Opinion: Considering energy options as electricity rates increase

To the editor:

Concerned about skyrocketing electricity bills? On February 10th, the Marion Republican Town Committee invited Mike Armenia to shed a bright light on the subject of energy. Thirty curious Southcoast area residents from Dartmouth to Wareham attended the compelling presentation.

Mike Armenia, retired US Navy Captain, nuclear engineer, and co-founder of the Energy Council of Rhode Island, shared his extensive knowledge of energy issues, environmental impacts and climate science. “Nuclear technology has improved, minimizing waste,“ Mr. Armenia said. “Today’s nuclear plants consume 97% of their fuel, leaving very little waste to be stored. In fact, old waste can be used as fuel.” 

With electricity rates soaring for those unable to put solar panels on their rooftops, people want to know more about energy sources that lack the carbon footprint, environmental impact, and expense of offshore wind.

Mr. Armenia showed that governmentally mandated adoptions of intermittent solar and wind energy machines are incapable of replacing fossil fuels both physically and economically. “Natural gas and nuclear energy will lower harmful emissions and far surpass the intermittent and extremely expensive power of offshore wind with its enormous carbon footprint. Renewables have been misrepresented through media ignorance and special interests with little factual knowledge of their costs or effects on the environment and human flourishing.”

Anyone who wants to learn more can find his presentation at www.green-oceans.org. Green Oceans is a grassroots group of concerned citizens and receives no support from the government or from fossil fuel companies. They are dedicated to protecting the ocean and the life it sustains, from the largest whale to the smallest phytoplankton, and believe that a healthy ocean and marine ecosystem will sustain our planet for generations.

Thank you, MRTC, for sharing this interesting presentation with the community.

Sincerely,

Lauren Knight

Marion