An evaluation energy policy

When I was growing up my father earned his living working for a corporation that specialized in the use, sale and development of coal tar products. Four of the seven summers I worked earning my way through undergraduate and law school, I was employed by companies which extensively used coal tar products. For our family, the smell of liquified coal was the aroma of prosperity. But these memories portray a world which is over 50 years old. And with apologies to Margaret Mitchell, it is gone with the wind. Coal is being replaced by other fuels many of which are renewable sources of energy.

In the last year without pandemic restrictions, the United States exported over $300 billion worth of goods and services to its biggest trading partner, the European Union. Europe has its own "green deal" to boost its clean-energy industries, and it plans to tax imports from countries that do not pledge to lower their emissions. Therefore, the United States will need to review its sources of energy.

Unfortunately, China is the dominant producer of solar panels and batteries. It has also invested in foreign mines to secure minerals needed for them. The importance of China's progress is emphasized by the fact that the costs of power from wind and solar have plunged by 70% and 90% over the past decade.

Figuratively speaking if we do not reduce our use of coal, we will be steering a speeding car by looking in the rear-view mirror.

JOHN R. PIEPHO, Cape Girardeau