It’s almost beyond belief that an ostensibly state-regulated, monopoly utility like Dominion can have its spokesman go on far-right/Trumpster radio and point-blank agree that those of us who want 100% clean energy as soon as possible are “extreme.” And when I say “those of us,” I’m including the overwhelming majority of climate scientists, who know that we have to leave the bulk of fossil fuels in the ground “for the international community to reach its goal of staying below a maximum two degrees Celsius global average temperature rise.” In short, there’s absolutely no controversy among scientists that we need to get off of fossil fuels, the only question being how quickly.
Also see Voices for 100% Renewable Energy, which includes the voices of such notorious “extremists” as esteemed climate scientist and former UVA Professor Michael Mann (“The good news is that the clean energy revolution has started and is irreversible”), U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (“We need to take a ‘giant leap’ for humankind right now. It’s time to aim for 100% by ’50—using every tool we’ve got, both at the local and national level”), U.S. Senator Ed Markey (“it is no longer a question of if we can power our country with 100 percent renewable energy; it’s a question of when”), U.S. Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (” a shift to 100% renewable energy can revitalize our communities, make us healthier, leave a livable future for our children and grandchildren”), Rep. Jarred Huffman (“Let’s transition away from dirty fossil fuels and work together to protect our planet for generations to come.”), Hawaii Gov. David Ige (“I’m proud that Hawaiʻi is the first, and still the only, state to have a 100 percent renewable energy goal for electricity.”), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (“I am an original co-sponsor for the 100 by ‘50 Act, a roadmap to take on climate change and transition away from fossil fuels to 100 percent clean and renewable energy by 2050.”), Rep. Raul Grijalva (“I am committed to a 100 percent renewable energy future. There’s no other responsible option”), etc, etc.
With that, check out the drivel spewed out this morning by Dominion Energy’s spokesman, David Botkins (yeah, this guy, pictured with Sarah Palin), who: a) agrees with the former Virginia-for-Trump chair that people who want a 100% clean energy future are “extreme” and don’t “make any real sense”; b) elaborates that we supposedly “will always have extremes,” but that Dominion has “got to provide electricity for everybody, even the extremes”; c) continues with the nonsense that “we’ve still got coal, we’re still going to have it” (actually, coal-fired power is being phased out fast in the U.S.); and d) repeats the increasingly obsolete canard that “the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow,” which of course is the case but has increasingly little relevance to the ability of today’s technologically advanced clean energy systems, electric grids, etc. to provide clean, cheap, reliable power 24/7.
In sum, it’s disgraceful and unacceptable that Dominion’s spokesperson is going on far-right radio to spread smears and false, pro-fossil-fuel, anti-clean-energy propaganda. The question is, what is our legislature going to DO about this rogue company-from-hell?
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