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As I read him in the Dec. 24-25 edition of the Bangor Daily News, letter writer Chase Empsall seems not to understand that global warming is an existential issue far more than a political issue. It is not about conservatives and liberals, capitalism and “heavy handed regulation” (his words). If life on the planet becomes unsustainable — it’s already becoming so in parts of Africa, not to mention drying up water supplies in our own West — no one is going to care about border adjustments and leveraging market forces.
As an old man, I am delighted to learn that today’s generation has an active interest in national politics. But I urge them not to think in our terms. That’s what got us where, as a species, we are today. Former President Jimmy Carter alerted us to global warming forty plus years ago, and Republicans and Democrats alike, conservatives and liberals, effectively ignored him, choosing instead politics as usual, arguing over the same old issues, rather than addressing the needs of the planet on which we live, the atmosphere from which we draw breath. I urge Empsall and his generation not to follow our lead.
Stefan Nadzo
Eastbrook
