{"id":304,"date":"2010-02-14T21:03:57","date_gmt":"2010-02-15T03:03:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.boulderblueline.org\/?p=304"},"modified":"2010-05-11T14:03:06","modified_gmt":"2010-05-11T20:03:06","slug":"city-council-priorities-taking-the-long-view","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boulderblueline.org\/?p=304","title":{"rendered":"City Council Priorities: Taking the Long View"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In early January, the Daily Camera interviewed City Council members regarding their goals (see here<\/a>) for the coming year,\u00a0 in preparation for the goal setting retreat that occurred later in the month.\u00a0 As I read through the goals \u2013 everything from meeting times to revenue stability \u2013 it made me think about what goals I would set for the City we all love.\u00a0 I have a sixteen year old son, so I tend to think about what things we could be doing now that would make Boulder an even better place for him and his kids (at least in my estimation) than the great place we enjoy today.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>After a lot of reflection, I distilled the top 3 things I\u2019d like to see for Boulder, and a few short term goals for each that would move us in the right direction. \u201cWhat,\u201d you may be asking yourself, \u201cmakes her think that she knows what\u2019s best for Boulder?\u201d \u00a0Of course, I don\u2019t \u2013 this is just my opinion, based on my view of the World.\u00a0 I hope that this list inspires you to think about what your \u201ctop 3\u201d would be, and that it might even get you to take some action toward making Boulder an even better place, whatever that means to you.\u00a0 So, here goes:<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Top 3 Visions for Boulder\u201d<\/p>\n

1. Make Boulder 100% Energy Independent From Renewable Resources<\/strong><\/h3>\n

OK, I know that you skeptics are already ticking off the reasons that this is an impossible dream \u2013 but I would argue that if we even came close to this vision the impact on Boulder and our World would be so huge and multi-faceted that it merits our most serious consideration.\u00a0 Roughly speaking, the last generation of Boulderites gave us Open Space and bike paths, the generation before that ensured our water rights, and the generation before that pulled together to bring us the University of Colorado.\u00a0 I\u2019ll bet all of those visions seemed pretty impossible at the time \u2013 but if you take the long view, and start moving in a certain direction you might find that you\u2019ve made some pretty substantial progress in a generation or two.<\/p>\n

Rocky Mountain Institute calls renewable energy a \u201csolution multiplier\u201d \u2013 one thing we can do that yields many, many returns, including but not limited to:<\/p>\n