What are you smoking?
Letter to the editor of the Sun Times, a daily newspaper in Owen Sound, Ontario in reference to a column by Dennis Thomsett.
“Apathy is the glove into which evil slips its hand”~Bodie Thoene
After a full day promoting projects that strengthen communities and address the reality of our changing world, I finally had time to read the Sun Times. For the second time in a few weeks, I was surprised by the ignorance and depressing message that some of your writers are sending to our children.
Since I was young, while organizing environmental programs that caused me to win OSCVI’s Citizenship award, I knew that global warming, the greenhouse effect, and climate change, are real and accelerated by humans; we need to be responsible and turn this around. Since the 70s, climate change science has been strong, and now even our esteemed CBC no longer has discussions about the reality of the science because the only debate is how bad it will get and how fast.
I’ve always believed that by educating people, we can make our communities a better place for ourselves, other living creatures, and leave a legacy of a beautiful world for future generations.
Instead of sending powerful, positive community-building messages like this to your readership, your paper has been publishing some sad, uneducated, unscientific and destructive articles spreading misinformation about what the educated world knows is the reality of climate change. The March 10 column from Dennis Thompsett is just one sad and awful example, and if I were the publisher, I would never print another word from him. I could easily win any argument about the reality and seriousness of climate change with your misguided authors, but it’s a waste of time. No wonder people are comparing this type of ridiculous spin to the 70s argument that smoking doesn’t cause cancer.
“We can’t change anything important and we certainly can’t make much of a lasting difference on God’s green earth, for good or ill.” If this is the kind of message you want to send, then put your head in the sand, stay home and do nothing more destructive than you’ve already done. Maybe then those of us who care enough about the world can be allowed to create a brighter future for our grandchildren without that kind of interference and negativity. Making more money selling controversial content should not be more important than ethics, truth and good journalism.
My 13-year-old daughter Corrina has spoken about addressing climate change to over 25,000 people around the province, will be receiving one of the Ontario Junior Citizens of the Year Awards from the Lieutenant Governor, and will be speaking on Earth Week to over 5500 students. Most people would want her to feel empowered, to know she is making a difference, but not Dennis. She read the article, and her response was: “He probably still smokes too.”
I find it extremely sad that your publishers, editors and writers are promoting disempowerment and taking so lightly the future of our planet. What is the world coming to?