Regarding “Why solar power is beating coal, natural gas” (Aug. 6): Every night the news is dominated by reports of “record-breaking high temperatures” accompanied by disasters of biblical proportions – floods, fires, droughts – making it harder to deny the human and economic consequences of global warming.
If climate change doesn’t directly cause such catastrophes, it certainly makes them worse. Warmer temperatures lead to longer and more frequent heat waves; warmer air holds moisture resulting in storms and floods; warmer soil dries out, resulting in droughts.
At the same time, we now know that natural gas is not the solution to global warming. Methane, of which natural gas is largely made up, is a greenhouse gas.
The need to move to and develop renewables is obvious. The response of Duke Energy has been to promote natural gas projects like pipelines and hinder the development of solar energy. It is time for Duke Energy to drop its obstructionist, reactionary policies and instead use its influence to help our state make the necessary switch to clean energy.
Lynn Mitchell Kohn
Durham
