Global Warming Is No Boogeyman
Re “Creative Class Warms to Climate Change,” Commentary, Dec. 15: I would like to thank Nick Schulz of the oil industry-funded TechCentralStation.com for once again letting us know that the industry doesn’t want action on global warming.
In his thinly disguised piece, Schulz clearly tries to perpetuate the myth that there is much debate on the facts of global warming -- a tactic many of us remember being used for years by the tobacco industry. After reading Schulz’s piece, I visited the website to find out where he was coming from. I wasn’t shocked to see a huge ad for Exxon Mobil (the only paid sponsor I could find).
The truth is that scientists agree that global warming is a fact. Unfortunately, the hurricanes, droughts, floods, melting glaciers are real. People should understand what Schulz is, a paid spokesperson for the oil industry.
Po Fung
Monterey Park
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Schulz would have us believe that there was never any problem using DDT -- never mind the incredible harm it did to “other species” (and possible damage it might have caused millions of humans, had there not been a global ban). Rather, Schulz implies the focus should have only been on the millions of “humans” dying from malaria.
It is unfortunate that so many people continue to believe that the human species “owns” the planet. People not only forget that almost every problem faced on Earth has been caused or created by humans, but also choose to ignore the fact that we could not survive without all of the other species inhabiting this planet.
People need to ask themselves whether or not the “other species” and the Earth itself could survive without us humans. You bet they could. So it is our responsibility to take care of this planet by doing the least possible harm, whether real or imagined, and it is our moral obligation to live with compassion and respect for all life.
Valerie Belt
Pacific Palisades
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Schulz gives the misleading impression that climate change is a debatable issue with two sides, making such statements as, “Both sides have substantial data that support their points of view.”
Although he acknowledges the complexity of the issue in terms of scientific variables and policy alternatives, he fails to recognize that global warming reflects a predominant scientific consensus, and that the other side consists of a small group of so-called “greenhouse skeptics” whose views are trumpeted by energy companies that still promote production over conservation.
Energy and climate change policies require an informed citizenry as well as the work of responsible scientists, political leaders and writers. Readers deserve an accurate, not distorted, picture of actual scientific developments; the work and the publications of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (jointly established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Program) offer a good place to start.
Andrew Moss
Los Angeles