I’m writing in response to Ann Donnelly’s March 7 opinion “Blackout a wake-up call for council on energy.” Donnelly argues the recent Texas grid failures are a warning to Southwest Washington to reject moving away from fossil fuels, specifically natural gas. The Texas power failures were the result of a power system negligently maintained and not properly winterized. The Texas maintenance failures tell us nothing about whether Southwest Washington should move away from natural gas.
Donnelly argues natural gas is reliable and therefore we shouldn’t act to limit its use. She doesn’t explain why reliance on renewable energy sources, as opposed to natural gas, would mean our energy grid will become unreliable. She talks about the costs of moving away from natural gas, but she doesn’t consider the health and climate costs of continuing to rely on fossil fuels. Those costs are the most important consideration.
We have to act to reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuels. It’s irresponsible to suggest that fossil fuels are acceptable because they’ve been reliable. It’s also irresponsible to suggest we should continue to rely on fossil fuels because there might be a cost connected with switching to renewables.
