by David Jones, Hamilton
While it is commendable that Fred Thomas is willing to buck his party’s leadership and admit that we must transition to renewable sources of energy (June 25 2025), it remains the case that he fails to acknowledge the urgency of the climate crisis and the scale at which we must act. It is also unfortunate that Mr. Thomas fails to understand that when he speaks of the “competitive marginal cost” of fossil fuel energy or its “affordability,” the costs to our ecosystem and biosphere are never included in this accounting. Those costs, such as rising sea levels, extended drought (and associated mass migration), or the accelerated rate of species extinction, are considered “externalities” and never included in the price we pay.
This is not what Fred Thomas calls a “political narrative” or “ideological campaign,” it is a feature of market economics, a feature which is dooming future generations. Speaking of “ideological campaigns,” Mr. Thomas’ claims about Colstrip “pollution controls” is a classic example. It is widely known that the plant is the nation’s number one bad actor for toxic air pollution. Colstrip Unit 4 has the highest emission rate of toxic pollutants of any coal-burning unit in the nation. Its emissions rate is 50% higher than the next closest coal unit. Colstrip Unit 3 is not far behind, having the third highest toxic air emissions rate in the nation.
A few months ago, the United Nations Environment Program warned that global emissions must be cut by 42% by 2030 and 57 per cent by 2035 to keep warming under 1.5 degrees. Achieving that, or anything close to it, would require an emergency action program to stop all new extraction of fossil fuels, and rapidly phase out major sources of emissions. This includes Colstrip.
I agree with Mr. Thomas that the Colstrip community deserves a “just transition” to a new economic base, but I believe it must happen immediately if not sooner.