“Somebody Cares”
Planning to avoid social problems is much less expensive than reactionary solutions that never speak to cause. Example: Well-maintained public parks have been proven to reduce crime in New York City and probably elsewhere. Is this why conservatives and law enforcement, like [Fresno Police Chief Jerry] Dyer and [Fresno County Sheriff Margaret] Mims are against them so their ever-increasing budgets can dominate city and county budgets?
Parks are a proactive preventive solution. Like public recreation, they say to the working class: “Somebody cares.” The justice system, law enforcement and prisons are a never-ending waste of money.
For purposes of understanding, here is a similar analogue. Coal plants equipped with carbon capture and storage (CCS) are nearly three times more expensive than onshore wind power and more than twice as expensive as solar photovoltaics (PVs). Coal with CCS will always need significant subsidies to compete economically with wind and solar.
If nearly half of our federal politicians were not bought and paid for by petroleum corporations’ campaign donations and lobbyists, then we could declare a Manhattan Project emergency and try to catch up with Germany where they produce enough renewable energy in six months to power the country’s households for an entire year, most of which is wind power.
Thank you for your attention,
Mike Starry
Fresno
