Cynthia Hamilton’s letter (Aug. 8) was well-written and intelligent. My congratulations! However, she is obviously not completely informed as to the latest developments.

In its native state, coal is indeed a very dirty source of fuel. However, several corporations (including the U.S. Air Force) are looking into clean methods of coal usage. After all, the United States has the largest coal deposits in the world, excepting Siberia and Finland.

As for solar and wind power, these are intermittent. In other words, you need a large bank of batteries to supplement the many days when the air is still and/or overcast. Most of the more-successful wind and solar power companies have admitted that it will be at least 20 more years before they can realistically hope to compete with conventional plants.

Liberals have been using environmental scare tactics to intimidate us for years. Don’t give in to it. Industry accounts for about one-third of the total global warming. The other two-thirds comes from natural events – including the sun.

Douglas Benn

Spokane