Still Skeptical About Warming 

As intimated by your full-page graphic in the April 17 Sunday Valley News’ Life and Leisure section, a large percentage of Americans have bought into the theory of climate change, that it’s mankind’s fault, and that we should concede even more power over our lives to our federal government so it can combat this nebulous alleged evil.

Some of us remain skeptical both of the science and of the proposed solutions, among them being a carbon tax of a dollar or more per gallon of gasoline and home heating fuel. Fossil fuels, which propelled the U.S. into having the highest standard of living the world has ever known, are now demon seed if we are to believe climate change theory.

Why shouldn’t we be skeptical? Consider that in 1970, the year of the first Earth Day, The Washington Post ran a story headlined “Colder Winters Herald Dawn of New Ice Age” and a Harvard biologist estimated that “civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind.” The New York Times editorialized that, “Man must stop pollution and conserve his resources … to save the race from intolerable deterioration and possible extinction.” Denis Hayes, the first Earth Day coordinator, warned, “It is already too late to avoid mass starvation.” Ecologist Kenneth Watt warned about an impending Ice Age, saying the global mean temperature would be 11 degrees colder by 2000.

How many of those calamitous forecasts came to pass? There has been no new ice age, civilization continues to exist, and the human race is not confronted with extinction, unless that is, ISIS gets its blood-soaked hands on nuclear weapons.

A far more pressing issue is our $19 trillion national debt, and $123 trillion in unfunded liabilities such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid (http://www.usadebtclock.com/). The Valley News would do its readers a genuine service if it expressed as much concern about the impending economic Armageddon of government debt as it does about Arctic Sea ice and polar bears.

Dick Tracy

Sharon

Voters: Demand Evidence 

I feel like a voice in the wilderness. I expect our political leaders to show decency to others and be rational in their views. Instead I hear political discord replete with personal slander and empty slogans. Where is the sense of decency toward one’s political colleagues? Shouldn’t we expect our political leaders to provide supporting evidence for their views?

In the current presidential campaign, we hear platitudes that might excite different parts of the electorate but, as stand-alone statements, do not inform. Some examples:

Taxing the rich will have adverse effects on economic growth; tax cuts will unleash economic growth.

The federal government should end its funding of Planned Parenthood.

The social safety net encourages dependency.

Obamacare is a job-killing law.

Regarding those claims:

Taxing the rich has not adversely affected economic growth. The last two Democratic presidents raised taxes on the rich. More than under George W. Bush, private-sector job growth has increased — 10 million private-sector jobs since President Obama took office and unemployment below 5 percent.

Planned Parenthood has been stripped of Medicaid funds, leaving low-income women to fend for themselves. Nonetheless, Planned Parenthood is one of the nation’s leading providers of high-quality, affordable health care.

The Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit are part of the social safety net. The first was first proposed in the early 1970s with bipartisan support. President Reagan expanded it as “the best anti-poverty, pro-family and job creation measure to come out of Congress.” Both have reduced inequality and helped families pull themselves up through hard work.

The Affordable Care Act has been denounced as a job-killing law. Not so: We’ve gained 5.7 million private-sector jobs since January 2014 when the act went into full effect. Government insurance via Medicare is more cost-effective than private insurance. The Affordable Care Act is costing taxpayers about 20 percent less, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

As citizens, we must require our political leaders to respond to the question: “What is the evidence that supports your view?”

Robert Scobie

Hanover

The Solution Is Obvious 

You recently published a letter from  Pete Bleyler wrote about the diminishing difficulty being experienced by Sudoku fanatics. At first I thought this might be caused by increasing skill; however, I have come to completely agree with him. Now, I only use a pen to increase the challenge, but what occasionally brought a sustained and vexing encounter is sadly solved within a matter of minutes.

Peter Luquer

Hartland Four Corners