Obviously, renewable energy is the future

Beacon, N.Y.: Re “The price of waiting on pipes and wires” (op-ed, Aug. 26): I was surprised that there wasn’t a single mention of renewable energy — that is, until I reached the end and saw the authors’ bios. Amy Andryszak, president and CEO of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, and Todd Snitchler, president and CEO of the Electric Power Supply Association, which is heavily connected to major oil companies.

This not-so-thinly-veiled piece of propaganda presents a world where oil and gas are the only options, and reforming permitting for more pipelines is the only way New York’s power grid will get any relief. As the rest of us who live in reality know, renewable solar and wind are now the cheapest ways to make energy. Oil and gas have become steadily more expensive and unreliable, not to mention having devastating effects on the planet.

More power is clearly needed, and Gov. Hochul must fast-track prioritizing wind and solar. These projects can come online much quicker than permitting pipelines or addressing aging gas infrastructure. Hochul must also support the wind farms planned upstate and the ones soon coming online. Most of us live in a reality where wind and solar are readily available, if only our elected officials would stop kowtowing to the gas and oil lobbyists and move us into the affordable future we deserve.

Hillsdale, N.Y.: That 10-year-old girl losing several fingers and possible vision loss to one eye by lighting an M-80 firework in a Staten Island park in August is so sad and heartbreaking. Some........

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