It is hard to overstate the importance of the energy turning point that Connecticut faces right now – and the ramifications to our pocketbooks and our health if we make the wrong choice.

Soaring electricity costs have put enormous pressure on political leaders to cut costs and help justifiably angry customers. New England states routinely finish behind only Hawaii and California when it comes to the cost of electricity.

The reasons for our soaring costs are complicated. We’re not going to solve them with simplistic solutions – no matter how tempting it may be to opt for what is sold as a quick fix.

And that’s what fossil fuel advocates are doing right now – telling us all our problems will go away with one short-term fix: burning more gas. In questionable surveys, hardball Hartford lobbying, and a barrage of media stories, these advocates are pushing Connecticut leaders to build gas pipelines and use more fossil fuels.

We have to pause when paid advocates for fossil fuels call for more oil, coal, or gas. We must question the long-term overall cost and damage of what they are pushing.

Former Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio is working in Connecticut on behalf of fossil fuel companies that want expanded gas pipelines and more fossil fuels as a solution to high energy costs. The problem? There’s a lot of evidence that Connecticut’s electricity rates are high because the region is heavily dependent on natural gas. The price of gas fluctuates with supply and demand, with war and global turmoil. It is delivered in pipelines that leak and require repair and replacement and burned in power plants that pollute our air. Those charges are all passed on to consumers.

The former Ohio congressman also cites a study paid for by fossil fuel advocates Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future (NACEF), a group funded in part by companies that build gas pipelines. The study claims popular support for more gas and pipelines. According to that survey, 80 percent of Connecticut residents want the state to burn more gas.

According to a survey not funded by the gas industry, 88 percent of Connecticut residents believe climate change is a real problem, 87 percent want more solar power, and 74 percent want more offshore wind.