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Local & Regional Policy

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http://www.warren.kyschools.us/~gemsacademy/GEMS_ACADEMY/Sustainability_files/sustainability_venn.jpgSASCO is engaged in policy work at the local and regional levels, including monitoring and participating in major community policy initiatives such as:

CLEAN (Clean Local Energy Accessible Now) Campaign • Durango Bag It Campaign • La Plata Local Food Policy Council • Climate and Energy Action Plan (CEAP) • La Plata County Comprehensive Plan update • City of Durango Land Use and Development Code update 

We also seek to develop sustainability metrics, particularly with a view to having them included in the Region 9 biennial Community Indicators report.

Past activities have included: hosting the La Plata Sustainability Dialogue series, which aims to engage local policymakers and the wider community on issues such as sustainability policy, green jobs, local food, and the local economy.

For more information or to get involved, please contact us.

SASCO Joins the Colorado Sustainability Collaborative

Submitted by Elsa Jagniecki on Thu, 07/26/2012 - 10:58am
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The Sustainability Alliance of Southwest Colorado will partner with 4CORE to collaboratively represent SW Colorado in the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado's 'Sustainability Collaborative' initiative. The Collaborative is a facilitating organization that oversees a consortium of government, nonprofit, business, and education sector representatives on the development and implementation of regional social, economic, and environmental sustainability initiatives.

SASCO is specifically excited to connect with policy initiatives taking shape on the Front Range through the Collaborative and to educate, communicate and advocate for sustainability policy in SW Colorado. The Alliance for Sustainable Colorado's mission is "to advance sustainability through collaboration among nonprofits, business, government and education."

Op-Ed: Still taking cues from California

Submitted by Erich Bussian on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 9:21pm
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Posted:   04/01/2012 01:00:00 AM MDT

By Erich Bussian. This article originally appeared in the Denver Post on April 1, 2012


There is a war going on here in Durango — a war of words that seems to embody the political schism in this country that grows ever wider and more virulent over time. It is being fought almost daily in the letters to the editor section of The Durango Herald, and it revolves around banning single-use plastic shopping bags.

Supporters of a bag ban point to a litany of environmental and health reasons: plastic is forever, it is toxic, it kills millions of animals, yada, yada, yada and all true. The biggest evidence of the perils of plastic are the ever-growing, continent-sized plastic gyres in all the oceans, which in some places contain a ratio of plastic to plankton — the building block of the marine food chain — of 9 to 1. Local proponents maintain that what is bad for our oceans is bad for our land.

Not everyone agrees. Some view banning plastic bags as an assault on our God-given American freedom. For some in La Plata County and beyond, a bag-ban ordinance exposes Durango for what it is becoming: a new Boulder, the offspring of the People's Republic, spreading Marxism and laying the groundwork for the United Nations' takeover of the rural West.

Durango, however, represents the demographic shifts that have been in motion for a very long time: the latest bridgehead for the social, political and economic evolution of the American West. An evolution that isn't any more finished today than it was in 1900 or 1990.

Support Steps Toward Zero Waste in Our Community!

Submitted by Erich Bussian on Sat, 12/17/2011 - 12:35pm
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Dear Friends,

Now is the time to get involved in the community movement towards Zero Waste. Durango Bag It is about more than just banning single-use plastic bags in the City of Durango, but about smarter resource use and resource consumption as well as a step towards zero waste in our community.

Bottom line, City Council pays attention to Letters to the Editor, and though I believe the majority of Councillors probably support the idea of Durango moving towards Zero Waste, there must still be visible support from the surrounding community that 'we' support it!

If you agree that this campaign can make a relevant difference towards a more sustainable Durango, please speak up and write a letter to the editor to both:

  • Durango Herald (http://www.durangoherald.com/section/Opinion/) and
  • The Durango Telegraph (http://www.durangotelegraph.com/contact/letters/)

Durango's Bag It Campaign - Bolstering Leadership in Durango

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Durango Bag It aims for a plastic bag-free City of Durango!

The Durango Bag It Campaign is pushing the City of Durango to consider banning single-use plastic bags. The bag ban is expected to go before the City Council for a vote sometime in early 2013. Our community and environment need your participation.

Sign our petition! We have over 1,000 signatures in support of such a ban, and we need to continue to grow this momentum.

Durango Bag It is thinking globally and acting locally.

We Need to Ensure 'Sustainability' in Our Long Term Planning

Submitted by Elsa Jagniecki on Fri, 11/11/2011 - 10:02am
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Planning Commission Halts Master Plan

The recent efforts of Common Sense La Plata and community members have paid off in halting the county's "Master Plan" from going forward.

Common Sense La Plata is a community group that formed in response to the recent gutting of the La Plata County Comprehensive Plan, which was reduced from a 346-page inclusive community-driven plan that incorporated a vision of community and sustainable development to a very limited and lacking 30-page "Master Plan."

The Comprehensive Plan was intended to be: "A policy document that describes what the county residents want the community to be in the future. It serves as the foundation for decisions about community services and land use." The process may start all over again to incorporate previous community input, strategic direction, and goals.

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