Rhetoric but no solutions in opinion
“When people tell you who they are, believe them”- Representative Joe Aragona, Macomb Daily Dec. 10 (“Green ghost jobs not only lack credibility but are dangerous”). There is another famous quote: “You can’t complain about a problem if you don’t have a solution.” Seems Republicans like to complain about what others are doing to solve problems and have no policies of their own.
Rep. Aragona complains vigorously about Governor Whitmer’s actions to help curb climate change and energy costs. Nowhere in his diatribe did he offer any solutions.
In neighboring St. Clair County, a new natural gas electrical plant was built to transition away from the coal plant that operated there for years, reducing green house gases and lowering energy costs. New plants costs money to build, they are an investment into our future. Building anything today is cheaper than it will be in future years. Another example is the Palisades Nuclear plant in South Haven
being planned to re-open giving us more clean energy and more jobs.
DTE has transitioned 11 of their 17 coal plants to natural gas and renewable by this year. Consumers Energy has plans to be coal free by 2025. The move is to clean cheaper energy. Is this going to make a difference on the world stage to curb climate change? At this small scale no, but as a nation with every state participating, the answer is yes. The state of Wyoming is planning a 600 turbine wind farm that will sell excess energy to California. I look across Lake St Clair and see wind turbines on the Canadian shore. What has Rep. Aragona suggested? To do nothing because China is building more coal plants?
America has always been the world leader; we should be leading trying to learn new technologies not bending the knee to the fossil fuel industry. New technologies means more jobs here in Michigan. We have new EV and battery plants being built with our universities and entrepreneurs working on hydrogen technology. Those are real factory and construction jobs for our communities.
Instead of bashing the other party for trying something, come up with a plan to help us achieve cleaner energy at a lower cost. — Dennis Marentette
St Clair Shores