To the editor:

Brian Ingenthron’s recent letter from south county had misguided ideas about renewable energy.

First, he should read this article in the November 2009 Scientific American, “A Path for a Sustainable Future by 2030.”

The authors, Mark Z. Jacobson and Mark A. Delucchi, show a researched global plan where wind, solar and water can provide 100 percent of the world’s energy, eliminating all need for fossil fuels, within 20 years.

Second, Duke University and American Bird Conservancy published research that buildings/windows, power lines, cats, vehicles, pesticides and cell towers vastly kill far more birds than wind turbines.

Third, St. Louis homeowners with solar panels pay a tiny fraction on their monthly utility bills than those without solar panels.

Surely, Mr. Ingenthron is not against his neighbors saving money on their utility bills.

Fourth, St. Louis has twice the national average of reported asthma cases, striking one in five area youngsters, according to the lead article in the Dec. 27, 2012, Post-Dispatch.

Too many St. Louis residents pay higher health care costs from our dirty air. A total of 84 percent of our electricity comes from coal plants, twice the national average, which do not have any modern pollution controls.

As conservative economists say, “We should tax what we burn, not what we earn.” It is time to put a price on pollution for the damage it does to our health, our community and the planet.

If Mr. Ingenthron is worried about increasing government regulations and mandates, then he should join me and other Citizens’ Climate Lobby volunteers to support a carbon fee and dividend. This plan lets the free market decide instead.