As you look across the Golden skyline, yet another giant motel rises out of the rocks near the Harley-Davidson building on the southside of the city. That means more cars, more carbon exhaust and more traffic gridlock.
It also equates to other consequences: horrific crowding of Clear Creek in the summer with more people trying to enjoy the water. It means higher electricity bills because of greater demand. That, in turn, equates to higher food bills. With added population, every cost of living factor rises in price. You pay and then, you pay more.
But there are more hidden costs. In 2005, the High Country News published an article on “roadkill” across America. A mind-numbing 11.5 vertebrate animals are run over every second as they scurry across our highways. That equates to 1,000,000 daily and 365 million animal deaths annually. (Source: HCN, Roadkill Statistics, February 7, 2005)
So, you might ask the Golden City Council and City Planners why they keep rubber stamping building projects that guarantee the deaths of more wild animals on the roads of Colorado? Why would they knowingly participate in those kinds of major consequences just for the sake of growth?
Wouldn’t it be more reasonable to vote into law some rational bills that would benefit every citizen, and the animals: “Golden Population Stabilization Policy…Golden Carrying Capacity Policy…Golden Quality of Life Policy….and more.”
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all cities followed Golden’s wise choices?
Frosty Wooldridge,
Golden