LETTERS: Clean Power Plan would be great for Nevada

Clean energy attainable

Jim Martin's commentary stated that Nevada should "take a stand against Washington" and refuse to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan, which he claims will harm Nevada seniors and others on fixed incomes ("Clean Power Plan will hammer Nevada seniors," Aug. 26 Review-Journal). That's a pretty audacious suggestion coming from a Washington, D.C.-based lobbyist and former chairman of the 60 Plus Association, which is part of the Koch brothers' $400 million political empire.

The truth is the Koch brothers and other oil and gas magnates oppose the Clean Power Plan because they want to continue raking in profits, while leaving us to clean up their mess. They're not interested in creating a new clean energy economy in Nevada, because the old, dirty energy economy is rigged in their favor. And the "free-market" policies Mr. Martin and the Kochs advocate are a failure for precisely this reason: the market doesn't value our health, our families, our environment or our future — but it sure does work well for taking our money and putting it into the market's (oversized) pockets.

The Clean Power Plan gives the people of Nevada a chance to take control of our energy future, instead of leaving it in the hands of a greedy few. We, the people, can create a vibrant new energy economy that puts people and the planet before profits. We can take advantage of the opportunity the Clean Power Plan presents us with to increase our use of clean, renewable energy and lower utility costs, while creating good jobs.

While Mr. Martin cites a phony study commissioned by the National Mining Association that purports to show that wholesale energy costs will increase under the plan, the reality is that the plan will reduce utility costs and create jobs. As a report from the National Resource Defense Council shows, the Clean Power Plan will save Nevada households and businesses $7 million on their electric bills in 2020 and create 1,217 new jobs. By reducing carbon emissions, it will also prevent climate disasters that cost taxpayers money to clean up.

So, while Mr. Martin claims to be concerned about the impact of the plan on fixed-income seniors, the truth is the Clean Power Plan would actually put money back in everyone's pockets, including seniors. Of course, in order for this to happen, Nevada has to get it right. To do that, Gov. Brian Sandoval not only needs to cooperate with the EPA, he should work with other state agencies to create a strong state implementation plan that prioritizes energy efficiency and real renewables such as wind and solar, while making sure that low-income, fixed-income and communities of color are the first to benefit from the new green energy economy.

A new, vibrant, green-energy economy is within our reach — all we have to do is reach for it.

Bob Fulkerson

Reno

The author is executive director of Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada.

GOP debate takeaways

There must have been a reason I stayed tuned in to much of the Republican presidential debate, which lasted more than three hours. So I turned off the TV and gave it some serious thought. Here are the issues that were compelling enough to keep me from moving away from my chair:

I learned that President Barack Obama is soft on ISIS and that if Mike Huckabee were president, the Marines would be deploying as we speak. I learned that the separation of church and state is a questionable idea when a public employee refuses to carry out civic laws, such as issuing a marriage license to gay couples. Debate participants made clear that despite the fact that the lunatic leader of North Korea has nuclear weaponry that could cause some serious damage to Japan and San Francisco, the presidential hopefuls, for some reason, were more focused on the safety of Israel and destroying the nonproliferation pact with Iran.

Fatigue set in after two hours, so I didn't get to hear how President Obama, in the past six years, has gotten away with doing nothing but undermining the fiscal stability of the country, or how if there is no Planned Parenthood, wanton, reckless pregnancies will be averted among young women.

On the question of illegal immigration, the best part was Donald Trump's idea of building a wall, like the Great Wall of China. But I think I missed the part of how the presidential candidates would reduce the federal debt. Perhaps I can read about how that would be done, later.

John Esperian

Las Vegas