September 08, 2020 04:25 PM UTC

What you can do to fight back this week (September 8)

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• by: ProgressNow Colorado

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This morning a cold front blew the smoke away, but the last few weeks of air quality in our beautiful state have been awful. It took a combination of factors to produce air quality as poor as it has been recently, but here’s what we know: human-caused climate change is creating ideal conditions for monstrous wildfires, and human-caused pollution from oil and gas production and consumption is making the air even harder to breathe.

It’s a daunting problem. There aren’t easy answers. But in Colorado in 2019, we passed a law that prioritizes public health over “fostering” more oil and gas drilling. On September 17th, Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission will meet to work on new rules to cut harmful emissions from oil and gas drilling sites. This is about protecting the public from toxic chemicals like benzene produced during oil and gas drilling, and about protecting the planet from greenhouse gas pollutants like methane vented into the atmosphere by drilling operations.

Action item #1 this week: click here submit a comment to the Air Quality Control Commission on the importance of protecting Colorado’s clean air from oil and gas production by-products.

We all have a stake in clean air, so thanks very much for your help doing everything we can to protect air quality in Colorado. Here are some more great ways to get involved for the week of September 8:

One Colorado: Immigration is an LGBTQ Issue: Love Across Borders

Mariposa at the Althea Center, in partnership with NY-based Immigration Equality and American Friends Service Committee Colorado, will present “Immigration is an LGBTQ Issue: Love Across Borders,” 4-week series of programs highlighting some of the traumatizing circumstances and critical needs of our LGBTQ sisters and brothers seeking asylum in the United States.

When: Tuesday, September 8 at 6:30pm

Click here to RSVP.

Colorado Black Communities Connect: Building a Better Future

What does building a better future mean to you? To your community? Come join in one of our new “Colorado Communities Connect” virtual series and be part of the discussion!

When: Thursday, September 10 at 12:00pm

Click here to RSVP.

Extreme Community Makeover Work Day – Swansea Neighborhood

Extreme Community Makeover (ECM) is designed to invite volunteers into a partnership with residents of specific Denver neighborhoods to complete home and neighborhood improvement projects. These projects include graffiti removal, landscaping, painting, yard work, or other projects identified by the residents. Groups such as churches, companies, families, organizations, and schools may participate, and individuals can get involved. Equally important as fences that are built are the relationships being built-between the volunteers and community members, among the neighbors on a block, and between the community and resources in their neighborhood.

When: Saturday, September 12 at 9:00am
Where: 2501 E 48th Ave, Denver

Click here to RSVP.

One Colorado: What the LGBTQ Health?- Pikes Peak

One Colorado will share our 2018 Closing the Gap report, important information on your health care rights and how to advocate for them, and host a panel of participants from the region to discuss how each region is uniquely impacted with regards to health and accessing care. We want to hear directly from you about what is both amazing and challenging in your regions, and how One Colorado can close the gap between legal and lived equality in every corner of Colorado. Please join us for one or all of our “What the LGBTQ Health?” regional tour stops.

When: Saturday, September 12 at 12:00pm

Click here to RSVP.

Cobalt: Annual Gala & Silent Auction

Join us Saturday, September 12, 2020 for the largest abortion rights fundraising event of the year! Tickets and sponsorships are now on sale now! But hurry – registration closes September 8th! This year’s Gala is a virtual event.

When: Saturday, September 12 a 6:00pm

Click here to RSVP.

Thanks again! We’ll see you next Monday with more ways to take action.