In the upcoming election, the choice between re-electing our dedicated State Rep. Mike McLachlan and electing J. Paul Brown is no choice at all. I want my children and grandchildren to inherit a healthy environment. I want them to be able to play in the mountains and deserts that we call home and to know the pleasures of pristine wild places – just as I have. So I am voting to re-elect McLachlan, and you should, too.

McLachlan understands that the rhetoric about freedom from Brown and the extreme right in the West goes both ways. Freedom, as Brown uses it, doesn’t just mean being free to exploit our natural resources and gorgeous landscapes without regard for the consequences for our communities or our planet. Freedom also means ensuring the freedom of future generations to also benefit from those resources and landscapes. If they aren’t managed responsibly, then we take freedoms away from our children and their children, not to mention the plants and animals that live among us. McLachlan understands this distinction, and his leadership reflects a sincere effort to ensure freedom for our shared present and shared future.

This is a critical election year, particularly in Colorado. The corporate interests focused on exploiting our state’s precious resources and landscapes are meddling in our politics like never before, and the threats to our environment are only worsening. Voting for Mike McLachlan is a great way to make your voice heard for our environment and protect what we cherish for those we cherish most.

Katie McGee Waller

Durango