LETTERS: Climate crisis; prettier at closing time - Colorado Springs Gazette

LETTERS: Climate crisis; prettier at closing time | Opinion | gazette.com

No evidence of a climate crisis

Recently, there have been several letters printed regarding the climate, mostly repeating what one hears constantly from politicians, the media, and uninformed teenagers: that the Earth is in danger of becoming uninhabitable due to warming caused by CO2 from human use of fossil fuels. Two letters mentioned the (supposedly) unprecedented speed at which the Earth’s temperature is rising.

Since none of the letters cited any studies, data, or quotes, allow me. Dr. Patrick Moore, longtime environmental activist and one of the founders of Greenpeace: “[T]here is no definitive scientific proof, through real-world observation, that carbon dioxide is responsible for any of the slight warming of the global climate that has occurred during the past 300 years, since the peak of the Little Ice Age.” Moore notes that during the Eocene Thermal Maximum, the Earth was 16°C warmer than today, which leads him to wonder “about dire predictions that even a 2°C rise in temperature from pre-industrial times would cause mass extinctions and the destruction of civilization.” As to this alleged unprecedented speed, “[t]here was a 30-year period of warming from 1910 to 1940, then a cooling from 1940 to 1970, and then a 30-year warming from 1970-2000 that was very similar in duration and temperature rise, to the rise from 1910-1940. One may then ask, ‘What caused the increase in temperature from 1910-1940 if it was not human emissions? And if it was natural factors, how do we know that the same natural factors were not responsible for the rise between 1970 and 2000?’”

Princeton University Physics Professor William Happer says that atmospheric CO2 has reached a saturation point, such that doubling the concentration from the current level to 800 ppm might raise the temperature one degree. (For reference, the optimum level of CO2 for plant growth is about 2,000 ppm; the highest level the Earth has experienced is about 4,000 ppm. Below 160 ppm, most life on Earth dies.)

Finally, data from the University of Alabama-Huntsville show that there has been no rise in the Earth’s temperature since September 2014, and that, since satellite measurements began some 40 years ago, the temperature record shows a warming of 1.3°C per century.

And for those who find comfort in numbers, note that over 31,000 scientists signed the Oregon Petition, agreeing that there is no convincing evidence of a climate crisis.

Robert Herzfeld

Colorado Springs

Prettier at closing time

At this point in the 2024 presidential election I feel like a cowboy at a Saturday night honky-tonk. There are so many girls (candidates) on the dance floor that I cannot make a decision. The prettiest will dance with me and let me buy her drinks all night, but she’s a roadie and will go home with the lead singer; unelectable.

That leaves me with two choices. There are some really cute girls on the dance floor and some that are not so cute. If I choose one of the latter; ie “go ugly early”, I’ll have someone to dance with all night and I may get lucky (get an honest candidate who is electable).

Or, I can abide by that old Mickey Gilley song “ …The Girls all get Prettier at Closing Time”, drink several beers, (listen to a bunch of campaign rhetoric) and wait until closing time (the primaries). At which time, it will be easier to overlook some minor cosmetic imperfections and look for someone who appears honest and might have some vague awareness of the Constitution.

Rip Blaisdell

Colorado Springs

School board is not listening

Re: “Community Engagement thanks to library, no thanks to school board”

The library hosted another community discussion on local hot topics Wednesday, June 21. The topic was the American Birthright standards that have been adopted by our local BOE despite its declination by the state school board and the NCAA and the fact that no other district in America has adopted these standards.

When the board adopted the standards without community or parental input, I began studying the preamble and 11th- and 12th-grade curricula to have an informed opinion. I have previously had an article published stating why I soundly reject this curriculum, and I have more to learn, so I attended the library-facilitated discussion.

As it turns out, a dozen concerned citizens held a lively and collaborative discussion where we all learned from each other’s experiences, research, and various expertise. (I especially learned a lot about the pragmatic pedagogic reality on the ground from a WPSD middle school social studies teacher.)

It was a truly thoughtful discussion where new friendships were, I believe, forged across conservative and progressive lines. I participated in and witnessed the kind of much-needed dialogue spoken to in a recent guest editorial, and I was heartened that this respectful listening and eager learning could happen, even if it was without the voice of any school board member.

I was disheartened and, frankly, shocked to discover that not one local citizen or school board member showed up to explain why they have been so committed to the adoption of the American Birthright standards.

Not. One.

This is just one more reason why the current school board is unfit to serve. They are not serving the public; they are not explaining or listening about this radically unproven social studies requirement they’ve pushed through; they are not reflecting parents, teachers, children, or the community, proven by their absence at this open discussion opportunity.

One hundred percent of those who attended the event are opposed to or very concerned about the American Birthright standards and the trail of money behind the push nationally that has been adopted locally. I do hope we reflect the silent majority who want to remove this divisive board from office this November.

Thank you, Rampart Library team, for keeping our community kind and informed.

Trina Hoefling

Florissant