Real energy solutions
require real dialogue
Those who protested outside the West Virginia Manufacturers Association’s recent Marcellus Manufacturing Conference in Morgantown should have taken the time to thank the small businesses, manufacturers and energy producers inside.
That’s because finding common sense solutions to our energy problems should be everyone’s priority. More importantly, these protesters would’ve learned a thing or two about the environmental progress and job creation that’s occurring in the Ohio Valley.
Take, for instance, the proposed Appalachian Storage and Trading Hub, a facility that will allow advanced manufacturers to flourish and produce components for the products we use every day.
The materials manufactured here don’t just keep us safe; they’re also vital to creating a cleaner environment and decreasing our environmental footprint. All cars, especially hybrid and electric cars, for instance, use plastics made from crude and natural gas in place of traditional metals to reduce the weight of the vehicle. This makes vehicles like these more affordable and increases performance, fuel efficiency and enhanced safety through strength and durability of things like carbon-fiber.
Moreover, labor unions have been building state-of-the-art power plants across the region, making us a national leader in reducing emissions. Cincinnati’s air quality has improved so much that it no longer has a summer gas tax, and Parkersburg and Vienna are rated as some of the cleanest cities for short-term particle pollution by the American Lung Association.
And it’s not just power plants. New energy infrastructure from power lines to pipelines is being built, transporting more energy in the most environmentally friendly and safest way possible.
As we recently saw, it is easy to protest and say no to progress. It’s also easy to refuse to talk and learn from each other, denying the science behind the technological innovations that continue to put people back to work and enable us to continually create a cleaner, safer environment. While it’s hard for some to come to the table and have a dialogue to develop real energy solutions to improve our communities, it’s the only way we’re going to make real progress.
Chris Ventura
Consumer Energy Alliance
Columbus, Ohio
Let’s give youth chance
to grow up before voting
I strongly disagree with our U.S. House of Representatives and a commentary in Sunday’s newspaper, allowing 16-year-old teenagers to vote. Most of our laws were enacted to protect juveniles until adulthood from the pressures of life until they are able to learn right from wrong.
From my life’s experience I have found out that teenagers from the age of 12-18 are most vulnerable to predators than at any time throughout their life. There are enough pressures from adults without the added pressure from politicians telling them who to vote for.
When I was 16 years old, there was peer pressure on me to smoke, drink beer and to skip school. Drugs at that time were not rampant in Morgantown. As most children, I had a curfew, no car, and at times was put on restriction by my parents due to not obeying their rules. I thought that I was an adult as teenagers today would think the same thing. At that point in life I was even scared of asking a girl for a date or even to a dance, much less on who I was going to vote for on the school board or president.
My main interest then was to play basketball and maybe meet a pretty girl at the Morgantown roller skating rink.
I ask all readers of the newspaper to think back when they were 16 years old or when their children or grandchildren were of that age and ask themselves if they were ready to take on more responsibilities in life at that age?
Politics today has advanced to the point that families are divided at the dinner table by disagreements. It’s bad enough that adults in their 20s through 80s are throwing turkey legs at each other at Thanksgiving. Let’s give our youth the chance to grow up before they can live their own lives and make their own decisions.
William R. Woodall
Waldorf, Md.
