JAMES T. HOLLAND
Andrew White’s December 27 Open Forum expressed “disappointment” with an article I wrote regarding climate change. He mistakenly assumed that I wanted to delay action on climate change. On the contrary, I think the whole country should learn about this issue as quickly as possible. It refers to ‘controlling’ the climate, which is an understandable mistake, because this assumption is exactly what climate fanatics wanted the public to believe when they changed the name from the existential threat of global warming to climate change. . This allowed politicians to claim that every extreme weather event was due to climate change, implying that we could control these events if only we took immediate action. Dr White later said: “Holland seems to be exclusively concerned with the ‘economic benefits of fossil fuels’, followed by the statement: ‘What a small world Holland seems to live in’. Then he vividly describes a beautiful world he lived in and suggests that everything “will go away if Holland is wrong about climate change”. Besides me, Dr. White is “particularly concerned about Christians’ lack of concern for the environment.”
Phew! There is no doubt that he is a hugely committed advocate for action on climate change.
Maybe when someone is so passionate they can’t see reality. But there :
1. America alone cannot solve global warming no matter what we do. Any solution will require a full global commitment.
2. Full global engagement cannot control the climate.
3. There is no viable energy substitute for fossil fuels. Wind and solar are unreliable, nor abundant enough to replace fossil fuels.
4. Car batteries do not create electricity. They store electricity from the power grid, mainly supplied by fossil fuels and nuclear power.
5. The basic raw material of plastics is a by-product of petroleum.
Plastics are primarily components of millions of products that we use every day. When the price of oil increases, so does the price of plastics and products made from it.
6. Future carbon-free alternative energy products must be competitive with fossil fuels in terms of cost, function, availability, reliability, etc. American ingenuity is perfectly capable of solving this problem.
7. Either way, the government should develop energy policies that ensure America’s energy independence, prosperity, and national security.
8. Before spending billions of dollars on grants, grants and mandates, Americans should demand a pilot program to determine the best solutions to combat global warming. Climate fanatics cannot debate the issue because the debate requires a discussion of cost, timing, alternative approaches and the likelihood of success.
James T. Holland is a resident of Frederick County.
