DEAR EDITOR:
The editorial "Mandate may cost Ohio jobs" read like it was written for the Tribune by a coal company executive.
With July 2012 now on record as the hottest month ever in the United States, Midwest farmers are battling a drought estimated to cover 63 percent of the country, nationwide are crops are failing, and livestock being put down due to lack of feed. And let's not forget the fires. How is it even possible to think of changing Ohio's renewable mandates? Even former climate-change skeptic Richard Muller now concedes what most of the scientific community already has concluded: Global warming is real.
Ohio should be talking of energy efficiency standards. Energy efficiency is - by far - the cheapest tool at our disposal to meet Ohio's energy needs and reduce the cost of monthly electric bills. When residential, commercial and industrial electric customers in Ohio are given access to the best programs that maximize energy use reductions, we all save money. By reducing demand we can also help to ensure customers are provided with reliable service. Strong efficiency investments also provide Ohio with long term benefits from electric security and job creation.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture now has designated half of all counties in America disaster areas, by changing Ohio's renewable standards we would help put the other half on that list.
Thomas Collins
Garrettsville