As a few people here know, I made a New Year's Resolution this January to write a letter a day to politicians and/or the media on climate issues.
I diaried the first few of those letters here and here.
Unlike most New Year's Resolutions, this one has taken hold. I am now unable to go to sleep unless I write my letter for the next day. Although I haven't diaried about it, they have gone on without interruption, and we are now entering month 3. All of my letters can be read on my blog; there will be a special prize for any reader who can figure out the significance of my site's name.
Anyway, the other day DWG posted a fine diary linking to Al Gore's Op-Ed in the Times, and it gave me the material I needed for that day's letter.
The New York Times has a 150 word limit, and my letter was exactly that long:
Al Gore’s thoughtful advocacy for meaningful action on climate change will no doubt bring the climate-change "skeptics" out of the woodwork once again: these conservative denialists would rather watch the country fail and the planet burn than admit the former VP is right. It is absurd to imagine that our politicians and our media will learn enough science to do the right thing rather than the politically expedient one. Our inability to address the climate crisis is both an intellectual and a moral failure. In the 1950’s, Sputnik threatened our national pride — and America responded with an intensified focus on science education, building a space program that accomplished wonders. Fifty years later, the threat we face is not to our pride, but to our planet — and we respond by ridiculing those who sound the warning. Mr. Gore deserves the thanks of future generations, not James Inhofe’s uninformed mockery.
WarrenS
Yesterday there was an email in my inbox from a Staff Editor at the Times:
Hi. We are considering your letter for publication in the next few days, either in the printed paper and the Web site, or on the Web only. Below is an edited version of your letter. Please let us know if you approve of the changes.
A few standard questions we ask our letter writers:
Do you have a professional affiliation, or any other connection (including financial), that bears on the topic of your letter or that our readers should know about? (If you are writing in a private capacity and not on behalf of an organization, that will be considered in the decision on whether to use an ID.)
Did you write the letter, and is the letter exclusive to the Times?
Was your letter sent in response to the prompting of a Web site or anyone else?
And, by agreeing to have your letter published, you are consenting to our right to republish it, in any and all media, and to license third parties to publish it as well.
Many thanks for writing.
S__ M______
Staff Editor
To the Editor: Re "We Can’t Wish Away Climate Change" (Op-Ed, Feb. 28):
Al Gore’s thoughtful advocacy for meaningful action on climate change will no doubt bring the climate change "skeptics" out of the woodwork once again. Our inability to address the climate crisis is both an intellectual and a moral failure. In the 1950s, Sputnik threatened our national pride – and America responded with an intensified focus on science education, building a space program that accomplished wonders. Fifty years later, the threat we face is not to our pride, but to our planet – and we respond by ridiculing those who sound the warning. Mr. Gore deserves the thanks of future generations, not uninformed mockery.
WarrenS
While their revision made the letter tighter, my most caustic sentences (along with the dig at Inhofe) didn't make the cut.
No matter. I've received multiple emails of congratulation, along with a Facebook invite from someone who claims he went to camp with me as a kid (probably true).
And now I can't write to the Times for another 60 days!
So last night, having learned that my letter would be published (and if anyone gets the Times in paper, can you check if it's in there? If so, please let me know and I'll send you a SASE so I can get a copy for my files), I thought I'd finish it off by writing a letter to Al Gore himself. I imagine his staff has to spend a lot of time throwing away abusive mail from Inhofe's disciples...perhaps this will brighten somebody's day:
Dear Mr. Gore — As one of your long-time admirers, I wish to thank you for all that you have done to wake up the world to the dangers of climate change. Your recent Op-Ed in the New York Times was a beautifully crafted and heartfelt wake-up call to the world. Unfortunately, it is becoming ever clearer that the Republicans in Washington don't care if the planet burns, as long as they can ensure the failure of the current administration. While this was obvious from the beginning to any observers who were paying attention, it seems to have caught both the Obama administration and Democratic legislators by surprise. Furthermore, it is (sadly) indisputable that many in our party are either unimaginably naive, unimaginably pusillanimous, or unimaginably corrupt.
There are three things I need to say.
First: Don't Give Up. Your grace and steadiness in the face of ignorance and abuse is an example for all of us who are trying to wake up our fellow citizens.
Second: Emphasize to your colleagues in the political arena that the opposition party is not operating in good faith. The current Republican party does not have the best interests of our country at heart; they need to be publicly stigmatized as traitors to America and to humanity. "Making nice" with these people simply won't work. Democrats are not bullies by nature, I suppose — but at this time, in this crisis, we need to get things done rapidly and well. If the fate of the planet depends on the state of the Senate, we are in an extremely precarious position.
Third: I wish to offer an analogy which I think works well in combating the fallacious statements of Senator Inhofe and those of his ilk, especially in the light of the recent snowstorms that have buffeted Washington — and which the denialists claim are a conclusive proof that global warming is a "hoax."
Saying a freak snowstorm in Washington "disproves global warming" is like saying the swollen belly of a starving child "disproves world hunger."
Again, thank you for all that you have done and are doing. You are an inspiration to me and to countless others who are hoping against hope that our beautiful planet may yet be saved.
Yours Sincerely,
WarrenS
And that's the end of my diary for today!