Reader's Forum

The Voice welcomes letters to the editor. Submit opinions through campus mail to 101 Jeter Hall or e-mail (thevoice@uamont.edu) us.  Though letters may appear anonymous at the writer's request, the editorial staff must know his or her identity.

To the editor:

   In the last issue of The Voice, I note a comment from Mr. Wegley who states:

   "As for global warming itself, if enough 'climatologists' (those who are bona-fide scientists, anyway) were asked, one would find that global warming is far more a deceptive political issue than a scientific one ... The scientific observation is that the effects of human industrialization in the 'big picture' of global climate change are insignificant. There is no data that demonstrates that the overall climatic cycle of this planet has been affected by the recent technological advances of human societies."

   It is clear that Mr. Wegley is commenting from his conservative political viewpoint. It should be noted that Mr. Wegley is not a scientist, and therefore has no more standing to evaluate the effects of global warming than does Mr. Kelley, the editorialist to whom he replies. It is also seems clear that he gets his scientific "information" from the likes of Limbaugh and O'Reilly, since he seems to be parroting their rhetoric. While it is true that there is no consensus among scientists as to what the exact effects of global warming will be, there is almost no debate that such warming exists, and that if left unchecked, its results will be disastrous. Please note that even the current administration has admitted that global warming exists.

   There are economic, social and political consequences to dealing with global warming, but the results of not addressing the problem will be far-reaching and irrevocable. The disinformation being spread by Mr. Wegley is irresponsible, dangerous and just plain wrong.

John Hunt
Assistant Professor of Biology

Todd,

   I enjoyed the interview and appreciated your article in the Voice.

Joe M. Guenter
Assistant Professor of Physics

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