US can’t abandon fossil fuel and its benefits overnight

THE KEYSTONE Pipeline, hydraulic fracturing, and new copper mining in Arizona are part of what makes this country great. They provide good-paying jobs and reduce our dependence on foreign sources of supply. They also provide tax revenue for the states involved. The environmental impact of these projects can be minimized with little impact to the projects themselves.

Eliminating them will eliminate tens of thousands of good-paying jobs and force the United States to purchase products from other countries that do not have the environmental opposition to projects that this country has. Eliminating these jobs will further anger the Trump supporters who want more control over their future prospects.

I didn’t like Trump because he cared nothing for limiting the impact of these projects on the environment, not to mention his greed and support of the wealthiest Americans. He cared nothing for the poor, for women’s rights, and paid lip service to those who could not find work.

If the Biden administration supports the environmentalists in everything they want, then he will have done almost nothing for people looking for work at decent wages. He will increase our dependence on foreign sources for mineral resources and fossil fuels.

The environmentalists may want to eliminate fossil fuels, but that cannot be done overnight. They have already rejected nuclear power, a major source of non-carbon energy, and this country has never had a serious nuclear accident.

Then, we are forced to put our hopes on solar and wind, intermittent sources of power, and both of which need mineral resources to develop, and nearly all cars and trucks in this country still run on gasoline or diesel.