To the editor:

The Biden administration’s elimination of fossil fuels is a cruel and reckless policy. It is cruel because the reduction of energy supply has contributed to inflation (40 year high) of gas, food, heating fuel, fertilizer, transportation and the whole economy. Most of the poor and working class cannot afford the inflated prices and are already choosing between necessities.

The policy is reckless because these policies were and are being taken without having a reliable energy replacement. California demonstrates the cruel recklessness of their policies through its narrow avoidance of blackouts and brownouts. California is now advising people not to charge electric vehicles at night in the September heat. Peak energy demand runs from 4 to 9 p.m. as people come home from work, turn on the air conditioning and other appliances. Solar energy decreases at this time as the sun goes down. The renewable energy of wind and solar is not enough.

Twenty million American households are behind in paying utility bills and are facing potential shut offs. California, New Jersey and Louisiana state governments are working on proposals to subsidize these households so that they do not freeze in the winter. Government subsidies will get people through the winter, but subsidies do not solve the problem of reduced supplies of oil and natural gas and transfer the payment from the ratepayer to the taxpayer.

Sen. Chuck Schumer recently visited Lake Placid to promote the Inflation Reduction Act, which will have a negligible impact on inflation, and is a version of the Build Back Better concept of the World Economic Forum. What does he propose for the households that cannot afford the inflated prices of heat and food?

Colette Lafuente

Saranac Lake