Letters

It is hard to believe that there isn’t enough sun here to replace the carbon-spewing fossil fuels that we now know will soon destroy our environment, unless radically curtailed. But it is true.

Gordian Raacke, executive director of the not-for-profit Renewable Energy Long Island, and previously executive director of the federal court-appointed Citizens Advisory Panel representing Long Island’s electricity consumers, has studied the options for 26 years. In 2014, Raacke advised East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell and the Town Board that they could not reach their path-breaking goal of full energy sustainability by 2020 through solar power alone.

As solar power became cheaper for homeowners, and the Town Board instituted solarization on town properties, it became ever clearer that Raacke was right. Much of East Hampton, ground and rooftop, is covered by woods and forests. Most of the sunny open space that could support panels on the ground is protected by law from further development. The rest is privately owned property, too expensive for the town to rent or buy.

In 2018, Raacke did a new study of the achievable potential of renewable energy sources over five years within the geographical boundary of East Hampton Town. The study assumed solar panels of every known type covering every feasible site in East Hampton, whether on rooftop or ground. It estimated that solar could provide a maximum of only 14 percent of annual electricity consumption over the next five years.

The only available supplement for inadequate solar is wind power. We need it now.

Jeanne FranklAmagansettMs. Frankl is the former chair of the East Hampton Democratic Committee — Ed.