Purely a Matter of Equality

One of the most debated controversial issues of today’s society is the issue of gay rights. Senators here in Colorado have recently been debating the topic. The Rocky Mountain News reported on a spat between senators when Democrat Sen. Jennifer Veiga proposed the idea of equal health insurance for same sex couples. Veiga made the proposal on Monday, February 23 in Senate Bill 88. She stated that this was purely an equality issue. Many Republican senators, such as Nancy Spense from Centennial and Kevin Lundberg from Berthoud, argued with this idea. The Rocky Mountain News reported senators commenting that it was not time for this sort of change. Perhaps the most shocking argument was that of Republican Sen. Scott Renfro from Greely. Renfro stated, “I am not saying this [being gay] is the only sin that’s out there. We have murder. We have all sorts of sin. We have adultery. And we don’t make laws making those legal and we would never think to make murder legal (On Top Magazine).” Many gay and lesbian peoples, including Veiga, found this extremely offensive. Furthermore, several of the Republican senators pleaded that they do not stand by the remark that their fellow party member made, even if they do not agree with the bill. It is slightly difficult for most to make the analogy between a heinous crime such as murder and a shared affection between two people, even if they are of the same sex.

In 2006 Coloradans voted that ‘marriage’ was between a man and a woman and denied any proposals that would award same sex couples equal rights as married heterosexual couples; however now 17 counties have officially decided not to restrict that equal privileges for homosexual couples. Therefore, on Monday the Legislature gave S.B. 88 the initial ‘o.k.’ regardless to Refro’s comment. S.B. 88 is a bill that awards same sex couples group benefits.

Meanwhile, the rest of the country is not as accepting to these sorts of proposals. There are only two states, Massachusetts and Connecticut, which have allowed same sex marriage in the courts. Many states have had a back-and-forth verdict about whether same sex couples should have the same rights as heterosexual couples. The New York Times reported on states such as Rhode Island that are having issues with the decision to allow bills such as those like Colorado’s to pass. Many of Rhode Island’s dominant senators are opposed to these proposals. Other states such as Utah, New Mexico, Montana, and even California struggle with this change.

Kaitie Haagenstad

Great Government Goes Green

Around the country it seems to me as if the government, both on the national and state levels is trying to become green. It is great that the government is getting involved so we can try to save the planet from ourselves. Here are some regional and national examples of the government involvement that is beginning to go into effect.

The Salt Lake Tribune reported that during a city council meeting in Salt Lake, green initiatives were the topic of discussion. Talks ranged from becoming a more biker friendly city to recycling initiatives and almost everything in-between.

The Telluride Daily Planet reported on the 4-3 vote by the Colorado Senate Business, Labor, and Technology committee to back the ban on plastic bags in grocery stores and other large stores by 2012. Thank goodness, plastic bags have bothered me for years; it seems like such a waste to just throw these bags away. Mandating the use of canvas bags will greatly reduce the use of plastics.

Then on to the help the national government is giving the cause. With our recently passed economic stimulus package green programs are going to be looking good. Commondreams.org reports that almost $60 billion dollars, of the $787 billion stimulus package, is going to green projects and research.

Now that the national and local governments both on our side we need to take these dollars and policies that are coming our way and work on the future of green. Maybe someday the term green will not have the connotation of being eco-friendly because that is how everybody will be.

Royce Johnson

Drilling to the Center of the Earth

There are some interesting debates about drilling for fossil fuels this week in the news. The Arizona Daily Sun published an L.A. Times article on drilling near national parks. Is drilling outside the park boundary legal? Some say that the 1916 Organic Act, which mandates clean air, water and other resources in national parks, would be broken even if the drilling were to be done outside of the boundaries of the park. You would be able to see the roads and see and hear the noisy construction equipment used to search for fossil fuels. Some of the heads of different national parks have spoken out against the Bush administration and say that he caused a problem that we will be fighting for years to come.

It seems energy companies always manage to find the bright side of global warming. Truthout reports that the melting ice caps are uncovering about 25 percent of the Earths oil and gas reserves. It seems also that there is somewhat of a dispute over what country will have the rights to these resources. The maritime law is a little unclear about how far from the coast line of a country gets to claim it's territory.

And while drilling rigs move into these newly uncovered lands, temperatures in Australia have been skyrocketing. Alternet reports that just last week a power station blew up in Melbourne due to absurdly high temperatures in the region, presumably linked to global warming. This caused the train to stop, stop lights blew and half a million homes were without power. There have several deaths that have resulted from these temperatures. The heat wave actually has been impacting professional athletes in the Australian Open tennis tournament. Some have even been taken to the hospital.

Ah, drilling. The answer to every problem.

-Royce Johnson