To the editor: 

If you can’t win the argument, attack your opponent personally. Is this what it’s about?

Why can’t we just stick to the facts and cooperate?

It’s a fact that this is not about Magnus Thorsson or his personal opinions. It’s the position of the entire Resilience and Energy Committee (R&E C), who unanimously agreed to push for an all-electric, no-fossil-fuel infrastructure for the renovated school buildings. These are neither personal preferences, nor “personal advocacy for reducing the carbon footprint of future Barrington schools”. Avoiding carbon emissions that pollute our environment is in the interest of everyone. It is the obligation of the R&E C to point out opportunities to do so.

It’s a fact that we collectively did not achieve solar on the new, solar-ready middle school, a missed opportunity at the expense of the taxpayers and the climate.

It’s a fact that Barrington has declared policy goals: The 2011 Barrington Strategic Energy Plan, the 2015 Barrington Comprehensive Community Plan, the 2021 Barrington Resilient Future Resolution, and the 2023 Barrington Public Schools Environmental Stewardship Policy. We got recognized in the Green Ribbon Schools Program. Common to these policies and program is an obligation to commit to sustainable practices and reduction of environmental impact.

The Barrington Resilient Future Resolution explicitly states the Town Council’s “intention to prioritize alternatives that utilize green power and clean fuels”, to “installing solar and other appropriate zero carbon energy systems on public buildings and property to include school buildings and facilities”, and that “the Town Council will place energy efficiency, carbon emissions reduction, and renewable energy choices among its top priorities”.

It’s a fact that spending a quarter of a billion (250,000,000.00) dollars for school modernization and planning to burn gas for energy for the next decades, instead of installing renewable energy with heat pumps, solar and all-electric technology is not only against our policies, but also will harm the climate and environment, send the wrong message to our students, and will avoidably cost us taxpayers more.

It’s a fact that we have a moral obligation to do what we can to avoid heating up the planet— it’s our legacy to leave a livable planet to future generations.

These are the facts—there is no need to “blur the lines”. We all have enough work to do to implement our policies, constructively and without personal attacks.

Dr. Hans Scholl

Barrington

Dr. Scholl is Vice Chair of the Barrington Resilience and Energy Committee.