Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

We need to take into account all costs of energy

I read with interest an article in Monday’s Las Vegas Sun — “Will green energy raise your bill?” — and was reminded that until Americans are willing to have a discussion about the true and total cost of the energy we use, we cannot hope to have an informed discussion about the pros and cons of promoting renewable energy.

For that matter, there are other hidden costs often left out of the discussion as well — medical costs to society for diseases caused by coal and natural gas pollutants, the cost to consumers for oil spill cleanups, the incalculable costs of ongoing and unknown damage from nuclear facilities, to name a few.

We feed our power demands with the same mentality we feed our bodies: cheap and easy. Only, we’re not reading the labels, so we don’t know how to measure the value of what we partake.

Yes, processed food is cheap and it’s easy, right up until that day comes when you find yourself taking multiple drugs to combat the true costs of your eating habits.

We need to take more of this approach when discussing the cost of our energy policy. We need to learn how to weigh opportunity costs, and think forward, unless we want to wait until the crisis really comes.

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