PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 19, 2022
The last two years have seen the best environmental legislation ever passed in the United States. With the CHIPS and Science Act (boosting semiconductor research, development and production), the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Inflation Reduction Act, there is $450 billion available for climate investment. Now we need to move with breakneck speed to allocate these resources and avert the worst effects of global warming. To improve the electrical grid, we need to streamline clean-energy permitting. We also need to mine rare earth materials. The total mining burden in a renewable world will be much less than the mining burden from using fossil fuels. America needs to act quickly to implement these changes. ~ Nancy Hasenfus, Brunswick