Letters to the Editor: Climate change isn’t your fault. Here’s what to blame and how to fix it
Tuesday
The most recent issue of the Star Tribune (a newspaper I believe it is “the” newspaper of Minnesota) is now online. A front cover headline: “No Time To Waste” The front cover is signed by three editors, a sports reporter, a photo editor and a writer, among others. It was printed as a letter to the editor.
The letter is by Robert Buhlman, the editor. He is a retired lawyer from the Rochester area.
He calls the letter’s title, “No Time To Waste” “a silly and misleading headline.” He blames this on the “theoretical, not actual, theory that the world is warming at a constant rate that mankind is powerless to stop. Climate change is a fact. Global warming is a fact, which means we must confront it squarely with all the facts, not just those that support it.” In this letter, he calls for a complete and thorough review of the science and how society will change as a result.
He then goes on to explain why this is a real issue and not one of the usual talking points made by the political and media classes:
“The recent, intense debate over whether it’s climate or global warming that is causing a “hi-yo-yo” in the global economy has had a predictably short shelf life. It has faded into the background as politicians and commentators go back to what they know best, and campaign on their own prejudices. No one is denying that there is an immediate threat of a return to a world with lower commodity prices, higher unemployment, and higher inflation, caused by an increase in global temperatures, and no one is denying that this is an extraordinary challenge. The question is whether society is prepared to meet these challenges and, without the benefit of the science, how.
How do we deal with a threat that requires a complete, honest review of the science?
The first answer is clear: no time to waste.”
As an attorney, Buhlman had a lot of experience in handling litigation and then litigation defense, but he says it wasn’t the litigation that helped him prepare for the position of editor. He says he has a broad background in dealing with people and in writing. That is why the letter is so balanced and balanced in its approach to the topic.
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