Continued reliance on fossil fuels is a no-win for Western Pennsylvania. Coal production has been on the decline for 40 years and will continue to decline.
It's time to invest in renewable energy to shore up pension plans. Clinging to obsolete technology and refusing to recognize the changing direction of the worldwide energy industry will leave coal country with false hopes, and we will continue to suffer, and pay for, the cleanup of the environmental and health consequences of mining.
A sensible change in energy policy would allow Western Pennsylvania to take advantage of the new job creation and investment opportunities before us. Already there are twice as many people in the U.S. solar industry as there are in the coal industry. China just built the largest solar array in the world. Several other countries are nearing 100-percent energy from renewables.
I am proud of my Western Pennsylvania heritage and our story of creating prosperity from the use of fossil fuels in the past century. It's time to grow again. Let's create a post-fossil-fuel future for Pennsylvania.
Rebecca Bell
Cook
