LA Times: Letter to the editor

The following letter to the editor from CCL's Amy Bennett was published in the L.A. Times on March 23.

What energy really costs

Throughout our lengthy addiction to cheap fuel, power companies have learned to leverage huge profits and muscle by underestimating the hazards of fossil fuels and nuclear energy. The real health and safety costs are not listed on their balance sheets.

Corporations are supposed to reap dividends for stockholders, but who is looking out for the average citizen?

Because no one but the government will cover loans for nuclear plants, the expense of accidents is borne by taxpayers. Likewise, the long-term health effects of greenhouse gases are downplayed.

Those shielding the status quo tell us to doubt peer-reviewed climate science but to trust nuclear science. If businesses are too skittish to guarantee investments in nuclear plants, and major insurance companies calculate the destructive consequences of climate change, shouldn't we put a price on energy that reflects its true risk?

Amy Hoyt Bennett

Encinitas