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Show Viewpoints The A-17 Park Record. Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, January 5-8, 2019 editorial Parkites and Romney agree on this: Action is needed on climate M letters to the editor Salute efforts, don’t mock them Editor: In the Dec. 29, 2018 — Jan. 1, 2019 edition of The Park Record, columnist Tom Clyde writes that “Park City’s vegan community got their arugula in a twist when cattle began grazing on the historic ranch land on the entrance to town. Some of them were on City-owned property, which was obviously some kind of official endorsement of eating meat and destroying the world with cow flatulence. Worse, each of the cows had been given a plastic straw (a reference to the ski resorts’ decision to minimize plastic). Somehow, we survived.” Why this glib contempt for pro-environment initiatives and values? Instead of indulging in ill-informed jibes at Park City’s growing vegan population, perhaps Mr. Clyde should consider the realities of meat production beyond the purely pastoral. Perhaps he should try to understand why a plant-based diet is increasingly being adopted by all levels of society — from everyday people after a health scare to parents inspired by their compassionate children to scientists concerned about the disastrous global impact of meat production. Perhaps he should spend some time at a slaughterhouse with the animals who die there and the unfortunate workers unable to find employment anywhere else. Or The Park Record Staff PUBLISHER ....................... Andy Bernhard Editor ................................... Bubba Brown Staff Writers ......................Jay Hamburger Scott Iwasaki Angelique McNaughton Ben Ramsey Carolyn Webber Alder Contributing ............................. Tom Clyde Writers Jay Meehan Teri Orr Amy Roberts Tom Kelly Joe Lair Copy Editor ............................ James Hoyt Engagement Editor..Christopher Samuels Photographer .........................Tanzi Propst Office Manager ..................... Tiffany Piper Circulation Manager ............. Lacy Brundy Accounting Manager ......... Jennifer Snow ADVERTISING Classifieds/Legals ............. Jennifer Lynch Advertising Director ........... Valerie Spung Administrative Assistant .Jesicca Burlacu Advertising Sales ................... Jodi Hecker Erin Donnelly Lindsay Lane Sharon Bush Production Director ..................Ben Olson Production .......................... Patrick Schulz Chelsea Babbitt maybe he should have a chat with one of the many Park City-based doctors who are encouraging their patients to adopt a plantbased diet for the sake of their long-term health and well-being? We live in a world where every pro-environment initiative — small and large — should be saluted rather than mocked. Yeah, somehow we all survived for another year — no thanks to the snide, dismissive attitudes of Mr. Clyde and others like him. Liz Hecht Park City Changes needed to bus routes Editor: Like Renee Miller and others who recently wrote letters in regards to the new transit lines, I am a Park City resident and frequent user of our world-class transit system. Unfortunately due to the recent changes to the routes, the hundreds of residential units in and around Silver Springs are now stranded, with little to no options for reasonable, efficient public transportation. The No. 7 Pink line used to, and still does, run through Silver Springs. Unfortunately, it now terminates around the Canyons Village base, meaning residents have to transfer to the White bus to make it to Main Street. While this is not detrimental, it is an inconvenience and adds at least 1015 minutes to the trip. When you can drive to Main Street in 10 minutes or so, adding 10-15 minutes to an already 10-15 minute trip is mind-boggling. Despite this, the true problem lies with the fact that I, and the hundreds of residential units around me, now cannot get a bus from the Canyons station to Silver Springs past 11:08 p.m. It seems the only option is the Electric Express, which stops no where near the hundreds of residential units in Silver Springs. I now cannot take the bus to night shifts at work or to Main Street for late-night entertainment. With Utah now enforcing the strictest DUI law in the country, is this the message our public transit team wants to be sending? Should I avoid patronizing our local restaurants and bars due to the hassle? A very simple solution to this would be requiring the No. 10 White bus to come through Silver Springs on the same route as the No. 7 Pink. This way, Silver Springs residents would have a direct option to the Main Street transit center, with very little change to current transit lines. Or we can bring back the original Pink route. Either way, please help us have the ability to use our amazing public transportation system! itt Romney was not Summit County’s choice for the U.S. Senate. Despite the former GOP presidential nominee’s ties to the Park City area, voters here instead backed his Democratic opponent, Jenny Wilson, in November. But on at least one important topic, Romney’s views broadly align with those of Summit County residents and we’ll be looking to him for leadership. In contrast to many in his party, Romney is a firm believer in climate change. Separating him further from a significant number of his GOP colleagues, he also believes that humans are contributing to it. During last year’s campaign, he spoke repeatedly about the importance of combating climate change and the danger of failing to do so — including the potential for wildfires in the West to become even more severe and frequent in coming decades. His willingness to speak up on the issue is refreshing compared to the standard Republican talking points, which disregard the scientific consensus on climate change and call into question both humanity’s role in our planet’s warming and our ability to do anything about it. Regardless of how they voted, Summit County residents urge Romney to use his clout to push his party forward. That’s particularly important at a time when the current administration is rolling back EPA regulations and the president himself continues to express skepticism about climate science in the face of mounting evidence that catastrophic effects await if we don’t take immediate, sweeping action. Already, Romney has shown he is unafraid to ruffle feathers on Capitol Hill. He spent the days before he took the oath of office Thursday in the national spotlight for authoring an opinion piece in the Washington Post taking President Trump to task for failing to rise “to the mantle of the office.” To Parkites hoping Romney, who memorably urged the GOP in 2016 not to nominate Trump for the Oval Office, will stand as a check on the president, it was encouraging start. He’ll need to take that aggressive tone one step further on climate change and demand action. That would mean finding common ground with Democrats on climate legislation and, given the current state of the GOP, being one of the few from his party willing to do so. But with Republicans still holding just a slight majority in the Senate and Democrats now controlling the House, perhaps the possibility of enacting meaningful laws now exists. If the possibility is to become a reality, Romney will have to play a leading role. mountain Voices Call a day ‘epic’ and kiss it goodbye ROGER MAROLT The Aspen Times There are some powder days I love and some I don’t. Most are in the middle. The ones I don’t care for come with a warning and you don’t have to be some sort of shaman, fortune teller or even a weather-watcher to read it. This is good for planning. I know I will get a lot of work done on these days. The warning is found on your smartphone. It is issued by the National Weather Service. It goes something like this: Winter Storm Warning! Periods of heavy snow! Twelve to 18 inches of new accumulation by morning! Control your excitement. When this warning is issued and they advise you to stay home, comply. If not, you will end up in the lift line an hour before opening to find about 200 people already there. Don’t be overly disappointed. Being the first person in a lift line on a day like this is a game nobody wins. Even if you are the first person in line, you can’t possibly sustain your enthusiasm from the time you arrived, usually before sunrise, until they crank the ski lifts. Certainly you will be psyched when you get there in the pitch black to claim the prize you are seeking, but by 8:30 a.m. the adrenaline will subside, the caffeine will have your legs feeling like string beans left over from yesterday’s buffet, and the cold will stiffen your back like the icicles hanging from your nose so that you will barely be able to smile; not that you will feel like it anyway. The only thing you will be looking forward to now is a nap. The intensity of these feelings will diminish progressively from each person behind you to the next until it is fully dissipated in the people in the middle of the line to the end who are instead growing increasingly grumpy as they realize all the powder will be gone by the time they get to the top. The one thing everyone in line will experience together is the rehearsed hoots and hollers supporting posturing of powder hounds trying to establish superiority of manufactured enthusiasm. On these days when the forecast called for 12 to 18 inches, you can’t help being disappointed when the truth turns out to be just 8; a dump of powder that would, in any other circumstance, lead to unbridled ecstasy. There is no need, however, to dwell on these, the worst of all powder days. The more common powder days when the forecast calls for a much more modest sprinkling of, say, 6 to 8 inches are bad, but, since the expectations are lower, they are far less dispiriting. If you are like most, you will go ahead and sleep in, arriving at the slopes around 10 on mornings ushered in with this type of milquetoast prediction. You will then be amazed by how many other skiers thought the same as you did. The lift lines might even be longer than on the aforementioned big powder day. The skiing will be good, no doubt, but the euphoria of skiing crud that was formerly 7 inches of powder at 9 a.m. will soon be quashed by the realization that you could have gotten to the slopes as late as noon, finding no lift lines, and the skiing would have been approximately the same. Do not lose hope, though. There really are great powder days. Pine for those not predicted. The forecast calls for a trace overnight with cloudy skies all the next day. While most are piecing together alternative plans appropriate for a blah Tuesday, like taking the dry cleaning in, finally skimming the fourth quarter productivity reports at the office or getting the oil changed, take a chance and wax your skis. The morning dawns as predicted — a low-lying gray-scudded sky. Rats. The forecast was correct. Yet, you head out after lunch anyway, because the mountains have been socked in enough to make you think a couple inches of fresh snow may have fallen up high. On way to the lifts, the snow begins falling with purpose. By the time you get to the top of the first lift, an inch of new powder rests gently in your lap. Your first run is 4 inches deep. The next is closer to 5. By 1:30 it seems there is at least 7, and it’s still coming down hard! You finish the day with face-shots every turn and poling across the tops of blue runs, giggling involuntarily as you approach the steeps. When the day comes to a close, you return to the car, which is now wearing a white top hat 10-inches tall. Now, pinch yourself! Roger Marolt writes a column for The Aspen Times, one of The Park Record’s sister papers. Are you LOST on what’s happening in Park City Then Follow us on Facebook facebook.com/parkrecord Brian Mehregan Park City For the record Photos by Christopher Samuels Asked at Basin Rec Fieldhouse If you were creating a sports team in Park City, what would you name it? Darin Carter Park Meadows “I feel like the Avalanche or something to do with snow.” Floyd Smith Redstone “It should be a name associated with Park City. The Ski Jumpers, or something like the Mogul Busters, something more like the area.” Kyle Atkinson Park City “The Subarus, that would be a good one. That’s (what I would choose).” Maggie Ayoub Park City “I’d probably bring silver into (the name) because they mined for silver here. The Silver Stars.” See these photos and more by following The Park Record on Facebook.com/parkrecord and Instagram.com/parkrecord |