Make heat alternatives to wood-burning affordable

The state Climate Action Council recently discussed a host of issues related to the

goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, including the including the health, environmental and climate impact of using wood to heat residences. Burning wood as an energy or heat source is opposed by the American Lung Association, the American Heart Association, and the UN, among many others.

State Sen. Daphne Jordan, R-halfmoon, rightfully points out that restricting or banning wood stoves would likely impose an onerous financial burden on some of the New Yorkers heating with wood, but her theatrically derisive comments about the work of the Climate Action Council strike some of us in her district as unprofessional and counterproductive.

It is axiomatic that all climate and environmental mitigations will impact segments of our population. Although the council’s bylaws call for creation of and consultation with an “environmental justice advisory group,” which might be a more appropriate place for these issues, I think Dr. Sanjay Rajagopalan, chief of cardiovascular medicine at University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute in Cleveland, better suggested the way forward in a December 2019 article for the American Heart Association — “…making more affordable alternatives to wood-burning devices and educating people about the health consequences.”

Given her concerns and her energy, Jordan would be an ideal candidate to present a bill to do just that — make alternatives to wood-burning devices affordable for the economically disadvantaged in our state.

Averting the worst consequences of the climate crisis will require innovation by the private sector, action by the state, engagement by residents and, likely, many sacrifices.

The alternative is, well, perhaps there is no real alternative if we are to keep the Earth a habitable home for us.

Gary Schwartz

West Sand Lake