Peter Wirth, of Fayetteville, is vice president of Climate Change Awareness & Action, and writes on behalf of the group’s board of directors.Micron is the $100 Billion “Golden Apple” that has us all bewitched. We can’t take our eyes off its golden glow.State and county officials, along with the editorial board of the Syracuse Post Standard, gave an “all speed ahead” stamp of approval in response to an announcement that $6.1 billion of federal tax dollars had been secured to begin construction of two Micron facilities in Onondaga County. Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! We all agree we want decent-paying jobs for families in Central New York to address the issue of poverty facing so many families in the city of Syracuse. We all agree we want chip making capacity in the U.S. for national security reasons. But we don’t have to repeat the mistakes made 100 years ago.A hundred years ago, Onondaga Lake was surrounded by factories that offered good-paying jobs for that era. At the same time, tons of mercury were poured into Onondaga Lake. We had the distinction of having one of the most polluted water bodies in the country. Will Micron be like the industry of 100 years ago except that it will pour thousands of tons of greenhouse gases — the cause of climate change — into the atmosphere? We understand the dangers of burning fossil fuels and have the technology to address the problem. We just need to employ those technologies.In mid-December, temperatures were nearing 50 degrees — a radical departure from past winters to which anyone who lived Central New York in the 1960s and 70s can testify. This is the type of climate change that should happen in geologic time — thousands of years, not decades. Our environment is a state of disequilibrium and every year gets more unbalanced. 2024 was the hottest year on record. Climate change is here now and is radically changing the environment we live in. More extreme weather events, more forest fires, more droughts, more floods, stronger hurricanes are the present and our future.It was recently reported that the Arctic, which has always been a carbon sink, sequestering carbon, is now for the first time a carbon source, emitting carbon dioxide and methane, due to the melting of the permafrost. The Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet.Micron will use electricity equal to the state of Vermont and New Hampshire and will be a significant local factor in contributing to the acceleration of climate change unless it uses renewable, non-fossil fuel energy. To date we have “promises but no plans” for renewable energy.The one thing Micron has been clear about is that, unlike its chip manufacturing plants in Asia that that are covered with solar panels on the roof, the Micron facility in Onondaga County will not have rooftop solar.Where will all the renewable energy — two states' worth — come from? What is the mix? Will it be solar, wind, hydro? Will there be enough transmission capacity to get the electricity to the chip plants? Will they need backup battery storage? The good news is the technology exists but it is complicated, with many moving parts.Will the plant use electric heat pump technology for heating and cooling the facility, or continue to use 100-year-old fossil fuel technology? Will the cafeteria for its thousands of employees be cutting-edge electric? Will its parking lot have electric chargers? So many unanswered important questions.We need our state and county officials to make renewable energy part of the conversation, along with local media, so that renewable energy becomes part of the planning process. Micron needs to start sharing its plans for where all the renewable energy will come from and its plans for non-fossil fuel energy use in the building. If you ask, every state, county and Micron official will tell you they care about the next generation. The question is: Do they care enough to make sure Micron allocates the funds and has the commitment to use the technologies to insure that Micron is part of the solution and not part of the problem.