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Letter: It’s time to focus on climate change, not coal

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Levan transfer facility along Interstate 15 south of Nephi sees a steady flow of coal trucks before the coal is loaded onto trains.

The letter by David Folland in the Public Forum on June 2 urging us to call and ask our representatives to take action on climate change was especially timely given the article “Trump orders immediate steps to boost coal” appearing the same day.

Mandating the purchase of more expensive coal-based energy from plants that were scheduled for retirement does not make sense. At a time when states like Massachusetts and Rhode Island are creating new jobs building offshore wind farms that will supply electricity to 600,000 homes and California is planning a major energy overhaul systematizing the installation of solar panels on new homes, we should not be trying to save a dying industry but should be looking to a future of clean renewable energy.

I encourage everyone to call Sens. Lee and Hatch as well as their congressional representatives and urge that they take action on climate change.

Robert T. Peterson, South Jordan

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By Robert T. Peterson | The Public Forum