Shane Atkinson

“I think a major trap elected officials fall into is believing that they are “experts” on certain topics, and developing solutions in search of problems. I have always believed that the best policy making comes from identifying a problem, bring ALL impacted stakeholders and experts in to stake-hold early, evaluating the causes of the problem, exploring potential solutions and only then developing solutions. In some ways, I think there are some similarities in this approach to the scientific method. Also I have noticed that too often policy makers focus on anecdotal evidence rather than rigorous data.”

“Our agricultural land is vital to our identity and economy. I have spoken with a lot of producers and the struggles you identify in the question are real. I think we need to take every step we can to preserve our existing agricultural land, and the water connected to it. Water security and agricultural preservation go hand in hand. The county has a great relationship with the ag. community and I intend to keep it that way. I support taking any and all steps to keep Larimer County’s water in Larimer County. At the same time, our agricultural producers need to play important roles in conserving water. I would consider programs that tie incentives to growing less water intensive crops.”

“I support smart, sustainable growth. AI Data centers as they are being deployed now, are neither smart nor sustainable. Right now the costs are too high, and the benefits for a community are practically non-existent. At the same time, we cannot bury our heads in the sand; this technology is coming. I believe we need robust requirements in place, that ensure there is real community benefit to development. They should generate and store their own electricity, use the best technology to ensure they are not using our water and completely mitigate any environmental impacts. Many of these technologies exist already, but the companies are choosing not to use them because they are trying to build them as cheaply as possible. I worry that without the state setting these requirements, we will end up with an ineffective patchwork of regulations.”

“Vaccines work. The anti-science rhetoric from the right in the last decade are disheartening to say the least, and now we are starting to see the effects. We have a robust public health department, with experts who care deeply about our residents. Let them work. Ensure they have adequate resources and funding. This is one of those instances where we can do a lot of good at the local level, regardless of what is happening in the national politics. I believe in local government as a vehicle to improve lives. We need to focus on what we can control, and I think there is a lot we are doing and can do locally on this issue.”

“I think the same issues around science literacy are happening across educational disciplines. I taught high school social studies for 13 years, and over that time, I saw educational rigor dropping off in favor of greater standardization. Expectations have declined in order to increase graduation rates. Why are graduation rates going up, while SAT and ACT scores are going down? Education policy is something I am extremely passionate about, but there isn’t a lot of it that is connected to the position I am running for. We need to fight for better public education funding, better teacher pay and real reforms that are preparing our next generation to be thinkers. This goes for science of course but I think is a much bigger issue in the current state of our education system.”