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Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Reader Response to Last Week’s Column Has Got Me Thinking...

[Published Feb. 6, 2014, in the Jeffco editions of the Denver Post's YourHub section]

Last week I strayed from writing strictly about real estate to address climate change.  I shared a chart showing the drastic reduction of late summer arctic ice which suggests that we may have already passed the dreaded “tipping point.”

I expected to get some blow-back from conservatives, as I have in the past when I strayed into writing about subjects with political overtones.

I was pleasantly surprised, however, to receive only three negative emails and one negative phone call and a far higher number of supportive emails and phone calls — well over a dozen.

More than one of the positive responses applauded my “courage” in speaking up on a topic which was clearly worrying them, too.  And two of the negative emails argued that I was hurting my business by alienating potential clients who don’t believe in human-caused climate change. (These same two readers also praised my real estate writings, which I appreciated, and urged me to “stick to writing about real estate.”)

As Realtors, we are obligated both by law and ethics to put aside thoughts of our own personal gain in serving our clients, and I view expressing myself on issues as an extension of that ethic.  I look forward to it not being labeled “courageous.”

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