Environmentalists aren't fanatics

In response to the July 12 column, "Hot Air":

By: Aaron Bevill

Posted: 7/16/07

Al Gore might be a hypocrite, but look at the big picture: environmental concerns in America are often ignored by the government if they stand in the way of economic opportunity. For example, America in general has terrible public transportation, but if we fixed this problem, the oil industry would lose billions. According to Senate Resolution 98, the federal government refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol for fear the regulation "would result in serious harm to the economy of the United States."

It is unfair to label environmentalists as fanatics when business lobbyists insist with equal certainty that human behavior doesn't impact the environment - obvious nonsense. (See "Changes on the Way" in the July 10 edition of The Battalion). The "cult" of environmentalism is just a reaction to the cult of wealth that controls American politics. True, large business owners would pay the most to make America more environmentally safe, but everyone suffers when weather patterns shift or global temperatures rise a few degrees. America belongs to all of its citizens and our politicians should not sell our clean air and fresh water to turn a profit.

Aaron Bevill
Class of 2009