Stick to clean energy; it’s safer

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

Pipelines leak. There have been 300 significant incidents every year for the past 30 years. The federal Department of Transportation just proposed the Hazardous Liquids Integrity Verification Process. Evidently the fossil industry’s testing technology isn’t sophisticated enough to detect cracks or corrosion in time to prevent pipeline failure. With more than 182,000 miles of pipelines in the U.S., many may need replacing. Shouldn’t we fix and expand the use of the old pipelines first? It won’t require landowners to give up property rights to a pipeline company.

Gas for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline means more fracking, No one in the scientific community has given fracking a clean bill of health. It requires huge amounts of fresh water that can’t be recovered. This toxic flowback is reinjected into old wells where it can cause earthquakes. The process is destructive enough to be banned in New York state and in towns in Colorado and Texas. The Maryland House just passed a moratorium.

There are alternatives to all this gas. Offshore wind, rural and rooftop solar, as well as efficient buildings, can meet the majority of our electricity needs. Turns out they are actually cheaper and produce more jobs than risky gas and more pipelines.

Jane Twitmyer.

Merrifield.