Larry Spencer: Investment in new energy sources is investment in future

To The Daily Sun,

As a regular reader of The Laconia Daily Sun, I wonder why so many letter writers want to stick with old, passe, forms of energy (coal, oil, gasoline, etc.). These materials are all finite and although there may be processes going on now in the bowels of the Earth where organic materials in sediments are being converted into coal, oil, or natural gas, the outcomes of those processes won’t be available to us soon. What we can do is to reduce our usage plus switch to energy sources that are on-going (sunlight, heat from the earth, flowing water, tides, wave action and wind).

When one practices sustainable agriculture, one sets aside some of the produce as seeds for the next crop (something not available when using hybrid plants that don’t produce viable seeds). In looking at our energy usage, why wouldn’t we want to save some of the non-renewable materials for future use when renewables can’t be used to produce some outcomes that are necessary. When an electric car can provide the same benefits as a gas vehicle at a lower cost to the environment, why not switch to one. When the energy produced by solar panels on one’s house or via the power lines from the producer that has gotten that power via wind, hydro or solar, why not favor those energy sources and not depend upon coal or gas fired plants. We all set aside funds during our working years to fund our retirement years. Why not use the same principle with respect to non-renewables?

Much of our plastics are produced with petroleum as the basic input ingredient and with huge amounts of energy. Although one can’t expect to take empty bottles to the supermarket to get their soda or milk, one can surely take reusable cloth or paper bags to carry their produce to the cashier and to package all their groceries for the trip home in their vehicle. Perhaps we are stuck in our old patterns of behavior, but if we care for our descendants, why not change our lifestyles now, so that perhaps their lives will not suffer the outcomes or our present selfish behaviors.

Larry Spencer

Plymouth