The Smell of Christmas

Denver Post columnist Susan Greene today points the finger at a problem we all know exists, but for some reason decide to live with it. It's the problem of Denver's stinky, wintertime air.

I should clarify, though. Many of us would rather not deal with the smell. A dogfood factory, rendering plants, feedlots, refineries--I think most of us in Denver would be ecstatic to not have to wake up with the stink these factories produce.

But try asking any of these smelly polluters to keep their noxious odors in check. Do you think they'll do it?

It's doubtful, and that's where the root of problem lies. For you and me, if we fouled up our home with the wafting smell of rendering or making dog food, our neighbors would be livid, and with good reason. We'd probably stop what we were doing out of respect for our neighbors.

Polluters, on the other hand, are allowed to just keep on spewing offensive odors all over their neighbors. Bizarre, isn't it? What's really bizarre though, is that polluters don't have enough respect to try to keep their foul smells away from their neighbors. Really, that's what this is all about--being a good neighbor.

Maybe things will change at some point. One would think the last thing any city leader or promoter would want to see is a column in the Denver Post bemoaning the "brown smell of Christmas." Smelly air isn't exactly the kind of image you'd think they'd tolerate. Now go clean it up!