Warming UP
Almost two years ago I wrote a letter published in The Post and Courier entitled, “Global Warming Kills.” It asserted that the enormous amount of CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere via the burning of fossil fuels was causing our planet to warm at unnatural rates. As a result our oceans are warmer and they have intensified the already deadly power of hurricanes. All of this, in much more scientific terms, was validated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently. Most importantly, it declared that human behavior is “very likely” behind these changes.
Two weeks after I wrote my first letter I received an unsigned postcard without a return address that chastised me for not realizing that God, and God alone, controls all events here on Earth. Then Katrina happened. In the land of the South, “personal responsibility” is often touted and encouraged over “government interference.” How about we start living by that principle? Instead of crying over the government telling us we have to wear seatbelts and we can’t smoke in bars, let’s look at the larger reality. Our planet is being destroyed before many of our children and grandchildren will ever get to enjoy it. And we are to blame.
As evidenced by President Bush’s complete lack of a plan put forth in the State of the Union address, we must fix this problem ourselves. It’s time to take a serious look at our daily lives and look for ways we can cutback on our energy usage. Conservation is the only viable solution until alternative energy sources are more readily available. Ride a bike to work; turn your heat off and wear a sweater. For God’s sake, do something.
Eric Fries
Charleston
Coen, Grab a Dictionary
Hats off to Joe Bustos and the town council members who are “trying to maintain the character of a commercial fishing creek” (“Old Salt and New Cement,” News, Feb. 7). Congratulations to the Magwoods for resisting the almighty dollar and not overdeveloping their land. Compliments to Diane Crowley for taking on a millionaire developer, and admiration for Magdalyn Duffie for raising public awareness. If Richard Coen consulted a dictionary, he would have labeled Miss Duffie a preservationist (Def: A person who advocates or promotes preservation, esp. of wildlife, natural areas, or historical places). He would have not labeled her as “destructive” (Def: Tending to destroy; causing destruction or much damage, tending to overthrow, disprove, or discredit); unless of course he is referring to Miss Duffie as trying to disprove the value of the Coen development project on Shem Creek. The article by Stratton Lawrence is riddled with references of making money for Coen. Kudos to Mr. Coen for taking steps to clean up the creek in the past, but why stop there? Why not take the high road and preserve the charm and diminishing Mount Pleasant flavor? Progress is not a bad thing, until it bulldozes over the past that made a place what it is today simply to make money. Mr. Coen, I invite you to take your project elsewhere. Have your legacy be that of local hero, not big-dollar bully.
Colleen Payne
Mt. Pleasant
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