I have been enjoying the beauty of Natchez the past few days and read Sen. Roger Wicker’s op-ed piece in Thursday’s edition extolling the virtues of coal and the need for jobs.

Unfortunately, the distinguished senator is missing the chance for the United States to exercise world leadership on clean energy.

The price of rooftop solar has dropped 75 percent in the last 5 years, and businesses around the country are seizing on the chance to reduce their utility bills by capitalizing on this renewable source of electrical power.

Clean energy like solar also means more jobs as well as healthier families from reduced air pollution and asthma.

Old energy sources like coal are so mechanized that jobs have plunged in coal states like West Virginia along with the declining health of people living near coal mining.

Solar is the new energy future and Mississippi has the opportunity to capitalize on its solar potential.

Our great inventor Thomas Edison one hundred years ago urged our nation to pursue solar energy as rapidly as possible.

Why not start by equipping state, city, and county buildings and facilities in Mississippi with solar panels?

 

Brent Blackwelder

president emeritus of Friends of the Earth