To the editor:

Now they’ve gone and done it! Voters in Boulder, Colo., a liberal college town not unlike Lawrence, have approved what may be the nation’s first “carbon tax” intended to reduce emissions of global warming gases.

Yeah, right! Like that’s gonna make any difference.

The tax is to take effect on April 1 and be based on the number of kilowatt-hours used. Officials say it will add $16 a year to an average homeowner’s electricity bill and $46 for businesses.

Boulder city officials say revenue from the carbon tax would be collected by the city’s gas and electric utility, Xcel Energy, and be funneled to the city’s Office of Environmental Affairs to pay for increasing energy efficiency in Boulder’s homes and commercial buildings, switching to renewable energy and reducing vehicle miles traveled.

The tax grew out of efforts by a committee of residents and members of the City Council and Chamber of Commerce to try to enable Boulder to reach goals set by the United Nations Kyoto Protocol, which seeks to curb global warming.

The trouble is, this is like the first civic-minded do-gooder citizen who mows his lawn in the spring and then everyone else thinks they have to follow suit and mow their lawns, too, so they don’t look less well kept than their neighbor’s.

Al Gore, it’s all your fault.

Les Blevins,

Lawrence