Protect the environment
Energy companies are saving a significant amount of money by relying more heavily on clean energy. Even in Texas, we have many examples of how clean energy has made economic sense in such cities as Georgetown, San Antonio, Austin and Houston.
With the Environmental Protection Agency coming down hard on coal-fired power plants, it almost seems unfair — like clean energy being good overcoming evil.
Those who believe in a fair, nonpartisan solution to our carbon-emission fallout have to look to a market-based approach. It just makes sense.
If we put a fee on carbon that rises each year, we can return that money to households, letting families decide how that money should be spent.
We can open avenues of investment that aren’t based on opinion, but on economic efficiency. We don’t have to pick a side when choosing our energy, but we do have to let the market run its course.
— Gregory Thackston, Fort Worth
I take issue with oil, gas and coal industry apologists claiming that renewable energy costs more than fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are cheaper only if you ignore the total cost of their use.
Fossil fuel advocates want us to spend as little as possible on energy, and to charge the remaining costs to the planet’s credit card.
It’s not about the pennies-per-kilowatt difference on the electric bill. It’s about preserving the planet for our children and grandchildren!
Yes, a handful of oil and gas executives will take a pay cut, but President Obama is right — we only get one planet.
— Tom Hallford, Keller
I kept waiting for the Aug. 8 story about hot North Texas surface temperatures to lead into a mention of a simple way to improve the situation.
What would block the sun from heating the Earth? Trees!
What percentage of North America has been deforested for agriculture, progress or building materials? How about on a global scale? Could this be a factor in global warming? You bet!
The city of Fort Worth has an ordinance with the goal of at least a 30 to 40 percent canopy — an admirable goal, which developers hate.
Not many people will get rich off a simple solution like replenishing some of our denuded land with new trees. So, as a result, no idea this simple gets any real traction.
— Daniel J. Haase, Fort Worth
Isn’t it ironic that the EPA crew, responsible for cleaning up an abandoned gold mine in Colorado, broke a dam, which now will need more cleanup?
— Don Phillips, Fort Worth
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This story was originally published August 17, 2015 at 5:02 PM with the headline "Protect the environment."