War between Israel and Gaza is dehumanizing all of us

In regard to Gali Beh’s Guest Opinion on November 27, I feel the need to defend our City Council member Taishya Adams. I’ve been incredibly impressed with Ms. Adams’ dedication to our community and people from other cultures. On the few occasions that I’ve attended a City Council meeting, I’ve found Ms. Adams to be engaged and eager to offer creative ideas and solutions to Boulder’s problems. My discussions and encounters with Taishya lead me to believe that she meant no harm in saying either blood is on her hands or our hands! The idiom ”blood on ones hands” is ancient and today commonly used to criticize individuals or groups who have caused harm to others through their actions, inactions, or decisions. The Guest Opinion section should not be used as an avenue for shaming public officials, rather I expect such opinion pieces to be informed.

I returned less than a week ago from Israel and the West Bank. I was part of a delegation to be in solidarity and learn from those engaged in Palestinian liberation. We spoke with Christians, Jews and Muslims and visited the Gaza border. It is clear to me that, with so many senseless deaths, demolitions and detention centers, this war and the occupation is dehumanizing all of us. I support Taishya in her belief that it would be in Boulder’s interest to make a statement that we are for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza, an arms embargo and divestment for companies profiting in the war. To make a policy that we never take a stand on international affairs is most likely impossible to promise for perpetuity. Wars elsewhere affect the environment, psyche and health of all of us.

— Brenda Mehos, Boulder

Front Range air quality is failure of state leadership

The Boulder-Denver metro’s infamous brown cloud is a symptom of a more serious problem: from May 1 through November 21, the Denver Metro region’s air quality has been rated as “Good” on only 14 days, according to monitoring conducted by the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment. There have not been more than three consecutive days of “Good” air quality in seven months! During that period, more than twice as many days have had air quality rated as “Unhealthy” or “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups.” This is an unconscionable failure of the state’s leaders to deal effectively with the area’s long-standing air pollution troubles.

Denver has the seventh worst air quality in the U.S., and has been in “severe” violation of EPA’s national ozone standard since 2022.

Elected leaders and regulators must do more to protect the public from air pollution. For example, oil and gas companies should be required to prove that flares used in their operations actually reduce emissions of methane and volatile organic compounds by 95%. Currently, the state simply assumes the flares are effective. This gift to the oil and gas industry must end, or the state will be complicit in the damage done to public health and the environment from harmful air pollution.

— Ronald L. Rudolph, Golden

Talk about anything to anyone

This is America! On the flight from Denver to LA, the day before Thanksgiving, I sat between two truck drivers: one an immigrant from El Salvador, one from Guatemala. I am first generation American. One was a Trump supporter, the other an Evangelical Christian. I am neither, but we had a respectful fascinating discussion on politics, religion and immigration. I asked to hear their stories. After the election, I made the decision to talk about anything to anyone, as long as there was mutual respect. We sat down next to each other as strangers, we left as friends.

— Jenny Devaud, Boulder