Michael Sauers
Posted May 19, 2024
The following is the testimony of Michael Sauers at the 2023 Climate Convergence Conference in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Good Afternoon. My name is Michael Sauers. I stand before you as a retired person having spent my working life as a teacher, businessman and community organizer/activist. It is from these perspectives that I will offer testimony. I was born and raised in McAdoo, PA which is a small town just outside of Hazleton. It exists because of Anthracite coal mining. So, from the beginning of my life, I have witnessed deep mines, surface mining, coal breakers, culm banks and coal dust. My grandparents were minors. I watched people suffer and die from “black lung” (pneumoconiosis). History and science tells us that this fossil fuel is a major contributor to climate change. It has scarred the land, fouled the air and poisoned the water (acid mine drainage). It is on its way out.
It is on its way out not just because it is a large polluter but because another fossil fuel, oil, has pushed it out. To one degree or another, we have all witnessed the devastation of oil. Its extraction is polluting. Its burning is polluting. It is a major contributor to climate change. The oil companies knew this and hid it for decades. They are now being sued, much as the tobacco industry was sued. Like coal it is heavily subsidized. To add salt to the wound, oil is the major feedstock of plastics. Fossil fuel plastics are a true nightmare that we are currently witnessing.
The fossil fuel industry has exposed us to “fracking”. Science tells us that this is just another dirty fossil fuel. From beginning to end it is the fossil fuel industry’s version of the Keystone Cops. It is heavily subsidized via corporate welfare.
I have also witnessed the addition of nuclear power to the menu of energy sources. Heavily subsidized, it has its own unique and serious problems.
So, throughout my life, I have witnessed a disastrous dependence on climate changing energy sources. I am an optimist but not an idiot. Hope does spring eternal and I have faith in us. Until I draw my last breath I will not give up. Sustainable forms of energy are being developed and are advancing quickly. Many more people, by necessity, are becoming cognizant of climate change. People are not relying on traditional politicians. Traditional politicians, some of whom have been in Harrisburg for forty years, have failed us. These politicians are responsible for the billions of dollars of “corporate welfare” that the fossil fuel/nuclear industries have been lavished with. Traditional politicians have weakened permitting and regulatory agencies and policies. They have given some industries a free pass on regulations (Encina). They have made it more and more difficult for communities to fend off polluting industries. While industries have deep pockets and a cadre of pom pom waving cheerleaders (economic development agencies, politicians, chambers of commerce, trade unions) communities do not have access to funds (taxpayer money) that would be used to vet all aspects of industry proposals. Industry lobbies 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 52 weeks a year. Traditional politicians have done nothing but exacerbate climate change. We must end corporate welfare. PA, according to left, center and right constituencies, doles out billions of dollars in corporate welfare to fossil fuel industries that are already wildly profitable. Governor Shapiro is on board with this, as was Governor Wolf, as was Governor Corbitt, etc., etc., etc. Does anyone smell anything funny/
As citizen/activists, consumers and voters we must challenge/change the above. While politics appears to be a cesspool, it does not have to be that way. Good people will step forward and we must vote for them. Many of the “suits” that we are surrounded by today are bought and paid for. There is an ebb and flow in all things including politics. Keep raising your voices. Keep voting. Thank you.