Clean energy is the key to halting climate change

The argument for carbon capture technology as a catch-all solution for global warming ignores the prime culprit of climate change: fossil fuel emissions. Carbon capture is effectively a get-out-of-jail free card for polluters, a Band-Aid on a problem that requires bold steps to protect our air, water and soil. While some carbon is sequestered, the fossil fuel infrastructure — and resulting emissions — remain, allowing for the fossil fuel industry to carry on business as usual, profiting from an inherently extractive practice that endangers frontline communities.

And as the third-largest oil producer in the nation, New Mexico is disproportionately contributing to climate change.

We don’t just need to capture carbon. We need to invest in alternative energy sources that don’t pollute our atmosphere and destroy our climate.

Like the rest of the Western U.S., New Mexico faces a megadrought resulting from decades of inaction on climate change. Already scarce water resources go to fracking and drilling operations, while the emissions from those facilities accelerate global warming at an ever-increasing rate. The real source of the problem is fossil fuel infrastructure. Wind, solar and battery storage are all clean energy sources that have been viable for years. Scientists worldwide have told us we are dangerously close to irreversibly damaging our planet through global warming. We have no time for halfmeasures when sustainable solutions are within arms’ reach.

MARGARET WADSWORTH

ABIQUIU