Check out Laurie Milford’s column on climate change denial in Wyoming, which was published in the Casper Star-Tribune.
It’s well worth the read.
Here is an excerpt:
Let me also speak plainly about the long-term implications of our state’s leaders’ stubbornness when it comes to admitting our role in climate change. This intransigence will leave the state at a competitive disadvantage and leave our children with even fewer job choices than they now have. I maintain that a steadfast commitment to science and good education is the best way for states and nations to remain competitive in the long run. It’s also the best way for us to give our kids reason to stay and work in Wyoming. Business as usual when it comes to fossil fuels is not acceptable if we care about our state.
. . . if Wyoming really wants to get serious about protecting good jobs in this state for the long term, our elected officials need to get serious about investing in the research and technology that the human race will need to use in the near future when we agree as an international community to constrain our greenhouse gas emissions.
The fact of the matter is that our coal industry is at a crossroads. We need to either (1) figure out how to use coal for energy that releases no, or significantly less, CO2 into the atmosphere or (2) drop coal combustion altogether and figure out how to produce cleaner energy in other ways. Moreover, the rest of the United States and other countries may well decide to put a price on coal that diminishes its demand, leaving the Wyoming coal industry without buyers.
Click here to read the entire piece.