8/14/2019 p10 apr the Cherry Creek News 4-color

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CENTRAL DENVER DISPATCH & C HERRY C REEK N EWSPage 10 April 23, 2004

Mayor John Hickenlooperannounced at the City’s Earth Fair onThursday that the City and Countyof Denver is going to begin using B20 biodiesel fuel in a pilot program thatwill begin next week and run throughDecember 2004. The purpose of thepilot program is to evaluate biodie-sel and its effects on vehicle perfor-mance, fuel economy and emissions.

“This is a giant step forward interms of the City’s commitment toconservation, energy efficiency andenvironmental health,” said MayorHickenlooper, whose official car isa gas-electric hybrid vehicle fromthe City’s fleet. “I commend ourPublic Works and Fleet ManagementDepartments for their innovation andlook forward to the results of thispilot project. Biodiesel represents atremendous opportunity – both envi-ronmentally and economically – forthe region.”

The City’s pilot program willinvolve approximately 60 vehiclesat the Wastewater ManagementBuilding.

Rep. Romanoff ReportingThe French have a language of their

own for it: vin du pays or local wine.Translated, it doesn’t quite do justiceto the wine and vineyards of Colorado,most of them in and around Grand  J u n c t i o n , b e t t e rknown as

Colorado’sW i n eCountry inthe GrandeValley areaalong theC o l o r a d oRiver.

T h esight ofmiles ofvineyardsis a bits t a r t l i n gthe firsttime yousee them,  but there’slogic hereonce yourealize thatthe location,combined with warm, sunny days andcool nights, low humidity plus theacid soil, make this part of Colorado

the perfect location for its wine indus-try.

Winemaking began on Colorado’sWestern Slope more than a centuryago. With the advent of Prohibition,

however, the early vineyards wereuprooted and replaced with orchards.Modern vineyards featuring theworld’s classic wine-grape varietieshave been reestablished in the area’sfertile climes, and once again theart of winemaking is flourishing inColorado. Building on the traditionof these pioneer winemakers, thrivingwineries are now found in all parts ofthe state.

Colorado’s grape growing regionsrange in elevation from 4000 to 7000

feet and are thus among the high-est vineyards in the world. The longwarm daylight hours of intense highaltitude sunlight mature the fruit com-pletely and build the natural sugars.The cool evenings cause the grapes toretain the acids so vital to premiumwinemaking. However, the high alti-tude can also present a challenge togrape growers, in that the averagefrost free growing season ranges from150 to 182 days.

Like their counterparts in California

Colorado Wine Country

see COLORADO on page 16

The West Elks AVA (Paonia, CO). Photo by: Cradurr Photography

Someone once said, “The defini-tion of insanity is doing the samething over and over again and expect-ing a different result.”

That’s a pretty good way todescribe our state budget.

The state legislature recently gaveits blessing to this year’s budget. Thetotal price tag: $14.2 billion.

Much of that budgetis off-limits, thanks to acombination of state andfederal mandates. In fact, just three items account forthree-quarters of our gen-eral fund – schools (whose funding isguaranteed by the state constitution);prisons (the product of our sentenc-ing laws); and Medicaid (a federallyrequired program of health care forthe poor and disabled). At the ratewe’re going, that’s literally all we’ll be to pay for.

What’s going on here? Well,Colorado is facing its worst fiscal cri-sis since the Great Depression. Ourpopulation is booming, while ourresources are shrinking.

Last year, we slashed aid to col-leges and universities. Now kin-dergarten is on the chopping block.Programs for senior citizens, prenatalcare for at-risk women, and a host ofother critical services have also suf-fered losses – $2 billion in all.

It’s time to change course. Here’show:

First, we should reform our stateconstitution. Two constitutionalamendments have proven par-ticularly difficult to reconcile. TheTaxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR),which voters passed in 1992, preventsstate and local services from keepingpace with inflation and populationgrowth. Amendment 23, approvedin 2000, requires steady increasesin school funding. Taken together,these amendments force Colorado toreduce revenues at the same time weare boosting expenditures. The math just doesn’t work.

The House of Representativesrecently approved three measures totackle this crisis: House ConcurrentResolutions 1001, 1009 and 1010.

(You can read them online at www.leg.state.co.us.) It is not yet clear

which, if any, will pass the Senate aswell. Any change to the constitutionrequires a vote of the people, so youcan expect to find a proposal from thelegislature, a citizens’ group, or bothon the November ballot.

Second, we should put a priorityon prevention. We can invest in earlychildhood education, drug and alco-

hol treatment, and juvenilediversion programs. Or,we can do nothing – anduse our welfare rolls, ourprison cells, and our fos-ter homes to pick up the

slack.The point is, we pay for these

problems one way or the other. Thetab topped $14 billion this year, andthe meter’s still running.

Rep. Andrew Romanoff leads theDemocrats in the Colorado House of Representatives. He represents House

District 6, covering east Denver andGlendale. He can be reached at 303-866-2967.

Rep. Romanoff also distributes aweekly legislative update by e-mail.Subscribe by sending a message toromanoff@coloradohouse.org.

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