God, global warming revisited

Dear Editors,

There have been a few times I’ve felt compelled to write in response to letters or articles that have left a bad taste in my mouth, however, if there’s one thing I’m good at it’s procrastination. In the Nov. 1 edition of the Telegraph there was a letter, titled “Of God and global warming,” in which the author had the audacity to put the future of our earth in the hands of an invisible deity. Now, I have no argument on the glacial melting a highly exaggerated “bazillion” years ago and agree there was no human pollution that we know of. What I do have a problem with is the complete denial of all scientific evidence on the subject of global warming and the reliance on something of which we have no proof and is immensely improbable – God.

What do ideals such as these say for the future of mankind? We know that there is a problem (even if it is part of the natural weather cycle, we are speeding it up) and we refuse to do anything about it, because we, as fundamentalists, believe that the world is coming to an end within the next 50 years anyway. How is this type of thinking going to help us sustain a life on Earth for our children, grandchildren and so on?

Let us stop putting our problems into the hands of unicorns, faeries and other mythical creatures. Let us take it into our own hands, where at least there’s a chance of getting them resolved! I do not consider myself a “tree-hugger” by any means. I do, however, respect the value of life, for it’s all we have. I would prefer if people such as this wouldn’t ruin it for the whole lot of us, unfortunately the majority of our nation is stuck with this 14th-century mindset.

This is my plea to our nation, to think logically and rationally – I’m begging you. Disparage this type of ignorance before we really become a doomed species.

– Eric O’Neal, via e-mail

Starved for broadcast in La Plata

Dear Editors,

It’s nice that the rest of Colorado, or most of it, can visit the Strater via Rocky Mountain PBS. To the best of my knowledge, that station is not available to La Plata County viewers. (Maybe Dolores and San Juan counties

get it?) What ever happened to the efforts of our legislative representatives to allow our area to be part of the Colorado media world? There was a lot of buzz and optimism a year or so ago, but now that election season is rolling around, I guess we’ll be stuck hearing about Heather Wilson and all the other New Mexico politicians who want to fill Pete Domenici’s shoes.

Speaking of the Colorado media world, I note that when I drive to Silverton or Cortez, I can, magically, access Colorado Public Radio. I only wish I could listen to it here in La Plata County, but that option was denied me some years ago when KSUT fought off CPR’s effort to broadcast into our area. This seems particularly ironic because at every KSUT fund-raising period, I hear boasts about their coverage, which includes Cortez and Silverton.

– Feeling deprived in La Plata County, Heather Mullett, via e-mail

Colossal Clinton failures

Dear Editors,

The current health-care crisis is not a new one. Health-care reform was central to the outcome of the 1992 presidential election. During the campaign, it had emerged as the No. 1 concern of voters. Taking note, candidate Clinton included health-care reform as a main component of his policy agenda.

In 1993, President Clinton announced the appointment of his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, as the head of the National Task Force on Health Care Reform. Commenting, “She’s better at organizing people from a complex beginning to a certain end than anybody I’ve ever worked with in my life.” Her job was to guide the creation of a plan to provide comprehensive and affordable health care to virtually all Americans; then file a report within 100 days. However, as the deadline came and went, no plan emerged. Furthermore, when the plan finally was presented to Congress, it was judged to be unacceptable and never made it to a vote.

Clinton’s health-care reform initiative was an absolute failure. In the end, Hillary Clinton had been accused of violating federal law, Ira Magaziner was nearly indicted on criminal contempt charges, and more than $11 million had been spent when only $300,000 was budgeted. Even worse, the task force relied on advice from the insurance industry and the pharmaceutical industry, which bonded together a huge, powerful and well-financed lobby.

Hillary Clinton’s colossal failure with health care made future leaders reluctant to change our broken health-care system and has contributed to the crisis we have today.

– Darren White, Bayfield

Peeved at the People’s Republic

To the Editors:

So tell me, Will, what powers your car? Left wing B.S.? And what fuel is burned in the distribution of your biased rag? And how do the “murdered” trees find their way from Canada to your “newspaper?” Have you ever burned petroleum during a frivolous drive somewhere? You would never drive the 50+ miles to Purgatory to do something as unnecessary as skiing. I’m sure your drive the day you met the Patriot was necessary. Oh, I know, you probably purchase “carbon offsets.”

During the Clinton administration, dependence on foreign oil grew by some 20 percent, and it continues to grow today. Suffocating regulations force us to look to other countries for our oil supplies. Maybe the responsible environmentalists should be fighting the so-called “oil wars.”

So, you celebrate the demise of coal-fired power plants. What happens, here in the Four Corners, when electricity becomes expensive and in short supply? Unnecessary and extravagant electrical consumption such as that of the ski lifts at Purgatory would be the  first to go. That’s OK, I’ve long believed that those denuded slopes should be reforested.

Would the residents of The People’s Republic of NIMBYville (yes, Durango) be willing to cover the slopes of Animas Mountain with solar collectors, or erect wind turbines on Raider Ridge, or construct a hydroelectric plant on the Animas? If not, then the charge of hypocrisy so often leveled at local environmentalists would be valid.

– Mark Mahlum, Bayfield

(Editors’ reply: Thanks for writing, Mark, but a couple of clarifications should be made. Will’s legs actually power his bicycle to work year round, 6 miles each way, come rain, snow or conservative B.S. When he does get behind the wheel, he gets 30 mpg, a far cry from the Patriot’s 5 to 6 mpg average. As for the Telegraph, each of its 275 editions has contained close to 100% recycled paper stock. Regardless, we’re not trying to deny our impacts but merely suggesting that this era demands that we should recognize and minimize them and put an end to our futile war for oil in the Middle East.)

Turkey Trot

O woe is me!

How can it be

That I must lay naked

And succulent baked

Upon the plate?

Is this my fate…?

The pilgrims and puritans,

They had no food in cans

And the only thing handy

Was “yours truly” dandy.

When they wanted to celebrate,

It was just us they ate.

Adieu to the sun and rain,

Hello to the special pain

Of life never savored,

But fed to be flavored

To please the palate -

And served with a salad.

So now we are famous -

More famous than Amos.

So ponder the situation

When you receive an invitation -

Who is the winner

When they have you for dinner?

– Annemarie M. Kummel, Durango