Tell it to the Chieftain
Pueblo: A renewable energy leader in the Centennial State
Pueblo is poised to become a trailblazer in renewable energy in Colorado, with the city soon hosting one of the state's first hydrogen fueling stations. This development, supported by a $9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, is a testament to the forward-thinking clean energy investments that keep Colorado responsive to escalating energy needs.Investments in energy resources like wind, solar, battery storage, and hydrogen enhance the reliability of our power grid and help keep costs down for consumers. More importantly, they bring substantial economic benefits to host communities.Colorado currently boasts a renewable energy capacity of 7,773 megawatts, sufficient to power 2.7 million homes. This capacity contributes $22.8 million in tax revenue to local communities annually and is part of a broader investment that injects $15 billion into Colorado, supporting a workforce of 15,800.The new hydrogen fuel hub in Pueblo exemplifies the kind of project that drives economic growth in Colorado. As Pueblo’s energy efficiency coordinator, it is my mission to achieve the city’s renewable energy goals, ensuring we attract high-caliber development. This project is hopefully the first of many, marking the beginning of ongoing renewable energy development for Pueblo.With visionary renewable energy leadership, we can ensure a sustainable future that everyone feels good about. Pueblo’s role in this movement sets a strong example for other communities, underscoring our commitment to advancing clean energy initiatives.
Read more about why Pueblo should go all in on hydrogen.
George Andrews, energy efficiency coordinator for the city of Pueblo
Re: A proud tradition
Americans have a long and storied tradition of speaking out against injustice and human suffering. The right to gather, make noise and protest is not just a right but an obligation. Easy to recall are the civil rights, antiwar and farmworker movements which, if nothing else, brought many of us to uncomfortably reexamine our own value systems even if we were not directly affected by what we were demonstrating for.
When carried out in a peaceful manner, the experiences did some good things like being a little kinder to our brothers and sisters for a little while. Maybe they helped to elevate public discussions about how we share this world, and how it seems to work better when we work it together. They also inevitably laid bare the reality that not all of us will ever grow to think that way no matter what.
We might see it today as an inconvenient subject when injustice and human suffering is happening halfway around the world. Hey, I wouldn’t know a so-and-so if they reached out and bit me. So why bother we ask?
When the process becomes skewed by imprecise, biased media coverage and meddling politicians who frequently don’t know what they are talking about, the original message gets buried deep in the pile of so-called “alternative facts” in favor of a bunch of talking heads who espouse baloney about who is a patriot and who isn’t. At the heart of the recent college campus demonstrations is the basic truth that the targeted slaughter and humiliation of more than 34,000 Palestinians, and displacement of a million more, is barbaric and inhuman. Politics and history be damned when they are overtaken by madness and cruelty.
I am comfortable with my belief the great majority of the students protesting do so in the spirit and best traditions of speaking out when one sees something going horribly wrong. Outside agitators and anarchists will always be outed and shall forever remain on the fringe of any political discussion.
Michael McArthur, Pueblo West
To submit a letter to the editor, email Editor Zach Hillstrom at zhillstrom@gannett.com. All letters may be edited for grammar and AP style. Letters that are wholly false in nature, discriminatory, offensive, obscene, or violent in any way will not run. There is only a certain amount of space allotted for letters each week. Letters received first have priority.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Tell it to the Chieftain
