Urban-rural conflicts, ethnic tensions, and regional rivalries are nothing new in state (or for that matter, national) politics. But according to a report from CBS, it’s getting serious enough in Northern Colorado that people (and I suspect, economic interests) unhappy with the godless gun-grabbing tree-hugging hippies in Denver are talking about seceding and creating a 51st state with like-minded folk in Nebraska and maybe Kansas:
Ten counties started talking about seceding last month. Now some people in Lincoln and Cheyenne counties say they want to join a new state they’d call “North Colorado,” reports CBS Denver station KCNC-TV.
Organizers of the secession effort say their interests are not being represented at the state Capitol. Representatives from the 10 counties held a meeting on Monday in the town of Akron in Weld County to begin mapping the boundaries for the new state they say will represent the interests of rural Colorado.
The secessionist movement is the result of a growing urban-rural divide, which was exacerbated after this year’s legislation session, where lawmakers raised renewable energy standards for rural electric co-ops, floated bills increasing regulations on oil and gas and passed sweeping gun control….
[O]rganizers say three other Colorado counties and two in Kansas have said they may join the secession movement. Previously, officials said parts of Nebraska also expressed interest in joining in on what would be a new state. They hope to put the idea to voters as early as this November.
If Nebraskans and Kansans are going to support this secession effort, I doubt they’d be happy with “North Colorado” as their new state. I think it would need a new name associated with its inspiration. Maybe “Fracklandia” or “Fossilfuelistan?” Or “Gunorado?” Please feel free to post other ideas in the comment thread.
