The urban-rural divide is growing, and it isn’t hard to understand why: our politics have become incredibly divisive, and the public policies rammed through in the wake of elections disregards opposing views – no compromise necessary.

After all, as one pol said, “elections have consequences, and I won.”

It doesn’t need to be this way; cooperation and compromise are necessary to reach permanent solutions. Climate change is a key example: if your goal is reduced carbon emissions, there are several innovative methods that would benefit all parties. In rural Colorado, we have come to accept wind farms, which, when coupled with our abundant natural gas, have reduced emissions more in America than in any other country.

Together, we can enact more of these practical changes. Many rural Coloradans understand that the simplest and most effective “battery” available now at scale for storage of wind electricity generated off-peak is a reservoir where water is released to produce hydropower. Such reservoirs — like those in the Aspinall Unit’s dams, reservoirs and hydropower plants on the Gunnison River, such as Blue Mesa Reservoir — have the added benefit of relieving the water stress caused by the “buy and dry” of Colorado farm land to meet the growing water demands of the cities.

On the other hand, some of the policy suggestions we hear from the Democratic presidential front runners truly do not strike us as win-win or pragmatic. Talk of fracking bans and cheeseburger taxes make it seem that rural Colorado is expected to be held disproportionately accountable for climate change action.

This drives a sense of injustice, when poor and struggling families in rural Colorado are told they need to foot the bill to keep Miami from flooding – especially when urban elites have told us for the last 30 years that unless we act in the next 10 years, it will be too late. This same concern sparked the 2018 Yellow Vest Movement in France.

Rural Coloradans are very sensitive to energy costs. There is no public transportation alternative for rural families to use when going to buy groceries, supporting their children in school activities, or working out of the home. Where we live, in our sparsely populated country communities, we necessarily drive farther and more often for the daily tasks urbanites may take for granted.

Further, agriculture is incredibly sensitive to energy prices. Each of those circle fields you see when flying over Colorado has an annual electricity bill of around $15,000. We need diesel for our equipment and propane for drying grain; there are no subsidized electric tractor alternatives.

We pay local retail expenses to produce commodities priced wholesale by world markets; our products will not be worth more in the world market if the cost to produce skyrockets due to carbon taxes and other, more extreme regulations. Colorado farmers and ranchers cannot survive if our own government places us at an even further disadvantage to South American farmers.

In 2013, several northeast Colorado counties even voted to secede from the state, and frankly, those feelings are only intensifying.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

While most in rural Colorado do not believe that climate change is an imminent and existential threat, like you, we truly care about the environment. Agriculturalists are the original environmentalists: If we do not take care of the land, it will not take care of us. We cannot earn a livelihood and provide for our families if we abuse our land, so the urban elites will find allies in rural areas – if the ideas for environmental conservation are sound.

The Democratic Party has complete control of the levers of power in Colorado. They can singlehandedly rebuild the bridge of the urban-rural divide, or they can burn it all the way down. The blocks for rebuilding should be sturdy and real: water storage, for instance, not meat-alternative burgers and fracking bans.

Fundamental changes and opportunities are at hand. Are we going to choose to uphold a “live and let live” constitutional republic that respects the rights and interests of minority views, or will we allow the tyranny of the majority, a “winner takes all” system, to further divide us?

Greg Brophy is a fourth-generation corn and melon farmer from Wray. He served in the Colorado state Senate 2005-2014, and in the state House 2003-2005.