The Ecological Challenge

On May 12 Kathleen Hendrix put forth a splendid preview of an Environmental Conference being held May 13 at the Bonaventure Hotel (“Seeking a Focus Beyond War”). On Saturday, May 13, people were turned away as more than 3,000 people crowded in a very large room, standing at the back, perched on whatever, to hear a program of creative insightful people. They knew what they were talking about when they confronted the gradual killing of our planet, people, animals, vegetation in a manner as ominous as the threat of nuclear war was at one time not so long ago.

There is great hope that a nuclear war can be avoided if we continue the negotiation patterns already begun. It is time to cut back on defense spending, and turn the resources over to solving the problems of tainted food, unbreathable air, undrinkable water, vanishing forests, removal of top soil, warming of the atmosphere to name a few. The list is actually endless in its demands as it includes the increasing jobless, homeless and hungry.

I left the conference challenged but filled with hope--ready to do something.

MARILYN DOTY

Torrance