Denying global warming is dangerous

Editor:

Once again, this newspaper has printed a column about global warming and climate change filled with half-truths and misinformation. I did some agricultural service for AmeriCorps in Adams County, and it is one thing to hear unscientific denialism from fossil-fuel-addicted farmers and ranchers. But it is another problem entirely when college students are buying into this propaganda of global warming denial. Every person who exhibits this attitude has a real problem understanding that there are unintended consequences of mankind manipulating our global ecosystem.

The biggest fallacy that all of these unscientific thinkers exhibit is that unregulated capitalism is a good thing. One of the main problems with unregulated industrial activity is that it will degrade our environment if we allow such activity to go unchecked. This is common sense for most of the population, yet there are sadly too many people who think mankind can go about our normal activities, and everything will be okay and nothing on planet Earth will change. I have a succinct term for these sad individuals: “right-wing nut-job.” It is sad to see that this newspaper has not just one, but two individuals on its staff who choose to ignore the solid and undebatable science about global warming and climate change. It is insulting to be a scientist at any university and have to read this schlock.

Benjamin P. Derrick
graduate student
earth and environmental sciences

Open buildings so the homeless can stay warm

Editor:

I was on campus one recent morning, and the doors to the CUB were locked. I was told that the doors were locked before 10 a.m. on weekends to keep the homeless out. It is ironic, but just inside the locked door was a big, slick poster about addressing local poverty and homelessness. Later, a university employee told me that a mother and her children were similarly locked out of the unused, former Bookie building.

It does not make sense to heat public buildings and not use them to keep people warm. I wonder, as I fall asleep at night, about the mother and her children and where they are when the sun goes down in this bitterly cold weather.

Clearly, there are homeless people in Pullman. While the university puts up posters in sympathy with the homeless, people are trying to survive 3 degree nights without shelter. I suggest that, as a short-term solution, we keep a few public buildings open 24 hours a day during the cold months to at least keep people warm. Clearly, however, a long-term solution is also needed.

Dena Marchant
Pullman resident