Letters to the editor 2/2/23

We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to editor@illinoistimes.com.

—-

PURSUE SUSTAINABLE POWER

After reading Dr. Brandon Derman’s recent editorial “This year CWLP needs a new, community-led Integrated Resource Plan,” (Jan. 5), I would like to encourage Springfield Power to the People on their efforts to shape CWLP’s future energy policies into more sustainable means.

I applaud Dr. Derman’s request to local energy policy leaders to “plan for a just and speedy clean energy transition.” Additionally, I would like to encourage them to have the foresight to include the potential public health consequences of ongoing reliance on fossil fuels, particularly on the counties’ vulnerable populations.

Sangamon County has specific health concerns linked to fossil fuel emissions. In just one example, the most recent Sangamon County Community Health Needs Assessment prioritized emergency room usage for asthma and cardiovascular disease, particularly in Black populations, as an area of concern. Facts like this should be considered in a future IRP.

As a solution to the same problem, Louisville, Kentucky, recently converted an electrical power plant from coal and found a profound and sustained decrease in pediatric acute asthma cases (the kind that require emergency room usage).

In Illinois, natural gas has recently been found to have more negative health consequences compared to all other fossil fuels combined. Natural gas contains very small particles that have been linked to many health problems, such as asthma attacks and hospital visits.

It is noteworthy that a growing number of forward-thinking communities are seeking healthier options to both coal and natural gas with cheaper Clean Energy Portfolios (CEPs), a combination of wind, solar, energy efficiency, demand response and battery energy storage.

I find it encouraging that there are members of our community who have the vision to realize that Springfield has the potential to become exemplary in transitioning to clean energy. Our state has chosen to take the lead on climate justice and equity, so the potential is here for Springfield to follow by considering healthier alternatives to fossil fuels.

Kevin Atchason, chair
Central IL Chapter of the Climate Reality Project

—-

NO COMPROMISE

So, the Democrats – now that they are out of power in the House – should “reach across the aisle” for compromise?

Did Scott Reeder write something similar when Republicans were obstinate obstructionists the past two years? Or the first two years of the Obama administration (“Pick nation over party,” Jan. 12)?

No? Then it’s just his own partisanship masquerading as patriotism. He wants the Democrats to bend to the will of the GOP majority – because the Freedom Caucus is especially radical and kooky – as if that means the rest of the GOP’s agenda is palatable to Democrats or their voters.

How do you wax on about the “realpolitik” and how it is a sign of a healthy democracy, then land on that conclusion? Unless, of course, you harbor a secret bias toward the modern GOP and couch your advocacy in supposed universal principles.

Mary Harris
Via illinoistimes.com

—-

FOCUS ON PEACE

I really appreciated Fletcher Farrar’s column, “War doesn’t work well. Here’s a strategy for peace,” (Jan. 19). It offers and supports an alternative solution to war – peace. Most media outlets focus only on the melodrama in order to persuade customers to buy into it. Consequently, the world is dealing with crisis today that may have been avoided if the public were aware of the events leading up to the crisis and if somebody, with knowledge of the history, would have intervened to find common ground so that later generations do not have to become involved in a war about it.

Thank you for focusing on peace. You are an example of how other editors should write about war.

Debbie Quick
Springfield

This article appears in Shawnee National Park?.