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FIELDER: Vote against oil and gas interests

By John Fielder

Published November 3, 2008 at 12:01 a.m.

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The savings & loan crisis of the '80s, the dot-com bubble burst of the '90s, and now the collapse of the securitized mortgage market of the '00s might be dismissed by some as mere bloodletting to keep a free market healthy. I see them as symptoms of an inexorable march toward turning a beautiful device, capitalism, into a mechanism for short-term gain. What happened to our ancestors’ ethic for investing for the long term, for caring about the future of our children, for conserving our public lands? Greed and ego may be in our nature, but they are impediments to maintaining a healthy society.

We Coloradans have a grand opportunity to continue the process of renewing our commitment to American ideals on Nov. 4, a process that began in 2006 with the election to Colorado public offices of so many thoughtful and unselfish individuals. These are people who believe in the innate goodness of human beings yet realistically know that there will always be those who seek to hurt others, who learn from the past but are not constrained by it, who know that open, curious minds unencumbered by dogma can usually find a better, more efficient, less costly way to conduct our lives without compromising the future.

Don’t be fooled, Coloradans, by what you see right now on television, hear on the radio, and read in the newspapers and online.

Recognize the enmity of those political campaigns and their managers that seek to lower already low standards of civility as smoke screens with which to hide the weaknesses of their candidates and their ballot initiatives.

It’s easy to do: The worst of the bunch are conspicuous for their animosity and hyperbole. This year one issue more than any other begets the fear that fuels their invectives and funds their campaigns -- oil and gas exploration.

The hard-rock mining industry helped make Colorado great in the 19th century. Yet for all that we gained, we lost much more from what was left behind: billions of dollars in environmental damage to a beautiful place. The short-term gain from 35 years of boom was not worth the long-term economic and social costs. Similarly, the oil and gas boom of this century is no ticket to our future success and security. As one who has made his living photographing Colorado from one end to the other, who has tried to step gently upon much of its sublime 65 million acres, and who has witnessed the accelerating destruction of the very things that define the Colorado quality of life, I beseech you to see oil & gas exploration for what it is: short-term gain at the expense of both our ecology and economy.

Colorado’s future depends upon her “attractive,” not “extractive,” assets. If we preserve the Colorado we love now, we ensure both a healthy economy and ecology. The two are inextricably connected: societies with healthy economies tend to protect their natural environment, and functional natural systems are the foundation for sustainable economies. When other states, other nations, have damaged their backyards beyond repair, people will continue to flock to Colorado, and pay us a pretty penny to see open spaces and bucolic ranches; to hike, photograph, fish, and hunt in wilderness; to breath clean air and drink pure water; to raise families and create clean-operating businesses.

Beware, Colorado. With unprecedented political monies, the oil and gas industry is funding the defeat of the very people and ballot initiatives that will lead us into a sustainable future. Don’t let them take the Colorado we love away from us and our children!

John Fielder, a resident of Silverthorne, is the author/photographer of "Colorado: 1870-2000, Then & Now."

Comments

  • November 3, 2008

    10 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    byteme writes:

    This coming from the guy who used to live in a Cherry Hills mansion that burned more than his fair share of natural gas to heat his floors and hot tub (and probably driveway) and who drives his gas guzzling Range Rover to take pictures of this great state while scolding the rest of us for trying to enjoy the same scenes in his book (that he'll gladly sell you for $99) in person. Moving to Silverthorne, he is at least a little closer to the mountains he loves to photograph but probably hasn't done anything to reduce his consumption of non-renewable resources. We should all be so lucky.