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Letter: Proud of Aspen’s clean energy

Proud of Aspen’s clean energy

We all know the story during the French Revolution when the peasants were shouting for bread and Marie Antoinette is purported to have said, “Let them eat cake”. Here in Aspen, a similar mindset exists. The rich can spend thousands of dollars to defeat efficient and practical applications for transportation and renewable energy. Case in point: Energy-efficient light rail is still only a dream long delayed by selfish property owners along the historic rail corridor into Aspen. Clean, renewable energy also remains only a dream because of streamside homeowners who oppose any practical use of a natural and historic resource.

Now we have a “let them eat cake” proposal to dissipate our hydro-energy into a concrete box! How ironic! We can’t install a turbine to generate clean, renewable energy but it’s OK to pour a concrete box to dissipate that clean energy and waste our money just to mollify the rich folks along lower Castle Creek.



Years ago, I attended a water-resource conference where a gentleman from and adjacent western state asked me where I was from. I replied Aspen, wherein he immediately responded, “You’re from Aspen, you must be rich!” Yes — I’m from the old Aspen, and I’m not rich but I am proud to have been a part of Aspen’s clean energy history and Aspen’s old hydro-electric plant; all the Aspen memories I now cherish.

Jim Markalunas




Aspen