Letters To The Editor 01.30.20

Australia Is Burning

Australia is burning. The Amazon rain forest is burning. California fires grow larger. Aquifers dry up around the world. Greenland’s glaciers are melting faster every year. The coral reefs are dying. Sea levels are rising. Miami and Norfolk flood with heavy rain or seas. Storms get more intense. Harvests fail as drought hits around the globe. The list of harmful social and environmental impacts caused by climate change grows. And despite what climate deniers say, human induced carbon dioxide emissions is a well-established scientific fact. So why exactly does our President and his party promote coal and oil, roll back fuel efficiency standards, end incentives for solar and wind power, allow more industrial discharges, withdraw from global efforts to address the crisis, and astonishingly, why does he ridicule a teenage girl who speaks for a generation who want nothing more than to live in a livable world? Why? Why does he deny the evidence all around us? And finally, why does the President lash out with such venom and disrespect at those who’s opinions and policies differ from his? This is not what the founders of our democratic republic intended. What happened to the American spirit of facing challenges with reason, cooperation, and good will?

Michael Roland

Nassau