May 29, 2019 02:28 PM UTC

Susan Beckman Shakes Her Fist at "Fatalist" 3rd Graders

• 10 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

One of the more notable Democratic accomplishments of the 2019 legislative session came in the form of several bills packaged together to help Colorado combat Climate Change and reduce our carbon footprint. Earlier this month, the editorial board of the Denver Post added themselves to the list of those who appreciated the legislature’s work on Climate Change:

Democrats achieved much in 2019 with their complete control of the Colorado state governance, but of all the policies that Gov. Jared Polis has or likely will sign into law, none is as important as the work lawmakers did to reduce Colorado’s carbon footprint.

There’s a good chance toxic D.C. politics will prevent the federal government from ever responding to the threat of climate change. States and local governments must step up and do what they can, and individuals, for that matter, must start chipping in too.

That’s why we applaud the relatively moderate “climate change” legislative agenda passed by Speaker of the House K.C. Becker, House Majority Leader Alec Garnett, Senate President Leroy Garcia, and Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg.

Democrats were able to pass important climate legislation despite opposition from right wing Republican hardliners like science-doubting Sen. Vicki Marble (R-Firestone) and Sen. Ray Scott (R-Grand Junction), who somehow believes that humans have actually improved Earth’s climate. On some of these bills, including HB-1261, the legislation passed with no Republican votes whatsoever…

…Which brings us to Rep. Susan Beckman (R-Littleton). In an illuminating Facebook post published on Friday, Beckman lamented the fact that third graders in her district had encouraged her to support HB-1261. Beckman says she is “very concerned” about the “fatalist view” being taken in these letters from third graders:

Here’s a closer look at the two samples provided by Beckman:

“The first reason the bill should pass is because air pollution hurts people’s hearts, lungs and more. If air pollution is doing this then we can get really sick or maybe even die. If people die, then babies can’t be born, and if no more babies are born, then there will not be any more people on Earth.”

—–

“Another reason the bill should pass is because greenhouse gasses are connected to climate change. This is crucial because climate change causes icebergs to melt. If icebergs melt it causes floods. When there are floods people have to move to another place. If people are too slow and cannot get away, they would drown.”

KIDS: We would like to be able to breathe the air and not die in a flood.

REP. BECKMAN: Stop being so negative!

While we’re on the topic of fatalism, we should note that this is the very same Susan Beckman who lost her bid to become the Chair of the Colorado Republican Party and then complained of “flagrant abuse” of election rules after Ken Buck was declared Party Chair. Such a Negative Nancy!