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We need to realize that we don't have to sit around and wait to see what the President will or won't do about global warming. We are all responsible for what happens to our environment. The time to act is now! Making a few changes won't kill us, but ignoring what's happening to our planet certainly will. ANNAMARIE BUSSE St. Charles, Mo.
Global warming is nonsense! Nature emits about 95% of greenhouse gases, while humans are responsible for only 5%. Add a volcanic eruption here and there, and nature probably accounts for as much as 99%. Most of the temperature increases in the past century occurred when America was still mostly a rural economy. With the rise of our industrial might, temperatures haven't risen at all! TOM PETERSON Salt Lake City
Michael D. Lemonick replies: Mr. Peterson is quite right in saying that nature is responsible for most of the greenhouse gases on Earth. But even the small percentage that is man-made, which is growing every year, has been enough to start nudging temperatures upward.
I find it hard to believe that scientists can accurately predict what kind of weather we will have in 100 years. Last month we in the New York metropolitan area heard alarming predictions of 2 ft. of snow in Manhattan, but we ended up getting just a few inches. If looking only a couple of days into the future can produce a weather-forecast goof like that, how can anyone accurately predict what the effects of global warming will be 100 years from now? PAUL MCGRAW Rockville Centre, N.Y.
We did our best to come up with an all-inclusive list of 20 things you can do to reduce carbon dioxide output, but several of you came up with novel ideas we had overlooked. A Montana resident suggested ending NASCAR competitions, which consume thousands of gallons of fuel per race. A Maryland man proposed shunning large houses in favor of smaller, more energy-efficient homes--an idea a San Jacinto, Calif., homeowner put a slightly different spin on. "Many of us have small lawns that we mow with gas or electric machines," he wrote. "Why not switch to manual or push lawn mowers?" And our hearts were warmed by a Durango, Colo., woman's idea: "You didn't mention drying laundry on clotheslines. Remember getting into bed that first night after washday when sheets smelled fresh? That smell is right up there with that of baking bread."
Holding the World Hostage
Bush's decision on CO2 emissions could have a catalyzing effect and cause other countries to take needed steps [SPECIAL REPORT, April 9], but what better place to start instituting change than in the U.S.? American citizens are in a unique position to create a groundswell telling the President that he must be accountable to the people and that he and those who propelled him to power cannot hold the entire world hostage to his economic vision. KATHLEEN HANLEY Rondebosch, South Africa
O Lord, why didn't you give Bush enough brains to understand that it is in the best interests of the people of the U.S. to put a limit on the amount of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere? We in Europe also don't want to hurt our economy by putting a cap on greenhouse-gas emissions. We are educated enough, however, to understand that we have to do this now to avoid serious environmental and economic disasters in the future. ERICH WACKER Heilbronn, Germany