Stop Olympic Pollution

I’m a huge winter Olympics fan. I’m hoping our figure skaters, particularly Mariah Bell and Nathan Chen, have the skate of their lives (sending positive energy their way). But it’s time to re-think the location of the Olympic games.

As reported by the New York Times, China diverted water from a Beijing reservoir and resettled hundreds of farmers and their families, all to create artificial snow. What? The International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the games to a place that has no snow. That’s unconscionable. The Olympic Games can’t be a polluter. Our athletes are already competing in the country where Covid began and we aren’t allowed to do a full investigation. China is the biggest polluter on the planet by far. And the IOC awards this by allowing them to reduce available water to make snow.

Let’s face it. It may be time to limit the Winter Olympics to certain areas of the world to protect the environment. Because Colorado turned down the games in the’80s the IOC doesn’t want to offer the state the games again. That’s stupid. Colorado is one of the best places to hold a Winter Olympics. The state already has most of the best venues in the world for activities such as downhill skiing and snowboarding. It has the resources to develop and maintain any venues not currently available. Plus, the US isn’t a country with human rights abuses.

Unfortunately, we do have a political party that won’t support environmental protections. That’s why we must start the dialogue. Let’s send a clear message to the IOC. Pollution must now be a factor for any Olympic Games in the future starting now. All citizens of the world must demand that only countries with anti-pollution policies and the lowest pollution prevention for building and managing the games be allowed to hold them. As much as we may love the significance of the Olympic competition, it can’t come at the expense of the planet.