The Need for Getting to Net-Zero

In 1977 I was elected into the Sigma Xi honor society for excellence in scientific research in recognition of my senior thesis, “Solar Community: Bridge To the 21st Century.” My thesis outlined various pathways to reduce our dependence on oil.

There was no need to get all the way to net-zero back then. But after four decades of an extensive program to spread false information about the climate impacts of continued use of fossil-fuels, funded by that industry, and ExxonMobil in particular, here we are.

I applaud Princeton for creating the Andlinger Center and send my best wishes to all working on critical research there. Because now we do have to get to net-zero — and fast.

Unfortunately, you have a major hurdle to overcome to get your research taken seriously. You are getting funding from one of the companies most responsible for the above disinformation campaign. May I suggest that announcing that four out of the five pathways you are recommending still include using fossil-fuels for a significant percentage of our energy is not the best way to overcome this obstacle. 

Instead, you reply with a nonsense answer about the above somehow leading to the extinction of the industry and a very Fox Newsy whine about divisiveness (Inbox, July/August issue). Methinks thou doth protest too much. I suggest that you provide a more reasonable response to very reasonable reactions to your unfortunate funding situation. And, while you are at it, how about just one more pathway without any fossil-fuels.