I am writing to ask the Juneau Empire to do something that many people will regard as un-American. I’m asking you to stop running editorials that deny climate change.
You’ll probably say you are just being fair by printing both sides of the story, that you’re just reflecting the debate.
But you’re not. This debate has been settled for some time.
Printing editorials denying climate change is like printing an editorial about whether African-Americans are inferior or one questioning if the Holocaust really happened. It’s not a debate; it’s a statement by the newspaper’s editorial staff.
About 97 percent of qualified climate scientists agree that the climate is warming rapidly in a way that threatens our society and many of the creatures who share this world with us. The Department of Defense stated last year that climate change “poses immediate risks to U.S. national security” and will exacerbate threats ranging “from infectious disease to terrorism.” Even Exxon recently acknowledged “that climate risks are real and responsible actions are warranted.”
As the newspaper of Alaska’s capital, the Empire has a front-row seat to the accelerating pace of climate change, from the disappearing Mendenhall Glacier to last year’s missing ski season. Certainly there is a valid debate about how to deal with climate change, but not whether it’s happening or what’s causing it. Please stop putting my children at greater risk by fostering climate change denial in your pages.
Stuart Cohen
Juneau