To The Reader’s Forum:

Someone needs to set the record straight on Stephen Moore’s, “Biden’s Green New Deal is increasing Greenhouse Gases” (Post-Journal 7/12).

In 2009, Moore stated that climate change was “the biggest scam of the last two decades.” More recently, in 2019, he argued that the Federal Reserve should not factor into decision making the economic impacts of climate change. We should take his claims with a large grain of salt.

First of all, calling natural gas “clean” is disingenuous since natural gas production releases methane into the atmosphere. This greenhouse gas has a warming effect up to 80 or 90 times more powerful than C02 over a 20-year time period. Second, Mr. Moore fails to note that despite the post-pandemic upturn in fossil fuel consumption in 2021, U.S. emissions remain below 2019 levels. This is partly due to reduced costs of solar and wind power, which despite what Moore says, have improved in efficiency and become cheaper precisely because of the subsidies Moore disparages. Perhaps most egregious of all is Mr. Moore’s cheerleading for maintaining our fossil fuel dependence. His position completely ignores the harmful effects of fossil fuel combustion on air pollution, on the climate, and on our health and longevity.

The fact is that President Biden’s Green New Deal is exactly the right approach. Numerous studies show that most of the emission reductions we need by 2030–estimates vary from 70% to 90%–can come from the electric power and transportation sectors. In Congress, Chuck Schumer’s primary role right now should be to revitalize his party’s climate agenda by advancing proposals for clean energy and green transportation investments. The need could not be more urgent.

Marcia Johnson

Fredonia

Jamestown