Ocean-Dumping CO2

* Re “Tracking Damage in the Depths,” Aug 25:

By dumping atmospheric carbon dioxide into the ocean depths, the Department of Energy scales the heights of idiocy, where stupidity and insanity seamlessly blend in the rarefied air. Simply transferring damage from one environment to another sounds more like the delusion of deranged engineers than the proposal of environmental scientists. (And an expensive delusion--$30 million just for initial trials.)

The easiest and only safe, effective way to reduce human-triggered climatic change is to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, which are obviously under our control--as those who clear-cut forests (which contain deep-carbon sinks) and drive SUVs can attest. The government can save the $30 million and more, such as human lives, by implementing environmental policies that discourage us from killing ourselves with shortsighted self-indulgence.

Our long-term survival requires an end to obsession with convenience, instant profit and conspicuous consumption; cleaning up this pollution in the mind prevents it from leaking into the environment in more life-threatening forms.

KEVIN OWEN

West Hills