To meet our country’s energy needs, we should choose clean energy rather than older polluting sources of the past. A 2018 study showed 84% of residents in Montezuma County want policy that funds research into renewable energy sources.
Jobs are crucial to the stability of our economy.
Fears have been raised about a loss of Colorado jobs when transitioning from coal, oil and gas extraction to clean energy.
I was surprised to learn that the opposite is true.
Renewable energy actually creates more jobs than an equivalent amount of fossil-based energy, because it is more labor intensive.
The shift to renewable energy can be expedited or hindered by government policy. We need to create rules to curb pollution and impose fees on businesses that pollute. Some 73% of residents in Montezuma County support regulation of CO2 as a pollutant, and 61% want fossil fuel companies to be required to pay a carbon tax.
A national carbon tax, economists tell us, is the fastest and most efficient way to reduce our greenhouse gases. Encourage Rep. Scott Tipton to hasten the transition to clean energy with smart government policy by supporting H.R. 763, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act.
Clean energy jobs can be the backbone of our state’s economy and create healthy, safe communities for our children and future generations
Susan Atkinson
Durango