Letters to the Editor: The climate situation is bad but not hopeless. We must fight for change
To the editor: The Times' editorial board issues yet another dire warning about the health of our planet. Record-breaking heat due to fossil fuel emissions shows we are headed in the wrong direction.
These grim facts might leave readers discouraged and hopeless. While there is damage that we may not be able to fix, it's not too late to heal our Earth. Indeed, we have seen other seemingly hopeless situations change.
My grandmothers couldn't vote when they came of age. There were racial covenants in my California town when I was a child. My gay neighbors could have been arrested for loving each other in some places not so long ago.
We have seen tremendous progress since those days because citizens woke up, marched, wrote letters, lobbied their representatives and voted.
As for returning to a healthy climate, we must take action. Be informed, join a climate group, talk about it and vote. It takes momentum to build the political will for change, but we’ve done it before and we can do it now.
Margaret Baker Davis, Claremont
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To the editor: During my 92-year association with my fellow humans, I have noted several irritable characteristics.
First, everybody wants it both ways. The current Congress is a perfect example of this attitude. Its attention to climate matters is distracted by endless political concerns.
Second, ignorance is bliss. Perhaps the problem will just go away, many people hope, and we will continue to be entertained.
Third, irrational behavior is normal. Former President Trump did not initiate this trend, but he is now the leader of gleeful adherents who prevent meaningful action by our government.
Here and there small groups of enlightened folks, as they have done for a while, are forging ahead with climate change adaptations. They will be joined by others only when money and fame can accrue from the enterprise.
Carleton Cronin, West Hollywood
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To the editor: Those who know people with substance abuse problems probably have heard the saying that addicts go into recovery to avoid jails, institutions and death. Your editorial on yet more indications of the climate emergency brings up similar feelings.
The U.S. is one of the biggest per-capita carbon polluters in the world. Every aspect of our economy is addicted to planet-warming fossil fuels. We are Patient Zero.
Without an intervention and shift to a more sustainable life, we are facing more wars, the rise of dictatorships and ecological collapse.
Pathways to recovery are plentiful and getting cheaper by the day; they only require political will. Addicts generally start recovery when they've reached their personal bottom. If Earth reaches bottom, it will start recovering without us.
Pam Brennan, Newport Beach
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
