I wrote this letter to the editor to point out some discrepancies in logic in a previous week's newspaper:
In the Huerfano World Journal, January 24 2013, page 4: A government lobbyist is quoted as saying: "Improving the economy of southern Colorado can only happen with a sustainable water supply, good highways, and the right to extract natural resources we are blessed to have." This off the cuff remark is disturbing in the light of certain realities. Energy extraction, when forced and accelerated, requires within the life span of a well up to 400 road-damaging truckloads of supplies and water. In addition the well site becomes a small refinery, removing chemicals that are unsuitable to go into a pipeline. Some mineral rights lease granters may hit the jackpot, but many more families will end up with a polluting industrial environment way too close for comfort, and filling night time with annoying lights and sounds carrying for miles. Typically a gas field can grow to thousands of wells. Now imagine the disillusion for tourists, artists, home buyers, and vacationers who come to experience the beauty of the landscape stretching from Huerfano Park to the Spanish Peaks and Cuchara. Is this the future we want in Huerfano? We have all heard the wise counsel, "with rights come responsibilities", and we must be responsible to see that sustainable water supply, good highways, and clean air are not destroyed by the right to extract.
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