The city council of Colorado Springs chose this week to head farther down the unsustainable path of growth. They needed to fill the council seat vacated by Richard Skorman, a council member considered to be an “open-space advocate” and, as best I can tell, perhaps the only council member regularly to question conventional endless growth policies. They heard three minute presentations from applicants and voted on their choice. Rather than choosing someone with views similar to Skorman’s they selected someone whose views are expected to be completely in line with the current pro-growth council.

Among the candidates not selected were Ann Oatman-Gardner, who Skorman had recommended as his replacement, and Dave Gardner (no relation), a pro-sustainability activist known for his challenges to the city’s pro-growth policies.

Dave had to be out of town at the time of the presentations, and was told he could instead submit a three minute video of his presentation. The next day the council reversed that decision and told him he would not be allowed to apply via video. Dave, who has frequently and effectively criticized city government in Colorado Springs, makes a good case that this was pure censorship from a council which doesn’t want to give a voice to points of view different from its own. You can see Dave’s video and more on sustainability and the problem of continued growth at his site, savethesprings.org.

Viewing this turn of events from the outside, I can’t help but wonder when elected officials around the country will wake up to the problems we’re facing and the need to address them both locally and more broadly. I’m reminded of a recent “60 Minutes” story detailing the current administration’s active suppression of information on climate change. They want to keep the American public uninformed and oblivious to where we’re taking our earth. Evidently, policymakers at the national level just don’t care what kind of world they leave to their grandchildren. Profits come first. And often it appears local governments have the same attitude.