Editor, OBSERVER:

Recent polling shows 70% to 80% of Americans not only support renewable energy projects, but also approve the siting of them in their communities. So what are we to make of the Arkwright lawsuit against the Summit Wind Farm article (Oct. 3)?

Readers of this paper should be skeptical about the merits of the suit. Wind power is now an element of the culture wars. The citizens’ group bringing the suit is just one of many popping up across the country to oppose the transition to a renewable energy economy. Yet the connection these groups have to fossil-fuel funded organizations such as the Heartland Institute, which is the case here, is often obscured.

Fossil fuel companies don’t care that climate change is occurring in your back yard, bringing drought to Western New York and flooding to the Eastern part of the state. They are doubling down on investment in gas and oil exploration and reneging on earlier commitments to fund renewable energy projects. Nor do they care that new Treasury Department figures show “that weather and climate disasters cost Americans more than $617 billion between 2018 and 2022–a record high for the country.”

Climate change is real. It isn’t a matter of opinion and shouldn’t be used by culture warriors to stall the transition to net-zero emissions, a goal enshrined in New York’s climate law and supported by Gov. Kathy Hochul. Our transition to renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power offers us cleaner, more sustainable options for meeting energy needs. It reduces greenhouse gas emissions and promises to cut back the many adverse health impacts of fossil fuel use. That sounds good to me.

ELEANOR WILSON,

Fredonia