I respect John Olivas’ choice to ban fracking from his area (“Ready for a fight,” HCN, 6/23/14). But on the other side of the coin, in areas like Wyoming that derive a lot of money from fossil fuel activities, the environmentalist should respect our choice to prefer jobs.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s latest emission rules have given Wyoming the lowest percentage, 19 percent, for pollution controls on electric plants. They say that this is because 90 percent of the electricity produced in Wyoming comes from coal plants and because two-thirds of that electricity goes out of state.
As electric cars become more commonplace, the need for more electricity will expand. Meanwhile, due to global warming and rising temperatures, still more electricity will be needed. To meet that need will require the equivalent of 200 coal or natural gas plants built in the next five to 25 years.
In Colorado, the cities were perfectly happy to use oil and money from fracking when it was out on the eastern plains. Now that it is moving closer, they are upset.
According to the American Lung Association, five of Wyoming’s counties were in the top 20 for the cleanest air in the nation. Cheyenne was No. 2. We get more pollution from the Front Range cities than we produce.
Bruce Vojtecky
Cheyenne, Wyoming
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Meeting needs.
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