Felder: Support for open spaces, Frisch and Kolbe

Evaluating potential approaches and possible solutions to critical safety issues like fire safety management and potential evacuation plans involves input from a wide range of experts and stakeholders. I speak from my experience running the Pipeline Safety Office at the U.S. Department of Transportation, which has the responsibility for protecting people and property from the risks posed by all oil and natural gas pipelines.

I attended numerous tabletop exercises leading critical discussions about accident prevention and response in meeting rooms filled with community safety leaders, pipeline operators, and others charged with protecting people and the environment. With this background, I cannot understand how Rachel Richards and others supporting Referendum 2 can claim that they have a plan which credibly addresses fire safety threats facing our community today and for the future.

The Preferred Alternative does not solve our traffic issues at the entrance to Aspen and uses studies that are three decades old as the basis for protecting our community from potential wildfires. We can and must do better. Everyone from Amory Lovins to our fire officials and environmental stewards have offered constructive ideas to address our present and future concerns surrounding the Entrance to Aspen debate.

Let’s convene the experts through a new Environmental Impact Statement; vote “no” on Referendum 2; protect our open spaces by supporting Referendum 1; and bring forth a new day with fresh ideas by voting for Katy Frisch and Emily Kolbe.

Richard B. Felder

Aspen