Imagine fuel without fear. No climate change. No oil spills, dead coal miners, dirty air, devastated lands, lost wildlife. No energy poverty. No oil-fed wars, tyrannies, or terrorists. Nothing to run out. Nothing to cut off. Nothing to worry about. Just energy abundance, benign and affordable, for all, for ever.

Dear RDA Members and Friends,

So begins energy expert Amory Lovins in the prologue of his latest book, Reinventing Fire. The book is a roadmap to 2050, at which time Lovins believes the fossil fuel era can come to an end.

Lovins has dedicated his life to finding innovative solutions to the entwined problems of a vibrant economy, national security, development, and a healthy and renewing environment. By reading only the prologue above, you might wonder if Lovins lives on the fabled Big Rock Candy Mountain. Sort of, as his "think and do" tank, the Rocky Mountain Institute, is based in Snowmass, Colorado. However, the scientist's head is not in the clouds, as proven by work for three decades with private-sector industries, foreign governments and the US energy and defense departments to achieve practical, cost effective solutions to complex problems. Evidence of why they work with him is evident in his approach.

         That richer, fairer, cooler, safer, world is possible, even profitable -

         because saving and replacing fossil fuels now works better and

         costs no more than buying and burning them.

Which two words in that quote surprise you? How about profitable and now?

The gun has been fired at the starting line of the race to a world free of fossil fuels. Some think the finish line must be reached by 2050, other say 2030, still others believe it can be farther out as long as enough progress is made along the way. And that's just the debate among those who are convinced we have no choice but to enter the race. We share our world with many folks who see no cause for alarm of any kind until nearing the end of fossil fuels is evident to all and the markets drive us in another direction.

We all know the key to the timing on how this debate, one of the greatest of our age, plays out, is how much profit there is to be made by those involved in providing various centralized energy options. But nations, states, counties, municipalities and even families can exercise different options to affect that major factor. Certainly, the problems we face are large enough that a variety of options can be tried.

Pennsylvania is moving rapidly down the natural gas road. That decision, being handed down to the vast majority of us, and the legislation and subsidies driving it, upset a lot of us. Lovins sees NG as a good bridge fuel, though he has some concerns about shale gas. He claims, "It will probably take a decade to resolve fracking controversies, reform bad operators and build a stable regulatory regime that builds public confidence."

Here in Pennsylvania, we know first-hand that much more is needed to make co-existence with the gas industry approach being tolerable, and that we can't afford to wait a decade. Our primary areas of sources of clean water and air are being industrialized at a rate that exceeds both common sense and a domestic demand for the gas industry's product.

We all know we have to live with gas development here, but we also all need to know that we as a commonwealth, and as individual and family consumers, have to control that development if we are going to have any chance of preserving the valuable rural areas we need that can also serve as a respite for us all from the extreme development and sprawl most of us live with everyday.

The issues are complicated, and we at RDA will continue to explore them with you. One person who will no longer be with us to do so, is one of the original RDA members, Anne Harris Katz, who died on Saturday. Anne was a tireless worker for the environment and for this region she loved and made her home for many years. She was a wonderful asset to our community here in Lycoming County and made a big difference in our quality of life here. If you didn't know Anne, you missed an unforgettable person and an enthusiastic teacher and mentor if you care for this place and this planet. In what will come as no surprise to those who did get to know Anne, she wrote her own farewell, which her husband Harvey gave to us to post.

         Anne Harris Katz died this day. She was born November 6, 1943 in Long Branch, New Jersey.

Her wish was for there to be no obituary, because those who knew her were familiar with the details of her life. Family and friends of the deceased have told this publication that she wished to be remembered as one who made it her life's work to learn from others and pass along that knowledge as a student, teacher, mentor, advocate and scientist. Her life's companion was her husband, Harvey M. Katz.

According to her wishes, her body was donated for organ transplantation and scientific research. There will be no funeral nor memorial. She asked that those who would send flowers or condolences plant a perennial flower, shrub or tree - and in her memory tend it well.