Letter: Investment needed in clean energy sources

To the editor,

It is now the time for the state to allow Prospect and some nearby towns to raise the tax on gasoline a modest 4 cents a gallon to create a growing fund to invest in clean energy sources in future years. When the state eventually does the same, the town’s initial share can be blended to ensure that Prospect residents won’t pay more. This action will send a message to electric companies to start to invest in a clean source of income, and also to the state and nation.

Now is the perfect time with gas and diesel prices so low.

The undisputed fact is global warming. Starting from the year 1900 with the advent of automobile and electricity, global temperatures rose slowly, but between 1980 and 2018 the rise accelerated as poorer countries grew along with the U.S. From 1900 to 2018, the average global temperature rose by a significant amount.

The major cause is carbon dioxide. When we breathe, we emit carbon dioxide. When we burn anything, such as wood, coal, gasoline, diesel kerosene or natural gas, lots of carbon dioxide is emitted.

Where does it go? Trees and vegetation take up some of this, and the oceans readily dissolve carbon dioxide and take it in. In 1900, we were roughly in balance, but now the carbon dioxide produced cannot be assimilated, and the amount of this in the air is rapidly increasing.

Carbon dioxide in the air allows all light to pass through the molecule during daytime, but at night the Earth cools, releasing the warmth as infrared light, which the carbon dioxide does not allow to escape. The forests are decreasing and the oceans are nearly at capacity for holding carbon dioxide. The warmer air and warmer water temperatures will actually cause the oceans to begin releasing stored carbon dioxide in a few years, accelerating the buildup.

Let’s say that “climate change” is somewhat negotiable, but random events are now occurring all over — droughts, super hurricanes, unexpected weather patterns, etc.

Some the warmest years in history have occurred between 2000 and 2018. Think about it.

John Tietjen

Prospect