Home 
Opinion Letters Letters and comments for February 17, 2011
Letters and comments for February 17, 2011
|
Letters and comments for February 17, 2011
Support plastic bag ban
We strongly support the proposed ban on throwaway plastic bags. They litter our landscape, clog our landfills, are difficult to recycle and are made from petroleum, a non-renewable and imported resource. Paper bags, in contrast, are readily recyclable, will biodegrade if improperly disposed of and are made from trees — trees that could come from our forests to the benefit of our loggers. Best of all, the wind WILL NOT blow paper bags into the tops of our trees! We have used cloth shopping bags for years, and find that this is not a difficult chore. They are the real answer, but we realize that it is not time yet to ban all throwaway shopping bags. Burton and Bobbie Crook La Grande
Stormy Burns’ use of anecdotal evidence to disprove global warming in the Feb. 8 letters column was actually an argument that supports global warming. Al Gore and the scientific community predicted stronger storms and shifting weather patterns, which have been in abundance lately. There is a near-consensus among scientists that global warming is occurring and is human-caused. The 10 hottest years on record have occurred in the last 12 years. Claiming that global warming is bologna because we’ve had a snowstorm is like claiming that triple-bacon-cheeseburgers are healthy because you saw a skinny person eating one. The debate is really just fact vs. crazy. Stormy Burns is a victim of political manipulation. Roger Ailes sent out a memo to FoxNews staff telling them to downplay global warming and treat it like an unproven theory. There are very few things scientists agree on as factual more than climate change. The reason for the memo is that conservatives would lose all momentum if they conceded that their long-fought battle with climate change was killing the future. The most upsetting part of it all is the religious right should be championing for climate change awareness and not against it. The Lord gave man “Dominion” over earth and “over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:26) Wouldn’t “Dominion” be a responsibility and not an excuse to ravage the planet? Would a father who gave his son the cherished farm approve of the son’s obsessive pursuit of profits and complete disregard for the animals, the land and the future? It is a self-righteous, disrespectful and pinheaded son that believes there are no consequences for abuse of his father’s generous gift. Brian Kausler La Grande |
