The Denver Post just highlighted a new headline: “East Colfax neighborhood chosen for Colorado’s first environmental equity study.” The piece frames it as a holistic look at “environmental stressors and health impacts,” with a quote from Meghan Guevara about evaluating what one community is facing. It’s presented like Colorado is bravely discovering that people notice noise, pollution, and traffic. Congratulations on inventing the obvious.
But the photo caption sitting right there is the tell: a $280 million Colfax project converting two traffic lanes into a bus-only central corridor from the Capitol to Yosemite Street. That’s not a “study.” That’s a bulldozer with a press release.
So what the hell is an “environmental equity study”?
Paperwork First, Results Never
Colorado government loves to rebrand basic governance as a “first-in-the-state” research initiative, then invoice taxpayers for the privilege. They’re not fixing problems; they’re measuring feelings and stapling them to a grant application.
It’s government-by-spreadsheet.
“Equity” Is How They Launder Decisions
Calling it “environmental equity” lets officials package pre-decided transit and development choices as moral necessities. It rigs the conversation so dissent becomes “anti-health” instead of “pro-reality.”
It’s narrative enforcement.
Colfax: The Corridor They Keep Monetizing
East Colfax is already the petri dish for every top-down experiment—now it gets a fresh coat of study-branding. Denver leaders can bulldoze lanes, jam traffic, and then commission a study to “measure impacts” like the impacts were an accident.
It’s a permission slip.
Missing Details = Convenient Escape Hatch
Who chose East Colfax, what metrics define “success,” what the timeline is, and who eats consequences if it flops—this Denver Post teaser (as provided) doesn’t say. In Colorado, these initiatives rarely get audited, rarely get sunset, and never get pinned on the people who pushed them.
It’s consequence-free governing.
We Pay, They Pose
We’re the ones sitting in longer commutes and watching small businesses bleed while agencies spin up committees and consultants. We get the construction chaos, the diverted lanes, and the “temporary” pain that somehow turns permanent.
We live the consequences.
Sounds like a very nice green energy grift — a waste of tax dollars. So here’s the dare: what exactly will this “study” change that $280 million in lane conversions won’t already break? Drop your best guess in the comments—and share this with someone stuck on Colfax today.
Source: The Denver Post
