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Steamboat Springs — After reading the OurView editorial ("Power to the people," May 10) and the letter to the editor (Jeff Troeger) in the May 10 Steamboat Pilot & Today, I was struck by the need for continued discussion with accurate information regarding energy, its costs and the impact of global climate change. There is little debate among scientists who study climate that it is happening at a faster pace than expected and that the changes are human-caused. So what will we do about it?

A very important approach is to be more proactive on the local level. At this very moment there are two candidates, Susan Holland and Megan Moore-Kemp, who are running for the Yampa Valley Electric Association board and will be proactive for our energy future and our community.

It seems that our major priority when making a decision is cost, or that is what the corporations and advertisements tell us. Granted we are in an economic downturn, and part of our population is struggling; most of us are underpaid, over-consuming, overworked and feel powerless against those with power and wealth.

Our short-term choices have long-term consequences. For example, when we go to Wal-Mart and buy an item for $5 that actually costs $10 to produce if you include the social, economic and health impacts, who pays for the other $5? Probably the people of China, their air and water quality, their health, their communities and their environment.

China's GNP was increasing by 10 percent per year, but the cost of damage to their country was about 10 percent of their GNP, which they have not begun to pay for yet. There is little wisdom in looking for the cheapest product when lives, economic systems and environmental systems are at stake.

Based on a poll of a small percent of YVEA's approximately 28,000 members, the members gave the highest priority to the cheapest energy rate possible. Who is going to pay for the dirty legacy that the coal power plants are not charging their members for? What is the dirty legacy? Acid rain, mercury emissions, air pollution, health issues, asthma, temperature increases causing beetle kill, forest fires, less snow, shorter winters, less water for towns and irrigation, not to mention less water for the power plant itself.

These costs are being passed onto the future. Twenty years ago we were concerned about how our grandchildren would deal with these problems. Ten years ago the concern was for our children. Now we should be concerned about us because we waited too long debating climate change, and its consequences are already upon us.

Why have we waited so long? Profits, power, lobbyists and poor leadership have misled us. Big oil, coal and other corporations have poured money and misinformation into the debate. Then there is the argument that jobs will be lost and it will cost too much. But what is the price of doing nothing? Extreme disruption of our local tourist economy, reduced Yampa River flows, shorter winters and little snow. And what is the cost to the things that money cannot buy?

We are in a car going at 60 miles per hour toward a dead end and we are tapping the brake pedal while our other foot is on the gas. We should be slowing down and taking the road that will position our community to deal with the challenges of the 21st century. We should be confronting climate and economic change head-on to bring about new jobs, and a long-term, reliable community, economy and an environment for all of us to live sustainably. We should be electing some new members to the YVEA board that will lead us intelligently into the energy future.

John Spezia

Steamboat Springs