It was incredibly discouraging and depressing to read that Rocky Mountain Power is being forced, in part, by our legislators (SB224) to continue operating the polluting coal-fired power plants until 2042 that they had planned to retire by 2032. Besides contributing to our changing climate and air pollution, this decision puts Utah farther behind the rest of the western states. The reliance on coal will cost utility customers more than if we relied on our abundant solar, wind, geothermal, and proposed nuclear.
Climate change due to burning fossil fuels is already costing us in terms of higher property insurance rates, smoke from wildfires, floods, and higher energy costs for a longer air conditioning season.
Why is no one asking why the Legislature has failed Utahns who work in the coal industry and live in communities dependent on those incomes? We’ve known for more than a quarter century that the future of the coal industry was limited. What have legislators done to bring new industries to coal country and to provide training and education for 21st century jobs?
When we moved to Utah more than four decades ago a popular joke was: ‘Welcome to Utah, turn your watches back 20 years.” It’s no longer a joke; it’s reality.
Jean M. Lown, St. George