LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Recent news items are indicating that we may be at the end of the recession. Over the short term this is great news for investors, job hunters, small-business owners and home owners. Simultaneously, there is news in a major national magazine that polar ice is melting at much greater rates than scientific projections anticipated and that the global warming picture is more dire than previously thought.
How are these two ideas related? It's simple: with the improving economy, the more stuff we purchase, the more buildings we construct, the more travel we undertake, the more energy required and the more greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. All this human activity leads to worsening the situation with regard to the climate crisis and makes solving that problem all the more unlikely. Over the long term, what is needed to prevent the catastrophe of the climate emergency is a shrinking of world economies, a lessening of construction and travel and a serious decrease in the manufacture and consumption of unnecessary goods.

Len Frenkel; Bethlehem, PA; 610-709-8984; President- Initiatives for the Climate Emergency; www.iceworks.org