Citizen's Climate Lobby of Rock County

 Renewable Energy Can Wean Us Off Middle Eastern Oil  In 1973, the United States experienced an Arab oil embargo because of its support of Israel in the Arab-Israel War. Oil prices rose 300%. I waited in long lines to get gas, hoping the station would not run out before I got to the pump.    President Gerald Ford set a goal of energy independence in 1975. President Jimmy Carter installed solar panels on the roof of the White House in 1979. President Ronald Reagan had the panels removed in 1986.    Nearly 50 years have passed sine the 1973 embargo. Our foreign policy is still being held hostage by our dependence on oil. Now we also know that climate change is an existential threat to humans on this planet. Increased oil production is no longer a viable solution to our problem.    President Joe Biden's Build Back Better legislation ear-marked $550 billion for renewable energy and clean transportation. Not a single Republican in the Senate supported ...

Mercyhealth Can Help Combat Climate Change  The race to reduce emissions and slow the relentless pace of climate change is on; it is time for Mercyhealth to be a leader in our community and focus on sustainability. I recently read with interest the latest news from UW Health. The system proposes to drastically reduce emissions by 50% by the year 2030. This is the type of bold action we need out of our community leaders. Mercyhealth, based in Janesville but with outlying clinics in many surrounding areas and extending into Illinois, is a major employer and exerts a significant land and emissions footprint in multiple cities. Climate change threatens people's health, worsens respiratory illnesses, increases injuries from extreme weather events and increases disease transmissability; in other words, it is in a hospital system's best interest to address the climate crisis. We need Mercyhealth leaders to propose emissions and sustainability goals and formulate plans to achieve them....

  Renewable Energy Is Not More Expensive Than Fossil Fuels (Published on March 23, 2022 in The Janesville Gazette) In his letter of March 15, Dennis Hopper blamed the Biden administration for high gas and oil prices. Most economists, however, attribute the rise in fuel costs to two factors–pent-up demand from the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine–both beyond a president’s control.  The more egregious assertion in his letter, however, is that renewable energy is a “futuristic alternative still too expensive for mass use.” In fact, renewables often undercut the cheapest fossil fuels on cost. Electricity produced from fossil fuels costs 5-17 cents /kwh, while that produced by solar costs 3-6 cents and is trending downward. The situation with wind is similar; costs are comparable to that of fossil fuels and trending downward. The Montana Environmental Information Center reported in 2021 that the biggest utility in the state is producing electricity from wind at half the...