December 5, 2007:
The meeting took place at Front Range Community College. This was the annual Christmas Pot-Luck dinner.
The meeting was called to order by Co-president Marilyn.
Membership was reminded that the date for January 2008 meeting would be moved to January 16th, because the first Wednesday of the month was too close to the New Year’s Holiday. Deb Gardner gave a presentation about the 2008 Caucus. Members voted to table a review of the Bylaw changes until the January 2008 meeting. Richard Juday was introduced as a candidate for the At Large seat in the upcoming Municipal Special Election in January, 2008. A cookbook drawing was held.
The following officers were elected to serve in 2008:
Marilyn Hughes-President
Bob Roy- Vice President
Jack Wolfe-Secretary
Bob Norris-Treasurer
Pat Davis-Member at Large
Program:
Jim Martin, Governor Ritter’s Executive Director of Public Health and Environment, spoke about issues around global warming, renewable energy and other environmental concerns facing the state. He spoke at length on the Governor’s proposal, “Colorado Climate Action Plan, A Strategy to Address Global Warming” which was released in November.
He explained that the plan was developed over several months, in collaboration with business and community leaders, conservationists, scientists and concerned citizens. Its aim was to develop and support energy efficiency measures that would reduce demand for electrical energy and lower utility bills; continue to expand on the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard, and find additional ways to develop the state’s renewable energy supplies. It included a goal for making cars and trucks run more cleanly and efficiently. It also provided a plan to help rural Colorado by creating economic incentives for major utilities and industries to pay farmers and ranchers to sequester more carbon in the soil. For more information, the complete plan could be found on Governor Ritter’s website. He also spoke about these issues in a worldwide context, giving information regarding organizations and research groups that are working on these problems throughout the world. Overall, his presentation was very upbeat, and he stated that he was optimistic about the future, adding that he believed it was still not too late to be able to solve the many environmental issues facing the world today. He answered lots of questions posed by the members.
