Steve Pomerance

In January, the Boulder City Council will consider making some very significant changes in the zoning for our neighborhoods, potentially leading to building of multiple units on what were single-family zoned lots. Their arguments for such upzoning generally ignore the negative effects, are not particularly strong or logical in my opinion, and do not have neighborhood support. Yet, the process proceeds forward as if on rails. This willingness to proceed irrespective of strong public sentiment against this is, in my view, largely a function of the current council’s approach of minimizing their face-to-face participation with the citizens of Boulder. For example, public participation in meetings is now down to two minutes per person (it used to be three minutes), with the number of speakers limited (it used to be unlimited). But what is far worse is the practice of council members not engaging with citizens who raise legitimate issues. That just dissuades citizens who have important thing...

I’ve suspected for a long time that climate change is making our world population level unsustainable. Reading “Recipe for disaster” in the Nov. 16 issue of New Scientist, a respected British science publication, confirmed that view and lays out the long-term future we face. Our food situation is dire: Climate change has had devastating consequences for farmers around the globe. And efforts to compensate, such as clearing forests to grow more crops, have led to increasing carbon dioxide levels, as well as biodiversity loss.  Pests and pathogens are expected to increase. Glacial melting is reducing water supply in some areas. The Dec. 9 New York Times reported that three-quarters of the Earth’s surface has become “persistently drier” in recent decades. And, although increased CO2 levels have slightly improved plant growth rates, once the global temperature rises to exceed 3 degrees C, that effect will reverse. Our local water supply is at risk. The Denver Post last week reported tha...