainability people in other towns in Colorado. I have looked at their climate plans. The problem with climate plans, from ours to the Paris Climate Accords signed by some 200 countries, is the same for all. Nobody is meeting them. Politicians learn in the first five minutes that they rarely get serious blame for what they don’t do but do get blamed when they do something people don’t like.

They also know that they should do what the people with the most money want them to do. Doing what needs to be done to save us from climate changer is going to cut into the wealth and income of a lot of powerful people, at all levels.

The standard climate plan is full of great sounding goals and lots of little incremental steps that might add up to something in a few decades. The only serious reductions in emissions are coming from the “greening” of our electricity as renewable energy is growing. That only happened because the cost of solar and wind has been dropping like a rock.

So, let’s have some straight talk. Big changes that will really cut emissions will need to be done by government laws. Gasoline and other carbon intense products and commodities must be taxed. Have to be. That will shift the whole market. No new buildings or large remodels can be allowed that use natural gas. The buildings must not add to our emissions. The carbon tax will apply to products that travel long distances. Like beef from New Zealand or strawberries from South America. Grow locally.

Local utility companies need to be nationalized. Yes, nationalized. Aspen and Glenwood have their own electric departments. They can be much more aggressive at improvements. Every decision doesn’t have to be approved by stockholders. Same with the gas suppliers. We need to end all heating by natural gas and replace it with electric heat pumps, now.

We need government programs based on hard data that will get the huge changes we have to make. Plans need to be made, watched and adjusted, quickly. All of these existing so-called plans are several years old. That time is lost. You can’t make it up.

Patrick Hunter

Carbondale

Waste of time

Our new representative, Lauren Boebert, has introduced a bill that would overturn Biden’s mask mandate on federal lands and interstate travel on planes, trains or buses.

How can anyone not recognize that wearing masks has saved thousands upon thousands of lives? If this mandate had been in place during the past year, who knows how many more lives would have been saved?

I’m sure Rep. Boebert knows that her bill will not be passed and is only posturing for her supporters. She seems to have started her career by thoughtlessly wasting Congress’ time.

Kay Delanoy

Eagle