Editor:

The Sun Newspaper had two very interesting articles this past week, one on Page one and the other on Page three, both concerning our electric rates.

On Dec. 22, 2017, the Sac Osage Board of Directors voted to increase our rates by a flat $4 per month on the availability charge in case of a rate increase by our supplier of electricity. Now, at this time, the rate has not yet been increased for our supply of electricity but the Board in expecting the increase but have no idea of how much or when it will come but they are ready when it gets here, if it gets here. They say the increase, along with budget cuts, will offset the 6.8% increase expected n 2018. Now another thing they don’t bother to let we customers know where the budget cuts are or how much the cuts will generate for the bottom line. All this sound a little iffy. If the rates for up to 6.8%, if the budget cuts are not as much as expected and if no one complains.

Now on Page three we have an update on Obama’s big battle on that dirty substance coal. His Cap and Trade was his effort to kill coal and the cheap generation of electricity which runs the United States of America. He said “Under my plan on a cap and trade system, electricity rates would skyrocket.” Obama ran into a hornets nest here and enough pressure was brought to bear this his Clean Air Act did not get off the ground during his term and when President Trump came into office he announced his intention to repeal CPP and end Obama’s “War on Coal.”

Now those companies that still use coal to generate electricity have invested millions of dollars to clean up their emissions and give us cleaner air.

Regardless of what we do here or the steps we take to make the air of the world clean we cannot do it by ourselves. India and China are investing in coal fired generation systems as fast as they can and to hell with the quality of the air.

I like Trump’s motto, “Make American Great Again.”

Bud Olinger

El Dorado Springs