Contact: Ed Potosnak
O: (609) 331-9922
C: (732) 991-7574
Reject fear-mongering over N.J. clean energy plan | Letters
Ads and commentary from fossil-fuel-industry funded groups such as the Consumer Energy Alliance, and even my oil heating company, are attempting to spark fear that New Jersey’s Energy Master Plan will cause electric bills to skyrocket, but I urge you to keep calm and consider the sources of this campaign.
The fossil fuel industry’s interests lie in trying to slow down the transition to healthier clean energy. Their motivations are obvious; delaying that transition enables big polluters to continue to profit from selling dirty fossil fuels for as long as possible.
Their unsupported claims don’t scare me. What does scare me is the thought of the number of people in New Jersey who may lose their homes, businesses and lives to hurricanes, tornadoes and floods, and the health problems future generations may face as we continue to pollute the air.
Air pollution from fossil fuels increases the risk of stroke, lung cancer, and asthma, and costs money for health care, lost wages and work absences. This pollution has especially severe consequences for Black and brown residents who live in overburdened communities.
Clean energy is also the biggest job creator across America’s energy sector, employing nearly three times more workers than the fossil fuel extraction and generation industry. For example, Ocean Wind, the first offshore wind project in New Jersey, estimates it will create more than 4,000 jobs over the project’s 25-year lifespan and generate $1.2 billion in economic growth.
The state’s master plan that maps out the transition to clean energy is ambitious because anything less will not address our changing climate in the very short window of time that’s left for action.
It’s time to stop the scare tactics and misinformation and work together to build New Jersey’s clean energy future. The cost of delaying or doing nothing is not a price I’m willing to pay.