Corporations Must Be Held Accountable for Contributing to Climate Crisis
Opinion Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the author/producer’s interpretation of facts and data.
There is no “intense disagreement as to the contribution of fossil fuel consumption on the atmosphere and climate change” as suggested by Paul Jaffe in his recent letter to the editor (“Climate Change Superfund Act Will Do Nothing But Increase Costs in NY,” January 14-20).
It is settled science that, just like the conclusion that smoking cigarettes causes cancer, the amount of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere must be limited in order to avoid climate chaos.
The Climate Change Superfund is modeled on the same principle as the law that required tobacco corporations to make amends for the false advertising to promote their profits. That is, the polluter pays. I do not recall anyone being concerned about a rise in cigarette costs as a result of that settlement.
I have lived in the Town of Cortlandt for the last 30 years, and as Mr. Jaffe insinuated, I have indeed been a proponent of closing Indian Point and the deadly waste it generated for that entire time. We are all safer now that the reactors are closed and the site is being decommissioned. The property in Buchanan will be a high-level radiological waste dump for the foreseeable future as there is no place else for used fuel rods to go – as will all of the communities that harbor nuclear reactors. We are fortunate that the Joint Proposal to Close Indian Point has strong caveats about ever again having nuclear generation on that site.
We must have clean, green electricity and the decent, good-paying jobs that come with it. Standing in the way of the transition to renewable energy as has been clearly outlined by numerous scientists like Mark V. Jacobs and Amory Lovins is pound foolish and penny wise. Comparing a potential rise in individual heating bills to the billions that must be spent to reclaim the damage from the climate-related wildfires in California and flood-damaged parts of New York is selfish. We have a collective responsibility to do better.
Corporations that have profited from pedaling false information for years must be held accountable and made to pay toward a solution that benefits us all.
Marilyn Elie
Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition
Cortlandt Manor
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