Letter to the editor: Pass permitting reform

I am concerned that climate change is taking away the American dream. The unfathomable rise in homeowners insurance rates in California and Florida (due to fires and hurricanes, respectively), not to mention the difficulty in some cases of obtaining insurance at all, means that only wealthy people will be able to afford home ownership in some areas of the country. And the less we do to lessen our use of fossil fuels, the more those areas will expand.
Inflation and the cost of housing were big factors in how people voted in the recent election. Climate change is going to make both of these worse if we stand by and do nothing.
We need to pass permitting reform that encompasses electrical transmission. This is a vital piece of legislation to enable carbon-free energy sources to be used to their full capacity. Without it, people can build all the solar, wind, nuclear or geothermal power they want, but there won’t be a way to get it to your home.
Steve Glaser
Holladay