Many people are opposed to changes to clean energy, primarily wind and solar, because of the up-front cost of creating a new means of power generation.

In the last few years we have seen numerous storms in the U.S. and other countries that have been 100-, 500- and even 1,000-year storms. The best science available has linked most of these to climate change.

In the U.S. many of these storms have cost billions of dollars for repairs. More has been lost by businesses. A cost cannot be calculated on the disruption to lives and lives lost.

We know the destruction is going to continue, that more lives will be lost, that more lives will be disrupted. Many people seem willing to keep paying to rebuild in coastal and river areas that constantly flood and destroy homes. They may complain but seem willing to pay the increased cost of insurance due to climate change.

How many more storms, property and lives lost, will it take before we are willing to make the necessary changes to try to mitigate the damage? It seems to make sense to pay an upfront cost now to try to minimize the harm that is going to occur later.

Let’s try to leave future generations a better planet than we now have.

Stan Tetenman, Poland