'Intertwined Ecological Crises' 

Editor:

I take issue with your recent editorial, titled "Our Last Best Chance" (April 11). You wrote, "Humboldt County now has the potential to play an outsized role in the effort to wean the globe from fossil fuels."

Observing where we are now this seems very unlikely. We've had decades already to wean ourselves from fossil fuels, yet extraction of oil and natural gas goes on unabated. Large, industrial projects like the one you are promoting will use lots of electricity generated from non-renewables and will burn lots of diesel fuel for trucks and tug boats. Do you suppose those tons of metal will be manufactured using wind and solar power? So, in the near term, this project will increase atmospheric greenhouse gases with any helpful influence on global warming coming much later, if ever.

Earth faces many overlapping and intertwined ecological crises. With whale and migratory bird populations already suffering, adding more challenges to their lives in the form of huge floating off-shore windmills is badly timed. Why not stick to smaller, locally controlled renewable energy projects using already available technology? Additionally, we should greatly reduce our "need" for energy. Do we "need" endless goods produced in factories in Asia, then shipped via enormous diesel-powered ships and fleets of diesel-powered trucks to your nearest Amazon distribution center? Until we change our expectations of what we are entitled to, most new energy generation will be used to enrich an already too-rich elite class while Earth's ecosystems suffer further damage.

Are these some of the points considered by local Native Americans? I haven't asked them. But I do know these are the only local people with a truly long view of the past and future, the only people who know it has been possible to live well here without industrial-era technology or goods. And if they believe all of the land, rivers and seas near the coast are "sacred," we should emulate that attitude.

Karen Shepherd, Arcata