Wait a second . . . don't you live in Denver? Hasn't Denver exploded in population? Isn't Denver just behind Las Vegas in foreclosures? Aren't you in a terrible water crunch - worse than Las Vegas? Doesn't Denver rely on most of its power from coal fired electricity produced by Colorado coal unlike Las Vegas which depends mostly on natural gas? BTW the study you reference from Scripps about Lake Mead running dry by 2021 has been refuted by a less biased more updated study by ultra-liberal, ultra-green University of Colorado (your neck of the woods) http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/arizona/103010.php. Yes, the SW is in trouble no question but Vegas has done more than any other community in the country to improve water conservation
From TIME Mag - http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1864440-2,00.html.
"All these policies are having an effect. From being one of the most wasteful cities in the U.S.--in the 1980s, Las Vegas used almost twice as much water per capita as did far wetter New York--Vegas may now get more economic bang for its water than any other place on earth. Though the city has grown by 300,000 people since 2002, it uses less water today than it did six years ago, and leakage is below 5%. "Failure is not an option," says Mulroy."
Hey, I'm a fan and really like you on Rachel Maddow's show but before you attack do a little more research. Denver's currently in a similar situation as Las Vegas but LV is a sexier target and might actually get your column read in more newspapers give your back yard the same scrutiny and you'll find it to be as bad, if not worse, than Las Vegas.