Turn off the coal, turn on the wind

Consider the air conditioner.  

It can save us from a summer of ravaging heat and humidity that seems impossible to escape.  It helps make our sleep comfortable and the days bearable.  

However, a lot of the energy that powers our air conditioners and our houses comes from coal (oil and gas may be part of the mix, too).  So, in return for giving us cooler homes, our air conditioners are helping to heat up our planet and changing our climate for the worse.

Let’s briefly review what happens for that coal to come to our air conditioners in the form of energy. Coal mining companies destroy green, tree-filled mountains to get to the coal in West Virginia, Kentucky and Wyoming. They use toxic chemicals to process the coal. These chemicals are left in giant ponds and lakes, poisoning the local water supplies. The air in coal mining towns in West Virginia and Kentucky is fouled with pollutants, causing asthma, cancer, black lung disease, heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease, birth defects and other serious health problems for the people who live in these areas (source: Physicians for Social Responsibility).

Five hundred mountains in the Appalachian region have been blown apart by the coal companies. They no longer exist.  More than 1,000 miles of streams in the area have been buried by coal waste and rock (source: BusinessInsider.com).

When we turn on our air conditioners, we are giving these giant polluting companies more money to fund the destruction of small towns in West Virginia and Kentucky. 

We are increasing the chances that our climate will become far hotter, harming our ability to grow food and actually endangering our lives.

Prominent Republican politicians, such as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, talk about a “war on coal.” The reality is that coal is making war on us.  

There is a solution that will allow us to keep running our air conditioners without destroying our way of life. Con Edison offers a wind energy solution. We can buy wind energy through them or from other companies, such as Green Mountain Power and Ethical Electric.

The cost of wind power is somewhat higher than coal. However, as more people sign up for wind energy, the more likely it is that the consumer cost of wind will go down. 

While your electricity costs may go up, the value of how you power your home goes up. You will be helping to preserve a stable climate. You will be helping yourself, your children and your grandchildren. 

To help lower the cost of wind energy and help out the environment, it might be a good idea to ask Albany to give homeowners a tax break for buying wind power, which would help offset its increased, short-term costs to consumers.

The more people who sign up for wind power, the less coal we have to use. Hopefully, the day will come when we no longer use dirty and disgusting coal to fuel our electrical power needs, which is undermining humanity’s ability to live on this planet. 

Mike Gold lives and works in the Bronx. Point of view is a column open to all.