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To the Journal editor:
All I could do is shake my head after reading that U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, and three other Michigan legislators, John James, Lisa McClain and John Moolenaar, took it upon themselves to write a letter to the Canadian prime minister.
The letter basically asserted that it was Canada's fault that the Upper Peninsula was being smoked by forest fires in Canada.
Couple of things that stood out to me were, how in the world can Canada be accused of controlling the weather patterns? The smoke is not only from forest fires in Canada, but in Minnesota and out in the western United States. Legislators of the past and the present, such as the ones that wrote the letter, have time and again dodged making significant inroads to address the sustainability and resilience of our country to attend to the changing climate.
Our Earth is warming. Burning fossil fuels, launching rockets into space, war, acceleration of the need for energy due to data mining and AI and natural weather patterns all play into the overall warming of our climate and why certain areas of our planet are crispy dry. It is evident that the intensity and frequency of catastrophic weather have increased.
Yes, practicing good forestry is part of the process, but instead of looking to blame Canada, why not take the lead in restoring and supporting efforts to address the base cause of the fires. Write legislation to increase renewable energy and appropriate battery storage from sources such as solar and wind. It is factual to say that the cost of solar and wind per kWh is less than natural gas and coal generated power. It is factual to say that once solar and wind farms are built, the sun and wind will be unending, free sources of energy unlike fossil fuel generated energy that is nonrenewable and depends upon commodity prices that swing unpredictably.
In addition, renewables are also cleaner by far and more friendly to our climate now and in the future. For the sheer economics and for us regular folk and the health of our planet, do something concrete about it instead of pointing fingers.
Our earth rocks. Run with the sun.