The West and Energy

Sane and balanced article that appeared in the Sunday Denver Post, "Energy and the West: Region has many views on the issue"

Debates over energy production in the West generate an abundance of friction and heat. Regrettably, no engineer has yet seized on this opportunity and designed the equipment to generate electricity from what seems to be an endlessly renewable resource: human contention. Instead, the heat generated by our quarrels merely warms our individual and collective tempers.

And yet, over the last year and a half, we at the University of Colorado's Center of the American West have had our spirits raised, our hopes affirmed, and our tempers cooled and calmed by the chance to see the best in the various combatants and antagonists in the energy battles. Since the publication of our report, "What Every Westerner Should Know about Energy," in July 2003, we've experimented with our own version of "shuttle diplomacy," carrying messages and doing our best to understand the perspectives of many groups that have been tolerant and gracious in allowing us to visit and learn from them.

By Patricia Limerick and Claudia Puska