My City is Insane

[Singlestack]

I live in Lafayette (Boulder Cty). There is a new measure being considered called the "Climate Bill of Rights". The text of it is below.
I attended a city council meeting last week along with about 150 others, mostly environmental activists, to present our views to the councilors. You could pretty much guess accurately based on appearance which side people were supporting. Millennials, earth muffins, hippies - for it (to save gaia). Old guys (not all white, BTW - to save the city from the nutjobs). Anyway, just read the section at the end called "Direct Action enforcement" and see what you think. Believe it or not, there are 2 on the city council in favor of it.


AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LAFAYETTE, COLORADO, ENACTING THE CLIMATE BILL OF RIGHTS AND PROTECTIONS
WHEREAS, the people of the City of Lafayette declare alignment with the Seven Generations principle of the indigenous First Nations, understand the environment as common to all and base these actions upon its indefinite protection; and

WHEREAS, the people of the City of Lafayette have found that global environmental destruction, which includes degradation to the climate, ecosystems, flora, fauna, land, and water,constitutes an emergency that threatens our very survival;

WHEREAS, the people of the City of Lafayette have found that the extraction of coal, oil and gas, and disposal of drilling waste within the City would significantly contribute to global environmental destruction; and

WHEREAS, the people of the City of Lafayette declare that they have a right to a healthy climate, and that right is violated by the extraction of coal, oil and gas, and disposal of drilling waste within the City

Now here are the measures enacted by this POS:
Section 1.Climate Bill of Rights
.
(a)Right to a HealthyClimate

. All residents and ecosystems of the City of Lafayette possess a right to a healthy climate, which shall include the right to be free from all activities that interfere with that right, including the extraction of coal, oil, or gas, or disposal of

drilling waste within the City of Lafayette.

(b) Right to Local, Community Self-Government

. All residents of the City of Lafayette possess the right to a form of governance, which recognizes that all power is inherent in the people of the City, and that all free governments are founded on the people’s authority and consent. Laws

adopted by the people of the City shall only be preempted or nullified if they interfere with rights secured by the state or federal constitution to the people of the City, or if they interfere with protections provided to the people or ecosystems of the City by state, federal, or international law.

(c) Right to Enforce

. All residents of the City of Lafayette possess the right to enforce this law. To secure this right, entities which violate the people’s right to a healthy climate shall not be deemed to be “persons,” nor possess any other legal rights, privileges, powers, or protections which would interfere with the enforcement of that right.


Section 2.Direct Enforcement
.

(a)Direct Action Enforcement

. If the City of Lafayette fails to enforce or defend this law, or a court fails to uphold this law, any person may enforce this law through nonviolent direct action. If nonviolent direct action is taken to enforce the provisions of this law, law enforcement personnel employed by the City of Lafayette shall be prohibited from arresting or detaining persons directly enforcing this law. “Direct action” as used by this provision shall mean any activities carried out to directly enforce the prohibitions of this law.

Section 3
.If any article, section, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance is held to be unconstitutional or invalid for any reason, such decision shall not affect the validity or constitutionality of the remaining portions of this ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed this ordinance and each part or parts hereof irrespective of the fact that any one part or parts be declared unconstitutional or invalid.

Section 4
. All other ordinances or portions thereof inconsistent or conflicting with this ordinance or any portion hereof is hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistency or conflict.

Section 5
.The repeal or modification of any provision of the Code of Ordinances of Lafayette, Colorado by this ordinance shall not release, extinguish, alter, modify or change in whole or in part any penalty, forfeiture or liability, either civil or criminal, which shall have been incurred under such provision. Each provision shall be treated and held as still remaining in force for the purpose of sustaining any and all proper actions, suits, proceedings and prosecutions for enforcement of the penalty, forfeiture or liability, as well as for the purpose of sustaining any judgment, decree or order which can or may be rendered, entered or made in such actions, suits, proceedings or prosecutions.

Section 6
.This ordinance is deemed necessary for the protection of the health, welfare and safety of the community.

[roberth]

LOL - grasping at straws

[wctriumph]

I would say that you are right.

[spqrzilla]

That's completely nuts.

[CS1983]

They should have it enforced against them for stealing oxygen.

[JohnnyDrama]

(c) Right to Enforce

. All residents of the City of Lafayette possess the right to enforce this law. To secure this right, entities which violate the people’s right to a healthy climate shall not be deemed to be “persons,” nor possess any other legal rights, privileges, powers, or protections which would interfere with the enforcement of that right

dafuq?

[Irving]

Yikes. No thanks.

[brutal]

Makes as much sense as


https://www.ar-15.co/attachment.php?attachmentid=68896&d=1361177099

[Skip]

Finally, signs of life from another planet! [LOL]

I say cut off their power, water, gas, and anything else that is produced outside the city if they're so concerned. If entities don't have rights they probably shouldn't be doing business there. They can poop in a bucket, toss it in the gutter, and see how healthy that is.

[Gman]

Everyone supporting this should be required to give up all benefits of modern civilization and become an indigenous nomad. They can then enjoy their own company in the wilderness, communing with nature. A nature which maintains the right to kill you.

[Zundfolge]

Can someone translate that into English and TL;DR it for those of us adhd folk raised on Ritalin?

[roberth]

Everyone supporting this should be required to give up all benefits of modern civilization and become an indigenous nomad. They can then enjoy their own company in the wilderness, communing with nature. A nature which maintains the right to kill you.

That is what I always tell those people, but they only want ME to change MY lifestyle.

[Bailey Guns]

I heard today that President Trump cancelled some bullshit climate change conference by the CDC. WTF does the CDC have to do with climate change? Anyway, the news report said there was no indication as to why the conference was cancelled. Ummm...I have a good idea.

[Gman]

That is what I always tell those people, but they only want ME to change MY lifestyle.
Just like those protesting the pipeline: take away all of the products they were using made from petroleum, and they would have been wet and cold without much of anything.

[Skip]

Can someone translate that into English and TL;DR it for those of us adhd folk raised on Ritalin?

In an attempt to prevent fracking, they wrote an idiotic resolution that gives any resident the (apparent but not actual) right to enforce against anyone who is accused of violating the right to a "healthy climate."

No law enforcement, no courts (due process), no resolution with conflicting state laws.

They outlined what enforcement could mean as "any person may enforce this law through nonviolent direct action" (should the city fail to enforce, which it will because it can't).

This means according to the city council it is legal to sabotage fracking operations but also slash your neighbor's tires, cut the power to a house, etc... Anything an envirowacko thinks is polluting can be targeted.

They truly are fools. I wonder if they were wearing Pussy Hats when they wrote this?

[Big E3]

(c) Right to Enforce

. All residents of the City of Lafayette possess the right to enforce this law. To secure this right, entities which violate the people’s right to a healthy climate shall not be deemed to be “persons,” nor possess any other legal rights, privileges, powers, or protections which would interfere with the enforcement of that right.

Does this mean anyone breaking their law is not considered to be human? Can they be killed because they are not a person? If I break their law do I as a person just vanish? If a person breaks their law, and they are no longer a person, they cannot be sued since they don’t exist as an person?

[roberth]

Just like those protesting the pipeline: take away all of the products they were using made from petroleum, and they would have been wet and cold without much of anything.

...and I am tired of their crap.

I work with a couple of them, one of them drives a C-Max and just bought a Jeep Wrangler 4-door (a travesty in and of itself IMO). I haven't asked yet if it is an electric Jeep.

[WETWRKS]

(c) Right to Enforce

. All residents of the City of Lafayette possess the right to enforce this law. To secure this right, entities which violate the people’s right to a healthy climate shall not be deemed to be “persons,” nor possess any other legal rights, privileges, powers, or protections which would interfere with the enforcement of that right.

Does this mean anyone breaking their law is not considered to be human? Can they be killed because they are not a person? If I break their law do I as a person just vanish? If a person breaks their law, and they are no longer a person, they cannot be sued since they don’t exist as an person?

Yep...and following that you are stripped of any rights.

[CS1983]

Seems appropriate:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G880gxjj9dI

[ray1970]

People who support this should be chemically castrated.

[sampson]

Seems appropriate:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G880gxjj9dI
I wish i could unsee this... wow

[Martinjmpr]

Can someone translate that into English and TL;DR it for those of us adhd folk raised on Ritalin?

It's a silly way to try and prevent oil or gas exploration and extraction. And it's stupid because I'll bet most of the county sits on split estate lands (that is, the surface estate belongs to one owner and the mineral rights belong to another.) If someone who owns the mineral rights attempts to exercise those rights and the city stops them, it would be called a "regulatory taking" and the city - which is to say the taxpayers - will be liable to pay the fair market value of the mineral rights taken which could run into the millions pretty easily.

BTW wasn't Lafayette originally built as a coal mining town? Or am I thinking of Louisville? [ROFL1]

[buffalobo]

Nuke it from space, it's the only way.

[buffalobo]

Seriously, you folks that live there need to run those councilors out on a rail.

[cstone]

The city isn't officially insane until they pass it into law. Then they are certifiably insane. Right now they are just Questioning as in LGBTQ.

[WETWRKS]

It is probably the same group that stopped the sale of our church for about 8 years because they didn't want any changes made to the property.

[DenverGP]

BTW wasn't Lafayette originally built as a coal mining town?

From wikipedia:


On January 6, 1890,[2] the town of Lafayette was incorporated. Lafayette quickly became a part of the coal-mining boom that all of eastern Boulder and southwestern Weld counties were experiencing, with the Cannon and Simpson mines being the largest and most productive.

[DireWolf]

Nuke it from space, it's the only way.
Nah, space-based anti-personnel lasers are the way to go.....Gotta think of the environment, and it might even help minimize the carbon footprint ;)

[WETWRKS]

BTW wasn't Lafayette originally built as a coal mining town? Or am I thinking of Louisville? [ROFL1]

Louisville/Lafayette was the wet town in Boulder County during prohibition. There were about 13 speakeasies in the area. The coal miners linked them all via tunnels. When one location would get raided they would slip thru the tunnels and start the party at the next place. The tunnels still exist to some extent.

[rondog]

Reckon I'd better stay away from Lafayette. There's been known to be occasional air pollution in my presence...... Don't want no damned screeching hippies chasing me around.

[OldFogey]

Nah, space-based anti-personnel lasers are the way to go.....Gotta think of the environment, and it might even help minimize the carbon footprint ;)

Kinetic energy strike. Don't need brilliant pebbles. Just big rocks. Totally suck taking them up out of our gravity well, but it appears that it would be worth it.

[Rucker61]

It's a silly way to try and prevent oil or gas exploration and extraction. And it's stupid because I'll bet most of the county sits on split estate lands (that is, the surface estate belongs to one owner and the mineral rights belong to another.) If someone who owns the mineral rights attempts to exercise those rights and the city stops them, it would be called a "regulatory taking" and the city - which is to say the taxpayers - will be liable to pay the fair market value of the mineral rights taken which could run into the millions pretty easily.

They took care of that. If those rights are owned by a corporation, that corporation no longer has the right to legal redress. The corporation can't sue in a court of law, as they don't have rights.

[Singlestack]

Obviously this measure is toast at least because it is both unenforceable and unconstitutional. One of the biggest whack job bills I've ever seen. For example, any law in conflict with this is deemed to be repealed (not just superceded) - can't be enforced in the future. I only had 5 minutes for my response, and decided to make the following points:

1. Completely vague on what Non-Violent Direction means, but very specific on effect on police and conflicting laws
2. Seems to allow all the crappy protester activities any normal person loathes: vandalism, theft, blocking traffic/access, urination, defecation, animal poo, littering, camping/vagrancy
3. Assumes the police will be unjust/unfair
4. Puts protester rights above rights of residents
5. Law would be above all other laws and clear violation of supremacy statutes

[sniper7]

Wow that is nuts. As is the crying hippy video

[Irving]

Every person that ever straddled two lanes on the highway to prevent traffic from going around the "line," creamed their panties at the mere mention of this law proposal.

[Great-Kazoo]

Obviously this measure is toast at least because it is both unenforceable and unconstitutional.


2. Seems to allow all the crappy protester activities any normal person loathes: vandalism, theft, blocking traffic/access, urination, defecation, animal poo, littering, camping/vagrancy
3. Assumes the police will be unjust/unfair
4. Puts protester rights above rights of residents



Yet a few cities have ignored the law when it came to OWC, BLM and post election protest. Like a Sanctuary City , the laws are only as good as the city council that governs them.

The unwritten idea of looking the other way, has morphed in to one of Here's some gas and matches, enjoy your outrage.

[Martinjmpr]

It's silly but not surprising. This is one of the consequences of Boulder's decisions years ago to restrict growth.

Here's what I mean: back in (I believe) the 1970's, the city of Boulder saw what was happening in nearby cities including Denver, where suburban sprawl was spreading the cities out for miles and miles. The Boulder folks decided they didn't like that so IIRC they either purchased land surrounding Boulder, or got an easement on that land and prevented it from being developed which gives Boulder a nice little "green belt" all around.

Of course, anyone who can add 2+2 could have predicted what happened next: Boulder's booming economy started adding jobs - but since they couldn't expand the city (due to the green belt) and it was tough to build more housing units (due to restrictive zoning laws), that meant that several very predictable things occurred: Housing prices in Boulder itself skyrocketed (increased demand + limited supply), parking and public transportation became a nightmare, AND, the nearby Suburbs like Broomfield, Lafayette, Louisville, Superior and Longmont - all of which were outside Boulder's Green Belt - became the only places that people who worked in Boulder could afford to live.

In essence, Boulder didn't prevent urban sprawl - they simply exported their urban sprawl to nearby (less affluent) cities.

It's kind of like the way people who live in LA and drive electric cars aren't "non-polluting", they're just exporting their pollution to the rural areas where the power plants (that generate the electricity for their cars) are located.

Anyway, the lefty-ness of Lafayette, Louisville, Superior, Longmont, etc, is a result of the fact that those places have become bedroom communities for Boulder - people who work or go to school in Boulder but can't afford to live there. So it shouldn't surprise anyone that they keep trying to turn their little suburbs into mini-me Boulders. ;)

[CS1983]

It's silly but not surprising. This is one of the consequences of Boulder's decisions years ago to restrict growth.

Here's what I mean: back in (I believe) the 1970's, the city of Boulder saw what was happening in nearby cities including Denver, where suburban sprawl was spreading the cities out for miles and miles. The Boulder folks decided they didn't like that so IIRC they either purchased land surrounding Boulder, or got an easement on that land and prevented it from being developed which gives Boulder a nice little "green belt" all around.

Of course, anyone who can add 2+2 could have predicted what happened next: Boulder's booming economy started adding jobs - but since they couldn't expand the city (due to the green belt) and it was tough to build more housing units (due to restrictive zoning laws), that meant that several very predictable things occurred: Housing prices in Boulder itself skyrocketed (increased demand + limited supply), parking and public transportation became a nightmare, AND, the nearby Suburbs like Broomfield, Lafayette, Louisville, Superior and Longmont - all of which were outside Boulder's Green Belt - became the only places that people who worked in Boulder could afford to live.

In essence, Boulder didn't prevent urban sprawl - they simply exported their urban sprawl to nearby (less affluent) cities.

It's kind of like the way people who live in LA and drive electric cars aren't "non-polluting", they're just exporting their pollution to the rural areas where the power plants (that generate the electricity for their cars) are located.

Anyway, the lefty-ness of Lafayette, Louisville, Superior, Longmont, etc, is a result of the fact that those places have become bedroom communities for Boulder - people who work or go to school in Boulder but can't afford to live there. So it shouldn't surprise anyone that they keep trying to turn their little suburbs into mini-me Boulders. ;)

Solid points...

Between the formatting (bold and italic usage) and the way you broke that down quickly reminded me of Karl Denninger at https://market-ticker.org/

[crays]

Remind me again which side is being accused of being Nazis?

sent from me

[Singlestack]

One other point I made that I forgot to mention is this type of bill, if it were to somehow become law, would make Lafayette a magnet for the "professional class" out of state protesters like we have seen at most of the national leftist protests. We would see busloads arriving who would be prepared to stay as long as they wanted. My property value would decrease due to the blight these types of anarchists bring. In fact, at the hearing I only heard one supporter speak who claimed to be a city resident - all the rest were from other cities or out of state.

[roberth]

Did the out-of-staters walk here or did they pilot a fossil fueled vehicle to get here?

That is the problem with (D), they are totalitarian, lying hypocrites.

[sampson]

They rode unicorns

[Skip]

They rode unicorns

Did the unicorns fart?

[roberth]

Did the unicorns fart?

Only after the unicorn ate the moron.

[Skip]

Only after the unicorn ate the moron.

Then according to this resolution, it's perfectly legal to kill unicorns.

Good job Liberals!

[Rumline]

Wow...just wow.... I used to live in Lafayette (for 3 months) and had no idea just how lefty loony it was there. I mean I knew it was near Boulder, but my neighbors seemed reasonable at least. Only one house whose cars had Bernie stickers on them.

[Singlestack]

I understand the measure is being promoted by 2 of the 9 city council members. One councilor is a conservative neighbor of mine and thats how I got involved, I really don't think most people here are that looney as to support it - they just don't know about it (yet). However, this IS Boulder County and I am pretty far to the right of most.

[brutal]

Did that woman they pulled off the plane author this one?

Not sure because I didn't see gravity mentioned.

[Ah Pook]

My first question to all the "concerned" citizens would be how many drive their vehicle to the meeting that night.

Isn't fracking banned in Boulder Co already?

[roberth]

My first question to all the "concerned" citizens would be how many drive their vehicle to the meeting that night.

Isn't fracking banned in Boulder Co already?

They're just doubling down on the stupidity and hypocrisy.

[Zundfolge]

You'd never get all the gasoline providers to come together on this, but it would be funny if you could get all of them to decide to close down all their gas stations in these "no fracking" cities, towns and counties.

[roberth]

You'd never get all the gasoline providers to come together on this, but it would be funny if you could get all of them to decide to close down all their gas stations in these "no fracking" cities, towns and counties.

That is a great idea, then those idiots would have to use even more gas.

[Gman]

Make 'em drive for their fix of hypocrisy.[Coffee]

[BushMasterBoy]

Trump banned this nonsense from his side. EPA banned from social media.

[Dave_L]

Some days, I feel like its not just your city but the entire country is insane.

[Singlestack]

I understand that people may differ on oil and gas exploration based on potential pollution and "climate change". While I believe the pollution risks can be meaningfully minimized and that global warming/climate change is the biggest hoax perpetrated on modern cultures, I know there are many who feel the opposite and probably won't be swayed. But what bothers me is the overt lawlessness of this measure, regardless of the underlying oil/gas concerns. Yes, our country is deeply divided, but as far as I can tell only the left promotes anarchy and lawlessness as a means to an end. This is the kind of stuff the Communist party and SDS was promoting in the 50s and 60s. So, I'm left with a feeling that many on the left, and probably all of the activists, support lawless activity and perhaps violence in some forms to get their way. I have heard some lefties say Occupy Wall Street was non-violent protest and while that may have mostly been the case, there were assualts, rapes, and other violent crimes they committed.

[Skip]

Some days, I feel like its not just your city but the entire country is insane.

The sane folks are working, raising their kids, and creating value. They don't have time for insanity.

If the crazies create a reality where the avg Joe can't live his life and take care of his family, it's on.

And we could have organized and done the same thing to Left over the last eight years without letting it get to this point.

[Rumline]

Isn't fracking banned in Boulder Co already?
I think so, but there were wells not far from where I used to live that were west of 287.

[Grant H.]

There are lots of wells in Boulder County. Many producers have wells in Boulder county.

There are 14 active wells inside Lafayette City limits (I have been to every single one of them repeatedly), and there are 10 more that have been P&A'd.

I can tell you that the company that owns 99% of the drilling rights in/around Lafayette doesn't give a damn about drilling in city limits. Outside city limits, they intend to expand their investment noticeably in the near future.

No, fracking isn't banned in Boulder County. They can't legally ban it. What they are currently doing is enforcing their "moratorium" on drilling by not approving any drilling permits in the county. This hasn't been a big deal, because all the wells in Boulder county are old vertical wells, and I don't believe that any of the producers have plans of trying to redrill, or new drill, horizontal pads inside of Boulder County.

[roberth]

Thank you Grant H. for the clarification.

[Gman]

Climate Change is a religion. Good luck on getting the congregation to listen to logic.