Uinta Railway

Oil producers want to quadruple the amount of fracked waxy crude that comes out of Utah's Uinta Basin. Between 80,000 and 90,000 barrels per day are currently trucked to refi neries in Salt Lake City, but refi nery production there is capped due to air pollution on the Wasatch Front.

So, Utah offi cials and oil producers have pinned their hopes on the 88-mile Uinta Basin Railway (UBR) to link the Basin's oil fi elds to the national rail system, increasing production by sending the crude east through Colorado to refi neries in Oklahoma and the Gulf Coast.

In response, close to 70 Roaring Fork Valley residents showed up in Glenwood Springs across from White River National Forest headquarters on Saturday, Dec. 10 — carrying signs, playing drums and singing protest songs — to say no to the UBR.

“We're sending a message to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to revoke the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) permit that allows the UBR to cut through the Ashley National Forest in Utah,” Will Hodges, coordinator for 350 Roaring Fork, told the Sopris Sun. The group is part of a network called Halt the Harm, which organized similar protests in Boulder, Denver, Salt Lake City and Washington D.C. last week.

The network also includes social justice groups on the Gulf Coast. “The more refi ning of crude oil and gas that we’re doing down in Louisiana continues to fall most heavily on low-income, Black and brown communities who have to live next to these petro-chemical plants,” Hodge explained. “So we’re concerned about local impacts, about the disproportionately impacted communities and we’re also concerned about the global impacts.”

USFS offi cials in Utah approved a permit in July, allowing 12 miles of the railway to cut through an

Photo by Raleigh Burleigh inventoried roadless area in the Ashley National Forest. While the approval is in place, the actual permit has not been issued. Hodges said Vilsack has the authority to revoke it. “We could stop this railway and then they can’t get as much oil out of the Uinta Basin, which is a start for addressing our climate crisis,” he said.

Conservation groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), Living Rivers, Sierra Club and Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, fi led suit in federal District Court in September to appeal the permit.

CBD attorney Ted Zukoski told The Sopris Sun in an email that the permit has been held up due to required design-related actions and surveys that have not yet occurred. “The Railway cannot begin construction on National Forest lands until the special use permit is issued,” he said.

Meanwhile, groups are putting pressure on Vilsack, whose Department of Agriculture oversees the USFS, to reverse the approval. USFS offi cials said in an email to The Sopris Sun that it could be four to six months before the permit is issued.

Photo by Raleigh Burleigh

Protect the Glenwood Canyon

The Vilsack strategy isn’t the only way conservation groups and Colorado offi cials hope to stop the train. After the Federal Surface Transportation Board (FSTB), a federal regulating agency, approved the UBR in December 2021, CBD and other groups fi led suit in February 2022.

They argue, among other things, that the FSTB did not take a hard look at climate change impacts, continued on page 16

Congratulations!

CVEPA congratulates Raleigh Burleigh and the staff of the Sopris Sun for being honored by the Colorado Press Association.

CVEPA is grateful for our local free press who is dedicated to providing a forum for a variety of voices. We salute the Sun for its ongoing coverage of the important issues facing the Crystal River Valley.

To learn more about the Crystal Valley Environmental Protection Association, the environmental watchdog of the Crystal River Valley since 1972, visit cvepa.org

Some people might assume the Roaring Fork Valley is immune to issues such as drug abuse. Unfortunately, that is not the reality. Many in the Valley consume illicit substances and many of these substances are more and more commonly mixed with the pharmaceutical fentanyl.

This increasingly prevalent drug often carries deadly consequences. While it is regulated for medical use, drug traffi ckers also use the pharmaceutical to mix with other illegal drugs. What’s scary is that people who purchase one illegal substance are not aware that what they received may also include fentanyl. And, when people purchase other drugs, it is impossible to tell with the naked eye whether their purchase is tainted with the deadly substance.

Fentanyl is extremely dangerous because of its potency. “It is 50-times stronger than heroin and 100-times stronger than morphine,” Maggie Seldeen of High Rockies Harm Reduction told The Sopris Sun.

Today, fentanyl is causing many overdoses and can end in death faster than other opioids. Seldeen further explained that it “crosses the blood-brain barrier faster,” meaning that it attaches to the brain receptors faster after entering the bloodstream. It can also dismantle the brain’s ability to process oxygen and carbon dioxide.

When it comes to opioid addiction, often the people struggling with addiction are blamed, but some would argue it’s important to point out other factors. For instance, it’s common for someone to get addicted to an opioid when it is prescribed by a doctor, but once a prescription expires many seek out these opioids illegally.

“Fentanyl is only one part of the puzzle,” explained Seldeen, and went on to say that educating the local community is of utmost importance.

While this topic may be very alarming to some, many resources are in place to keep communities safe and protected. HRHR is but one “ resource available in the Roaring Fork Valley which was founded by Seldeen. HRHR not only educates people about the dangers of drug use, but also distributes potentially life saving antidotes such as naloxone which can reverse the eff ects of an overdose if given within a certain period of time. Notably, HRHR also distributes fentanyl testing strips.

Seldeen has presented to Roaring Fork High School health classes, providing insight about fentanyl, naloxone and the general dangers of drug use. Before, many of the students may not have been aware of the presence of this deathly additive.

The organization provides education to schools and other institutions, but also works directly with people struggling with substance abuse. . HRHR’s website contains more information about its resources, events and other services it provides. So, visit www.highrockiesharmreduction.com for more about the nonprofi t.

Another local group, Aperture of Hope (AOP), was started by Cath Adams who sadly lost her daughter, Emily Irene Adams, to fentanyl poisoning. Among other community work, AOP works with schools to educate young people about the threat of fentanyl.

According to the organization’s website, www. apertureofhope.com, in regards to education, “We share our message and create awareness for schools and other organizations. Fentanyl is taking the lives of teens as this may be their fi rst introduction to illicit drugs.” Making the point that sometimes a young person’s fi rst time experimenting can end tragically. “You don't have to have the disease of addiction to die from fentanyl poisoning.”

Ashley Adams and her mother, Cath Adams, among an abundance of fentanyl awareness toolkits which Aperture of Hope hands out after presenting to students at local schools. Photo courtesy of Gregg & Cath Photographers

LIFE

KEEPS GOING AND SO DO WE.

Valley View is proud to announce the opening of After Hours Urgent Care. From nasal congestion to a sprained ankle, our walk-in clinic is here to treat you. Thanks to its convenient location inside Valley View next to the Emergency Department, you get to decide the right level of care for you at the right price.

Open evenings and weekends for same-day, walk-in care in Glenwood Springs. Learn more at vvh.org/urgentcare or call 970.384.7315.

Largest COLA for Social Security recipients since 1981

By Jeanne Souldern Sopris Sun Correspondent

In 2023, Social Security recipients will see a cost-ofliving adjustment (COLA) of 8.7%, the most signifi cant increase since 1981 and the fourth largest COLA in the history of the Social Security program.

While the Social Security Act of 1935 created the Social Security Administration (SSA) as an independent agency of the U.S. government to administer a program of retirement, survivor and disability benefi ts, annual COLA adjustments were introduced into the program in 1972 to factor in the cost of infl ation for those receiving fi xed-income benefi ts.

According to the SSA, in 2022, an average of 66 million Americans receive a monthly Social Security benefi t, totaling over $1 trillion in benefi ts paid during the year. Nine in 10 people, ages 65 and older, receive monthly benefi ts. Looking down the road, the number of Americans 65 and older will increase from about 58 million in 2022 to about 76 million by 2035.

In a statement issued in October by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), the average benefi t will increase by $145 per month. The statement continues, “The guaranteed benefi ts provided by Social Security, including the annual COLA, are more crucial than ever as high infl ation remains a problem for older Americans. The automatic adjustment is an essential part of Social Security that helps ensure the benefi t does not erode over time due to rising prices.”

The increase in Social Security benefi ts will, of course, impact each recipient diff erently. For some, it may be money added to savings or investment accounts; for others, it may ease the pinch of daily living expenses, such as food and rent.

The increase is, in part, an attempt to recoup the loss of purchasing power that seniors have experienced caused, in part, by rising infl ation.

An ongoing study by The Senior Citizens League, published in May, showed that purchasing power for older adults dropped 10 points. The study compares COLA adjustments with increases in the price of goods and services typically used by retirees. Since March 2021, Social Security benefi ts have been most impacted by sharp increases in home heating, gasoline and food costs.

In previous years, COLA increases were often depleted by a rise in Medicare Part B premiums. For example,

Legislation enacted in 1973 provides for cost-of-living adjustments, or COLAs. With COLAs, Social Security and Supplemental Security Income keep pace with inflation. This chart indicates annual COLAs over the past five years. Graph by James Steindler in 2022, a 5.9% COLA was undercut by a record-high increase in Medicare Part B premiums, which are deducted from Social Security payments. However, in 2023, the welcome news for recipients is that the standard Medicare Part B premium will be reduced slightly, from $170.10 to $164.90 monthly. Help for seniors is on its way on another front — prescription drugs. One of the provisions of the Infl ation Reduction Act of 2022, passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden in August, is prescription drug reform to lower prices. For those enrolled in Medicare Part D, most vaccines will be covered at no cost and insulin copays will be capped at $35 per month. While a majority of Social Security recipients are retired workers, (76.1% in 2021, according to SSA statistics), SSA programs also include 12.4% of benefi ts paid to disabled workers and their dependents and 11.6% of benefi ts paid to survivors of deceased workers. The adjustment takes eff ect with the December 2022 benefi t payment, paid to recipients in January 2023.