Jo Ann Kopke’s disagreement with Rep. Scott Tipton’s position on the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act (Letters: “Scott Tipton is putting economy at risk,” Dec. 30) took a decidedly ugly turn in the second paragraph.
Citing Wikipedia as if it were a factual source rather than a self-service web app, she made claims about his current position on climate change that I don’t believe are true at this point in time.
Anyone can edit a Wikipedia page. All you have to do is create an account. Rep. Tipton’s Wikipedia page reads like it was written by people who sharply disagree with his politics. The claim about his position on climate change is credited to a 7-year-old blog post on a website called thinkprogress.org.
I don’t have a position on the CORE Act, but I do lobby Rep. Tipton’s office on behalf of climate legislation as a volunteer with Citizens’ Climate Lobby. Over the past year, he and his office have been engaging in a productive discussion with us about the policy specifics in House Resolution 763.
Tipton has also been working across the aisle on smaller climate bills. He was an original co-sponsor of the Public Land Renewable Energy Development Act of 2019, which is strategically important as it opens up an alternative source of tax revenue for rural communities that may be losing coal or oil and gas investment.
I see Rep. Tipton as a conservative small-business Republican representing a large, diverse district in the midst of a necessary, but complicated, energy transition.
Maybe I should add that to his Wikipedia page.
Kathy FacklerDurango
