Dear Sen. Gardner:

All of Colorado is officially in drought and more than half the state is in extreme drought. The two largest fires in Colorado history and dozens of others are currently ravaging our state. Last week the Cameron Peak Fire now at 200,000 acres, made a 15-mile run, burning homes and necessitating the evacuations of whole communities. 

My own community of Steamboat Springs has endured weeks of dangerous air quality conditions as smoke from surrounding wildfires fills our valleys. And like the residents of Front Range communities, we all wonder which way the wind will blow and whether we’ll be the next to have to evacuate.

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While Colorado and other western states endure historic wildfires and loss, Judge Amy Coney Barrett during Senate confirmation hearings dismissively called climate change a “contentious matter of public debate.” This despite the fact that the vast majority of scientists agree that the severity and length of the wildfire season the west is experiencing is the direct result of human-caused warming of the planet.

It is unthinkable that a Supreme Court nominee, who will doubtlessly hear pivotal cases on climate change, is ignorant about the single most important issue facing our nation and the world. Or perhaps her family’s long-standing connections to Shell Oil cloud her reason and judgement?

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Sen. Gardner, do not vote to confirm a Supreme Court nominee who states, “I don’t think that my views on global warming or climate change are relevant to the job I will do.” Your state is burning; please act accordingly.

Diane R. Miller
Steamboat Springs