Staff Writer Tux Turkel goes too easy on us baby boomers concerning responsibility for climate change (“Boomers really are OK,” Dec. 29).

Yes, the fossil fuel companies are the lead perps, but we have been too-willing accomplices.

On June 23, 1988, NASA’s Jim Hansen told Congress and the nation that human-caused climate change was underway and we needed to take action to reduce the burning of fossil fuels. In the years since then, we have made progress, but we have mostly dithered or done worse.

Every time gas prices decline, we buy gas-guzzling SUVs, which we drive to work or nowhere in particular, often empty and alone.

Recouping an investment in insulation in five years or less is too slow for many of us to bother to make our buildings more energy efficient. We fly long distances on a whim. We order, ship and return goods at a drop of a hat demanding ever faster shipping. Worst of all, we still elect politicians to office who plan to do nothing about climate change. In 2016, baby boomers, notably the pale males, elected a climate change denier to the nation’s highest office.

I say go ahead and slam the baby boomers. For the most part, we deserve it. There is still time for us to help save life on the planet we have celebrated, mostly just in passing, once a year on “Earth Day.” OK, boomers, let’s do the right thing for the kids now.

 

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