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Pennsylvania's Republican legislature has again demonstrated its determination to block Governor Wolf's efforts to protect our environment. Our lawmakers clearly care more about re-election; about pandering to big power companies, coal, oil and gas producers (many from out of state) than they care about the people of Pennsylvania.
In their myopic view, a "carbon tax" of a few cents per day -- a fraction of the cost of a bottle of water, a cup of coffee or this newspaper -- would be unacceptably burdensome. Most households could save the added cost by turning out the light when leaving a room or by taking shorter showers! Even this modest cost would be more than repaid by future savings as the nation makes the promised change to renewable energy.
As UN Secretary General Guterrez made clear, we cannot continue to rely upon fossil fuels to energize the world economy. The reserves are limited, increasingly costly to obtain, and we can no longer tolerate the environmental consequences of their use on health and climate. As steam replaced water-power in the Industrial Revolution, and internal combustion engines replaced steam, the Age of Fossil Fuel is coming to an end. We must adapt to alternative, sustainable energy sources, and most experts believe we can do so without sacrifice.
This is NOT a partisan issue. It is an issue of human survival!
ROBERT SCHMALZ
State College
Submitted by Virtual Newsroom