May 3, 20211 min read

Fossil Fuel ‘Dark Cloud’

(Photo Credit...Christie Hemm Klok for The New York Times)

Originally Published in New York Times Opinion Letters, on May 4, 2021

To the Editor:

I hate to be the dark cloud hovering over Farhad Manjoo’s solar array (“The Wind and Solar Boom Is Already Here,” column, April 30), but while those who care about climate stability should applaud the growth of renewable energy sources like wind and solar, fossil fuel industry expansion into worrisome markets should concern us all.

As the Center for International Environmental Law has reported, for instance, the fossil fuel industry is moving rapidly into plastics, including investing heavily in expanding or building new petrochemical facilities to ramp up production. The industry is also eyeing pesticides and ammonia fertilizer, eager to exploit the emerging demand in soil carbon markets with fossil-fuel-dependent agricultural models.

If we care about getting the climate crisis under control, we have to look at all the profitable but destructive outlets for the fossil fuel industry, including plastics, pesticides and fertilizers.

Anna Lappé Berkeley, Calif. The writer is the author of “Diet for a Hot Planet.”