Solar energy generates power, aids individuals

Bruce Ramsey makes excellent points in his commentary on global warming and the expansion of coal burning [“Global warming should rule out expansion of coal”, Opinion, Jan. 2], however, he included one glaring misunderstanding by Peter Ward regarding solar energy: “If you go solar, you cover big patches of deserts and spoil it for wildlife.”

We have to get past the idea that all power must come from large, multimegawatt plants controlled by huge power conglomerates. If solar collectors are installed on the roofs of homes, it would generate an enormous amount of power and return the investment to individuals, not corporations, with nary a wild animal disturbed.

Germany lies in a similar latitude as Western Washington and it has increased its use of solar energy significantly, with the goal of having 80 percent of its energy from the sun by 2050. The amount of energy from the sun that hits our planet each day provides enough energy to power the entire Earth for a year. If we continue to sidestep this unlimited, clean and free source of power, we do so at our peril.

-- Laura Tucker, Port Townsend