CLEAN Future Act worth supporting
While the commentary by Eric Weltman and David Burtis on the CLEAN Future Act raises legitimate concerns about the adequacy of certain of its provisions in meeting the challenge of climate change, I think Rep. Paul Tonko also deserves credit for shepherding the bill this far through a contentious process (“Tonko must go big — really big — on green energy plan,” March 31).
There is a maxim in climate circles that there is no one silver bullet that will solve the crisis; what will be required is a lot of silver buckshot. The CLEAN Future Act contains a large amount of that buckshot and would set in motion many of the actions necessary to combat the crisis: building a better grid, electrifying transportation, making buildings and industry more energyefficient, shrinking methane emissions, advancing climate justice, mandating a wholeof-government approach and many other beneficial measures.
There is much in the bill that is good and needs to be done. We also need the kind of public discussion of key aspects such as those raised in the commentary.
Are the proposed standards sufficiently tight? Is fracked gas really clean? Should incineration play a role in a clean future? Let’s have those discussions now.
This bill and President Joe Biden’s proposals should be good starting points for serious conversation. Let’s show our representatives that we support taking immediate action and even bolder approaches.