I’m sad to report that my U.S. Representative, Joe Neguse, appears to be going down a path of anti-science climate denial and broken promises to the very constituents who voted him into office.

Despite campaigning as a climate champion in Colorado’s bluest district, Neguse has become one of Congress’ most vocal cheerleaders for cutting down tens of millions of acres of carbon-storing forests across the West, one of the largest sources of CO2 emissions in the U.S.

Of course, the unprecedented scale and scope of forest “fuel reduction” that Neguse promotes is challenged by a vast and growing body of peer-reviewed science showing landscape-wide tree removal won’t do a thing to stop the large weather-driven fires that threaten homes and lives.

To the contrary, this “thinning” — which typically involves clearcutting and often logging mature and old-growth trees over 200 years old — actually heats up and dries out the forest microclimate, which can make fires start easier and burn more intensely, while opening stands that let winds spread flames quicker to nearby communities, potentially overwhelming evacuees and firefighters.

In 2022, Eco-Integrity Alliance put up a billboard in Denver calling out Rep. Neguse for siphoning billions of taxpayer dollars towards forest clearing instead of funding the only action scientifically proven to protect communities from wildfire, home hardening.

Shortly thereafter, Neguse introduced a bill to route a mind-boggling $30 billion towards even more forest “fuel reduction” on public lands. So, when I saw him at a Boulder Farmer’s Market, I handed him a brochure with photos of what he was funding in the forest. To my surprise, he knew my name from a recent opinion piece I’d written for the Daily Camera. Then, to his credit, he invited me and some colleagues to an in-person meeting on the subject of forests, wildfire and climate, telling me to set it up with his staff.

Six months later, after probably two dozen polite and professional emails, nearly as many phone calls, and getting passed along through four staffers before being returned to the original one, a virtual meeting — not in person, as offered — was finally scheduled. Along with myself, we had a nationally renowned wildfire ecologist whose studies are widely published in countless peer-reviewed journals, a forest management analyst with over forty years of experience, and a small farmer whose property abuts one of these “fuel reduction” projects (which, at 116,000 acres, appears to be the largest logging sale in Colorado history).

Needless to say, when we received no link to the meeting the day before, I contacted the office only to learn they’d canceled on us. Adding insult to injury, all our subsequent efforts to reschedule were denied without explanation and finally ignored.

A couple of months ago, while investigating one of the most aggressive versions of this “fuel reduction” in Jefferson County Open Space, I learned that Neguse had personally set up a $358,000 federal grant to hack apart treasured parks Elk Meadow and Alderfer/Three Sisters in Evergreen, including clearcutting and logging mature and old-growth trees up to 211 years old (see photos from Denver Post).

What’s more, Neguse had arranged a second $600,000 grant to finance the construction of a forest road, with potential plans for it to slice through some of the most pristine old growth in Boulder County.

Yet when I contacted Neguse’s office to ask if he knew what these grants were actually funding, I didn’t get so much as a response.

Yes, I believe it’s hypocritical for an elected official who campaigns on the climate and environment to be one of the biggest advocates for forest cutting and the resulting massive release of carbon emissions.

Yes, I believe it’s dangerous for an elected official who claims to want to protect communities from wildfire to route the vast majority of funding towards ineffective and counterproductive “fuel reduction” in forests, instead of the one thing we know for sure actually works, home hardening.

And isn’t this doublespeak from our politicians why so few Americans have any faith left in our so-called participatory democracy or institutions?

Boulder County resident Josh Schlossberg is an award-winning science writer and the Colorado Organizer for Eco-Integrity Alliance (eco-integrityalliance.org).