In Response to: Clean Energy for America, by Jason Brady, Dated July 6
I would like to take a moment to examine this letter of July 6, first by realizing that the esteemed Representative from our 5th Congressional district, Mr. Glenn Thompson, is doing the right thing for this area and for the country in voting No on the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES). The 5th Congressional District is an area that has been traditionally rural, made up of people who worked for coal companies, power plants, and manufacturing. The ACES legislation, by placing limits on pollutants emitted in all employment sectors would cripple the economy of the 5th district. Furthermore, as Mr. Brady notes, the ACES legislation makes available investments in wind, solar and geothermal energy, however, an examination of Department of Energy wind maps will reveal that very little of the Commonwealth is suited for wind farms and a brief glance out the window on many days will reveal how well solar panels would work. How can we expect these sources of energy to work for Pennsylvanians and replace our two abundant forms of energy, coal and natural gas?
Mr. Brady notes that the ACES legislation could create 72,000 new jobs, but is that a gross number of a net result. The ACES legislation, with its caps on emissions, has the capability of putting many hundreds out of work in this area including coal miners, truck drivers, power plant workers, and the scores of service industries that support these activities. While some workers may be able to move into the new ‘green’ fields, is there a place for the 55 year old coal truck driver, or the mining equipment operator? The question comes down to whether we will actually add thousands of jobs or whether we will lose many jobs and then simply begin to recover jobs with this new investment.
In response to Mr. Brady’s other main point, regarding the effect this bill will have on climate change, He fails to acknowledge that the rest of the world exists. If the U.S. unilaterally passes climate change measures they can have only have a marked improvement if the remainder of the world, particularly the developing world (i.e. India and China), attempt to also curtail emissions, something that they do not intend to do. If in the next fifty years we reduce emissions by 25% and China and India both increase their emissions by 15 percent the battle is still being lost.
In a time when we are in economic turmoil and budgetary apocalypse (both at the state and national level) there is no need to be passing any measure that puts extra burdens on an already burdened citizenry. I urge everyone to call Senators Specter an Casey and let them know that creating jobs by destroying others is not progress, that national level climate caps do not make sense when the wind blows around the world, and that the majority of this country’s energy comes from coal and natural gas, power that is found right here, in the hills of this Commonwealth. Tell your Senators to vote NO on the ACES legislation, and thank Representative Thompson while you’re at it.
Benjamin Hoffman
Karthaus