I was shocked to read the recent headline “Supreme Court halts clean power plan” (Page A3, Feb. 10).

The court has turned upside-down the normal appeals process and set back efforts to curb global warming by reducing power plant emissions. It makes me wonder, once again, whether this planet might be better off without our misnamed genus, Homo sapiens (the wise).

In spite of their many accomplishments, world civilizations have a long and bloody history; are we now going to add to our list of human frailties an inability to save the planet from ourselves?

Month after month, this newspaper has highlighted studies confirming that global warming is either causing or exacerbating a host of problems: ocean acidity, declines in fish populations, droughts, severe storms, massive floods and many others.

Now we have the Zika virus, not caused by global warming, but certainly spreading more widely and quickly because of rising temperatures.

I wish I could blame this recent court decision on old conservatives who are out of touch with reality, but, sadly, they reflect a large part of society as a whole.

More than two dozen Republican governors, including our own, have sued the federal government to stop the implementation of the Clean Power Plan. And as for our Republican presidential candidates, many are still climate change deniers; not one has raised climate change as an issue or advocated for any remedial action.

The science is clear-cut, yet a large number of politicians are willing to foul our own nest on this planet. Money, power, greed and political expediency are all at play, but they have a long history and will not easily be overcome.

We can make a start at the ballot box, though, by supporting only those state and federal candidates who advocate a rapid shift to renewable energy. Vote carefully.

Joe Hardy

Wells

Copy the Story Link