The article on Tuesday, April 23, 2013 regarding the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry view of green energy (The Force of Green http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/04/for_business_climate_change_ho.html ) was informing. We now know that the Chamber's view of Green Energy is that it should compete in the marketplace with fossil fuels, particularly natural gas. Of course, the relative regulatory and tax structure favoring fossil fuels is ignored. The Chamber decries the slowness of coal fired power plant permits, but the article ignores the reasons. The Chamber states that electricity rates have lowered due to shale gas, when the PUC's website indicates rates will rise in August. The Chamber indicates there is a rising petrochemical industry in Pennsylvania. Far from building infrastructure and jobs in Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania is a net gas exporter. The Chamber's representative inaccurately stated there is a "lack of concensus" in the scientific community that humans are responsible for global warming.
The article should have challenged these statements with balanced viewpoints. The Citizen's Climate Lobby and the Pennsylvania League of Women Voters both have local representatives and can be easily searched online.
Articles such as this do a disservice to readers. Without opposing viewpoints and fact based reporting, citizen consumers cannot make informed decisions about what to believe and what choices to make.They cannot understand the depth of the fossil fuel miasma we are in, nor can they appreciate the results of their choices to pay for clean energy, buy higher mileage vehicles or energy efficient appliances. We get what we pay for, and if we hear only one side about how Pennsylvania's future lies with fossil fuels, we will continue to pay for last century's limited fuel source.
No comments:
Post a Comment