Letters on target
Dear Editor:
Three letters in last week’s Morgan Messenger were reminders of what Morgan County is today and what it can do to guarantee a healthier, more productive and enjoyable future for its citizens.
First was the letter “Good retreat location,” a note from Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Washington. A weekend retreat here led one of its members to write: “We could not say enough about your charming town, its inviting residents and the breathtaking environment that brought out the best in all of us. When it came time to decide the location for next year’s gathering, the decision was obvious.”
The second, “Forget trickle down,” mentioned the continuing reality of jobs being sent overseas. Morgan County has not fared well with its attempts to bring industry and jobs to the people here who need them. What was proposed in the past would have come into direct conflict with the glowing statements and reality of that first letter.
Currently, we have two impressive home-grown companies anchored at the county industrial park in southern Morgan County and one that is in process of expanding it’s recycling business in Paw Paw. Mountain View Solar, Washington Homeopathy Works, and Scrap Brothers seems to be suitable and sustainable small industries that do not interfere with our primary sustaining enterprise — scenic tourism and recreation — largely based on the waters of Morgan County and the massive forest cover that produces and protects them.
The third was about how to “Get the science right” on increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. To quote from the piece: “Biofuels, as opposed to fossil fuels, are carbon dioxide-neutral. The carbon dioxide they release during combustion is balanced by the carbon dioxide that was photosynthetically fixed...by the plants that made the biofuels or their precursors. Like wind, tidal and photovoltaic (solar) energy, biofuels are renewable energy sources.”
The region’s mixed forests sequester carbon dioxide at two-to-four times that of grasses or other biofuel “crops.” They also cool and clean our air and water, provide for a beautiful and sustainable environment, and are the very reason for tourism and recreation in our county (along with our closeness to three major cities). These things are destroyed by heavy industries such as fracking for natural gas and by mining operations of all kinds.
Don’t destroy the goose that laid the golden egg.
John C. Webster
New Hope
