OPINION: Voting Advice from a Colorado Activist

Climate change and a vast number of environmental calamities continue to devour Colorado’s environment and public health.

These calamities include a long list:

• bad air quality,
• increased wildfires,
• devastating new dams and diversions on rivers,
• traffic congestion,
• crowding on trails, parks, public lands, and natural areas,
• more and more oil and gas drilling and fracking,
• suburban sprawl and the loss of farmland,
• and housing development moving farther and faster into Colorado’s mountains, wild landscapes, and habitats.

These environmental calamities have one common denominator and cause, human population growth, which is driven by public policy and elected decision-makers in Colorado. In a recent Denver Post news story, I called this government-pervading phenomenon, “growthism”, and stated that “growthism is eviscerating the soul of the natural and cultural landscape of our state”.

In the November 2020 election in Colorado, citizens and legislators have put several statewide propositions and amendments on the ballot related to growth that allow you, as a voter, to fight ‘growthism’ and protect the environment. Below is a quick guide for “how to vote for the environment and fight growthism” in Colorado in this election:

Amendment 76: Vote “YES”. This amendment requires that every Colorado voter be a US citizen. There’s a long convoluted story behind this amendment, but the short version of the story is that if non-citizens are allowed to vote, they could potentially make it easier for non-citizens to enter Colorado, be financially supported in Colorado, and vote in Colorado, thus increasing population growth. In 2016, it was estimated that 329,000 non-citizens lived in Colorado. At this point, zero money has been spent against this amendment, and it will surely pass.

Proposition 113: Vote “NO”. This proposition tries to change the “electoral college” system, for how the president of the US is chosen, by turning it into a “national popular vote” (NPV) system. Not so fast, I say – if NPV is used to pick the president, then the most populous cities and counties in the US will have the most sway in picking the president. NPV would create a “tyranny of the urban majority” where urbanites – and their worldviews, politics, and policies – would have dramatically more influence on who runs for president and who wins. I lean towards supporting rural landscapes, wild places, and policies that are not dominated by densely packed humanity. Urban policies tend to support and create the opposite – more growth, higher taxes, and more environmental degradation.

Proposition 114: Vote “YES!” This proposition reintroduces wolves to Colorado. Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, wolves – a native and now endangered species – were wiped out in Colorado by killing, trapping, poisoning and all manner of disgusting means. Wolves deserve to be reintroduced, to claim their rightful role on Colorado’s wild landscapes to restore a balance of nature that will make the ecology of our state more healthy.

Proposition 115: Vote “NO”. This proposition has almost nothing to do with the environment, but it changes state law to restrict late-term abortion services. In general, restricting family planning and women’s healthcare decisions is a terrible precedent. As such, this proposition would be a “camel’s nose under the tent” to further restrict family planning and women’s rights which do have serious environmental implications. Women’s rights are environmental rights.

Proposition 116: Vote “YES”. This proposition lowers the state income tax rate from 4.63% to 4.55%. As discussed below, Colorado’s government funding apparatus is a complete mess, almost all of which is because the state and local governments have fueled and subsidized massive population growth without requiring that growth to pay its own way. Therefore, the majority of the state budget has now shifted over to “fees” (which you don’t get to vote for) -vs- taxes (which you do get to vote for). Voting for this tax decrease helps send a message that growth should pay its own way.

Proposition 117: Vote “YES!” This proposition requires that larger government “enterprises” that want to enact or increase fees (see above) actually get voter approval before doing so. The state and almost all local governments have created “government enterprises” that charge fees as an end-run around getting voter approval for enacting and increasing those fees. Voting “YES” sends a message that growth should pay its own way, rather than creating and raising fees to fuel and subsidize new growth without your approval.

Proposition 118: Vote “YES”: Environmental degradation is a public health problem, and larger human populations increase environmental degradation. Further, population growth drives healthcare spending higher and higher. This proposition requires “paid medical and family leave” in Colorado which offers just a little relief against the political machine driving growthism that is degrading our health and environment in Colorado.

Amendment B: Vote “NO”. As Colorado’s growth has devoured Colorado’s environment, most state and local governments have fueled and subsidized this growth by not charging that growth, and not charging developers, the true cost of growth. Instead, they raise taxes and fees on people – you – who already live here. This crazy amendment actually tries to even further subsidize growth by significantly increasing your property taxes. Again, vote “NO!” and send a powerful message that growth must pay its own way.

Proposition EE: Vote “NO!” This proposition is a “sin tax” that increases taxes on tobacco, a product that is used significantly more by poor people in Colorado. Part of the tax money would be used to fund general education programs that lack funds because of the way that growth has been fueled and subsidized in Colorado. Literally, this tax would take money from poor people addicted to tobacco and subsidize wealthy developers who aren’t charged the cost of growth. This tax is repugnant – vote a loud “NO” to send a message that growth must pay its own way.

Over the past six months, a loud public conversation has occurred in Colorado and the U.S. about the “isms” that are degrading the public’s health, our environment, and our democracy. “Growthism” should be at or near the top of that list of “isms”, and you can take a stand against it in the 2020 Colorado election.