Battle over energy heats up

Re “Coal at heart of climate battle,” April 14

Reading that utility companies are complaining of environmentalists’ unfair tactics in opposing coal-fired power plants brings a smile to my face. The companies have the environmentalists heavily outgunned on the legal, legislative and administrative fronts. Are they whining that this is not enough?

We need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 80% over the next few decades, and coal-fired plants emit more greenhouse gases per megawatt than other electricity providers. A national ban on their construction would be good public policy. We can’t enact this ban because of intense lobbying by the coal and utility industries. It will cost money to switch to renewables, but building more coal-fired plants will just add to the cost in the long run. Better to stop them all now, by any means possible. Our grandchildren will thank us for it.

Dean Wallraff

Executive Director

EnviroDefenders

Shadow Hills

Congratulations to The Times for exposing the relationship between dramatically higher energy costs and the Sierra Club, the National Resources Defense Council, Environmental Defense Fund and other radical environmental organizations.

These groups, by opposing most new energy plants, regardless of the fuel, as well as opposing increasing refinery capacity and drilling for oil in the United States or offshore, are making us all pay the price in gasoline, diesel, airplane fuel, electricity, natural gas and more. It’s time to recognize the main culprits in our energy crisis, and The Times has done a great service.

Charles O’Connell

Stevenson Ranch