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Time to pick the Golden Pen winner

Wednesday, September 3, 2008 8:36 AM CDT

Everyone talked about soaring gas prices during August, and the cost of energy was mentioned by many people who wrote letters to the editor.

All three finalists for the Golden Pen Award - presented monthly to the author of the best letter to the editor - wrote compelling arguments on energy themes.

Now it's time for our readers to pick their favorite. The winning author will receive an inscribed gold-colored pen, and public recognition of their achievement in a column written by the editor. The easiest way to vote is online at www.thesouthern.com/goldenpen. It also is possible to vote by mail by noting your favorite letter from this group and sending it to: Editor Gary Metro, The Southern Illinoisan, 710 N. Illinois Ave., Carbondale, IL 62901. Votes will be accepted through Friday, Sept. 12. The winning letter and author will be recognized before the end of the month.

Here are the letters:

No more free rides

To the Editor:

Environmentalists criticize the United States for not ratifying the Kyoto Protocol.

According to Wikipedia, in about the year 2010, China will surpass the United States in greenhouse gas emissions. China fires up a new coal-fired power plant about once a week, yet under the Kyoto Protocol, China and India are exempt from paying any penalties. China and India get a free ride.

Bill Clinton did not sign the treaty, either.

France gets 77 percent of its electricity from nuclear power. Why can't we do that?

There are approximately 179 billion barrels of oil in Alberta, Canada's tar sands. Why can't Canada and the U.S. share it?

There is about 1.5 to 2.6 trillion barrels of oil in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah's oil shale. Is there a reason we cannot mine it?

Bill Tooley

@Letters town:West FrankfortWest Frankfort

Demand immediate action

To the Editor:

Congress adjourned without addressing the energy crisis our nation currently faces. Gas prices are climbing, with no solution offered to help the average American. The climate crisis continues to be more and more imminent. The inability of our congress to renew the clean energy tax credits means that government incentive programs to support the solar and wind industries will expire at the end of this year. Jobs will be lost as a result of their inaction.

We, as a nation, have an obligation to explore the real possibility of energy independence. We have the capability to generate all of our electricity from clean sources. We have an obligation to revolutionize our economy and create green jobs in order to quell a growing recession. Solutions exist. Inaction is not an option.

Our representatives in Congress should hear our voices loud and clear that we will no longer stand for an economy or an energy policy that does not include clean technologies. The crisis we face will not go away if we ignore it. Rather, we should demand immediate action to create an economy with good jobs, clean, affordable energy and a healthy climate.

Katie Thomas

Carbondale

Clean coal is viable

To the Editor:

So Al Gore wants to wean the country off of carbon-based electricity by 2018?

These new green technologies such as wind power sound great, but have enough questions been asked before we stake our futures on them? If we spend a couple of trillion dollars developing wind power in the Midwest, what would happen if the weather had a bad hair day in tornado alley?

A wind farm is a much bigger target than a coal-fired plant. How much damage could be done to that new infrastructure? Isn't this system dependent on predictable wind patterns? Are those wind patterns part of that rapidly changing climate Al keeps screaming about? What if global warming shifts those patterns? If wind was 100 percent dependable 24/7, ships would still have sails rather than engines.

What if the wind stops for a day or two? If you want to see what one of these giants looks like when flying apart, just look at www.youtube.com, where there are several videos. It's scary and could be deadly.

I'm all for clean power, but I don't want to see a repeat of corn-based ethanol. The demand for corn has skyrocketed and so has the price. It appears to be contributing to a food shortage.

Did the unquestioned politically correct promises of clean, renewable resources lead us down that path? Let's not make that mistake again.

Clean coal technology is a big key to this transition and it will take a lot more than 10 years, Mr. Gore.

Alfred E. Sanders Jr.

Marion