Editor:
A recent article in The Guardian, summing up the COP21 climate meeting in Paris, made a major point of the fact that on this occasion no effort was wasted responding to the outdated and misleading talking points of the denier industry. That time has finally passed; the focus must now be on solutions, and how best to implement them.
I think that we on the Sunshine Coast should heed this advice, and I hope that Coast Reporter will lead the way when choosing which letters to publish.
Some may say that this suggestion is an improper effort to stifle “free speech.” To them I would say that free speech has never been an absolute right. One may not shout “Fire!” in a crowded theatre unless there is a fire. On the matter of global warming, there is indeed a fire and one that, by threatening world food supplies, endangers the lives of far more than can be found in any theatre. To pretend otherwise in the total absence of substantive evidence is a dangerous act, one that should be avoided.
Let us instead have letters that concentrate our minds and skills on doing what we can to reduce both our personal carbon footprint and that of the society of which we are a part.
Jim Pawley, Sechelt
