Thread: Trump's climate order puts 'China first' in clean energy

Originally Posted by Judy

Everyone wants to prattle on about "free markets", well, that's what we'll have! All types of energy companies competing with each other to provide all different types of energy sources. That's what we need, that's what we want. Picking winners and losers doesn't work in our economy. You don't shut down pipelines and coal mines to make solar energy. You keep them all going so you have pipelines, coal mines and solar energy. That's free markets.

Right now, the winners have always been fossil fuel - and coal to some extent. That has happened because the government has picked those winners.

Free markets would be a good thing, but when any business is detrimental to the environment and health of the people and the country, then I think there is room for government involvement. Perhaps just to be sure the people are the winners and not just corporations.

Truly, I agree, we should not put all our eggs in one basket - as we have in the past with fossil fuel. But no one can say with a straight face that the oil companies have not benefited from government involvement. With good reason, as for a while it had to be the primary and almost only source. That isn't the case now.

I realize coal provides a lot of jobs, but truly it is a nasty, environmentally destructive source of power.

I have seen a once beautiful green, clean area be severely and perhaps permanently dirtied by coal mining. Underground water tables, especially the shallow ones, used for family wells, have been drained and polluted. Old growth forests have been decimated. These were forest needed to clean the air.

I saw my first greasy smog cloud in East Texas a couple of years ago, due to the coal plant. Had I not seen this in Utah, I would have had no idea what it was.

In short, it just isn't necessary and it is not a good thing.

Now maybe the Chinese will get busy and develop some alternative energy technology for the entire world. That would be a good thing - for all of us.

Maybe they will market home solar power that people can afford, or small home turbines. We will have to see if the energy companies lobbyists will allow it to be imported, though.

Money and profit is important, but it cannot always be the overriding factor in our decisions.