Alan Rottersman assuredly dismisses the goal of the Paris Agreement to decarbonize the United States by 2070, stating that “wood frame homes’’ will “forever’’ rely on oil and natural gas, due to cost and impracticability, rather than make the transition to electric-based heating produced by renewable sources (“Many homes and workplaces still need fossil fuels,’’ Letters, Jan. 8).

As a construction professional, I would counter that conversion is readily achievable today, but whether that transformation occurs over the next 50 years has less to do with current technology and more to do with the economics of energy. Until market forces and our common will turn us in a more sustainable direction, the status quo will prevail.

Having witnessed our nation’s transformation over the past 50 years, perhaps exactly what we need is that common purpose and inspirational and visionary leadership to again ask what we can do for our country.

Jerry Burke

Natick