Dylan Plummer’s Viewpoint (“Eugene Can Lead the State on Climate Action,” 10/14) hit just the right note against the continued and expanding extraction and combustion of methane. I live across the street from Camas Ridge Elementary School, which is set to be torn down and rebuilt in the next two years. At a recent design presentation, when the architects were asked about the total absence of solar panels, the huge parking lot that seems to encourage driving and the reliance on gas heating, they continually fell back on building codes and budgetary agreements.

Methane has 84 times the warming power of carbon dioxide. According to scientists at the Environmental Defense Fund, at least 25 percent of today’s warming is driven by methane, and one of the largest sources is the oil and gas industry. Methane is also a major byproduct of the livestock industry, and can be found bubbling up in increasing amounts from the permafrost and seafloor as the air and oceans warm. The city council must wake up to the new reality and begin Eugene-wide electrification, now, starting with public buildings like schools. We owe it to our children.

Jack Cooper

Eugene

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