Author: Kevin Cross Page 1 of 2

The City of Fort Collins is now gathering public input concerning its Land Use Code. Please visit this site and click on the “Share Your Feedback” button. You will only be able to provide feedback on one topic at a time, but you will be able to return to the form to provide feedback on as many other topics as you would like.

As a reminder, the City repealed its “Land Development Code” in January of this year due to public opposition to a number of its provisions. NCALF held a salon on this topic featuring Ross Cunniff of Preserve Fort Collins and Kelly Evans of FoCo Forward on February 10th. To view the recording of that salon, visit this page.

Colorado State University has more than $7 MILLION of its endowment invested in fossil fuels. We’d like to change that. Sign the petition calling for CSU to DIVEST NOW!

We challenge CSU to use its power as the socio-political, economic, and academic center of Fort Collins and the greater Northern Colorado area to move its money from the fossil fuel industry and advocate for a sustainable and just future.

For a university that places so much value on its STARS sustainability rating and paints itself as progressive and environmentally aware, they continue to fund the fossil fuel industry. It is undeniable that the extraction and burning of fossil fuels are causing the climate crisis, and by investing in such, CSU remains complicit in combating it. As a community, we can create a change. Join our movement today, sign the petition or email divestcsu@gmail.com to get involved. 

According to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, it is 100 seconds to midnight – the same as it was in 2020 and 2021, the closest it’s been since the “Doomsday Clock” project was initiated in 1947.  This is largely because the leaders of nuclear-armed states, including the United States and Russia, appear to be sleepwalking their way toward nuclear war.

Partners for Peace is calling for passage of House Resolution 1185, which – among other things – demands that President Biden  “embrace the goals and provisions of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and make nuclear disarmament the centerpiece of the national security policy of the United States.”  Please send a short note to Representative Joe Neguse asking him to cosponsor this bill by clicking here.  You can compose your own message, or send the following one developed by Partners for Peace.  Personalizing your letter is always best.  Thanks!

Subject: Please cosponsor H.R. 1185

Dear Representative Neguse:

I ask you to cosponsor House Resolution 1185, “Embracing the goals and provisions of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,” which was introduced by Representative Jim McGovern on June 16^th of this year.

President Biden casually referred to the possibility of “Armageddon” being touched off as a result of the war in Ukraine.  The U.S. Government should be doing all it can to prevent this from happening.  Much more can be done than is currently being done.  Co-sponsoring and working for passage or H.R. 1185 would be good way for you to help avert nuclear disaster.

That resolution:

“(1) calls on the President to embrace the goals and provisions of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and make nuclear disarmament the centerpiece of the national security policy of the United States; and

(2) calls on the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, all other Federal and congressional leaders of the United States and the American people to lead a global effort to prevent nuclear war by—

(A) renouncing the option of using nuclear weapons first;

(B) ending the President’s sole authority to launch a nuclear attack;

(C) taking the nuclear weapons of the United States off hair-trigger alert;

(D) canceling the plan to replace the nuclear arsenal of the United States with modernized, enhanced weapons; and

(E) actively pursuing a verifiable agreement among nuclear-armed states to mutually eliminate their nuclear arsenals.”

Please sign on to cosponsor H.R. 1185.

Sincerely,

As part of the deal to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, Senators Manchin and Schumer are introducing a separate piece of legislation that would fast-track permit approvals for dangerous fossil fuel projects in September. We need to tell our Congressional delegation to oppose this act.

The bill finally “dropped” on September 21st. As was long anticipated it’s a disaster – it guts bedrock environmental protections, endangers public health, fast-tracks fossil fuels, and pushes approval for Manchin’s pet project, the Mountain Valley Pipeline. You can view the bill here.

This is a dirty deal written by and for the fossil fuel industry. Leader Schumer will attach this legislation to a must-pass government spending bill this September, so we must do everything we can to stop this legislation in its tracks.

Write to your Members of Congress to pledge right now to block any efforts to dish out new fossil fuel handouts by clicking here. The permitting reforms proposed solely benefit the fossil fuel industry. Protecting our communities and climate is more important than giving Senator Manchin another present to take back to his fossil fuel industry donors. Stop the dirty deal.

Have you given up trying to NOT buy your food wrapped in plastic?! FoCo Trash Mob was created out of that frustration, and presented at the Salon on June 24. They are now a Beyond Plastics Affiliate and are collaborating on a NATIONAL send-back as part of plastic-free July. Here’s how to participate LOCALLY in FoCo on July 23rd from 10:00 to 10:15 a.m.

Not in town that day? Just download, sign and mail THIS LETTER along with a piece of Trader Joe’s plastic. Don’t shop at Trader Joe’s? Then, help us with some social media! Contact focotrashmob@gmail.com for more info.

At the salon on Friday, May 13^th, Owen Perkins of CleanSlateNow Action (CSNA) presented on “How to End the Corrupting Influence of Big Money in Politics.”  CSNA is a Colorado-based advocacy organization that works to get big money out of politics locally, statewide, and at the national level.  It has spearheaded local campaign finance reform efforts in Denver, Lakewood, Aurora, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, and Thornton, finding success both through citizens’ ballot initiatives and through city council action.  To receive CSNA’s newsletter and get involved, please respond to their brief survey available here.

With growing global efforts to decrease reliance on fossil fuels in the power, transportation and building sectors, the fossil fuel industry has been quietly mounting a campaign to increase our dependence on fossil fuels through the use of synthetic fibers in the manufacturing of clothing.  At the same time, marketing encourages consumers to speed up the cycle of buy-wear-toss, creating additional problems of waste disposal, microfibers and other forms of pollution.

Educate yourself so that you can make wise choices in your purchasing decisions and advocate for needed changes at the industry level.

The following two websites provide additional information.

1. Fossil Fashion https://changingmarkets.org/portfolio/fossil-fashion/
2. The Story of Stuff https://www.storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-microfibers/

Big Banks are playing a key role in propping up the oil and gas industry that is polluting our atmosphere. We don’t want our money to be used to bankroll climate destruction. Seventy percent of the country’s financial assets belong to Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation, compared with about five percent for millennials. Who can influence the banks? We can!

So, let’s act together and use our collective power. There are two pledges, one for current customers or credit card holders of any of the Big Four Banks – Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, and/or Wells Fargo (including, for example, Amazon cards issued by Chase), and one for people who aren’t currently customers.

Here’s the link for current customers of Chase, Citibank, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo to sign the pledge.

Here’s the link for for people who are NOT customers of Chase, Citibank, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo to sign the pledge.

This action brought to us by Third Act.