In his commentary “In Pa., will Shapiro unlock decades of affordable energy?” (Jan. 24, TribLIVE), Gordon Tomb of the Commonwealth Foundation presents a biased picture, ignores basic physics and, for good measure, contradicts himself.
Tomb doesn’t seem interested in energy production unless that production comes from burning fossil fuels. He doesn’t mention that Pennsylvania is behind other states in adding wind and solar power. Instead, he claims subsidies for alternative energy make it hard for fossil fuels to compete. His complaint is meritless. Financial analysts found, as far back as 2017, that wind and solar power are cheaper than fossil fuels, even after accounting for subsidies. That trend has continued.
Tomb ignores basic climate science and medical science when he says mining more coal will “promote the well-being of Pennsylvanians.” Wrong. Burning coal is directly responsible for asthma and other respiratory illnesses. And climate scientists have been saying for years, and have the data to back up their claims, that burning fossil fuels has changed our climate and is worsening extreme weather events.
Tomb claims Pennsylvania energy production is stifled by regulation — and then adds that Pennsylvania already exports more energy than all other states. Either way, that doesn’t stop him from promoting a radical solution to amend the state Constitution to allow the Legislature to abandon health, safety and environmental regulations in service to corporations.
Pennsylvania’s land, air and waters are still being polluted by the coal, oil and gas extractive industries. We need cleaner energy, and certainly not any of the measures outlined by Tomb.
Ed Satalia
State College