DO WE REALLY WANT TO GIVE UP ON OUR GRANDCHILDREN?

Everywhere you look, there’s more disgruntled people complaining about the carbon tax.

Demonstrations and motorcades demanding cheaper gas, not more taxes on it; you’d think nobody really cares if future generations have oxygen to breathe.

It’s true that climate change is hard to control, but if we don’t make a start, nothing will be done and it’ll be game over for this planet. If we’re willing to let it happen, then it will.

Personally, I’d prefer to keep the planet as a going concern. I’m quite attached to this old world, and I think my grandchildren like it, too. As a matter of fact, I’ve never met anyone who was in favour of letting Planet Earth die.

I don’t know who these people are who insist on their right to emit greenhouse gases, and risk the health of our shared planet, but I wish they’d give some thought to what they’re doing. We all know the science and we know what will happen if we continue to degrade our ozone layer. I’m a bit mystified about the reasoning behind our refusal to cooperate in protecting our own environment.

The only reason I can think of is that we really don’t trust our government or our scientists to tell us the truth about the problem. And here I was thinking we were a scientific generation! We certainly enjoy the many benefits that science has given us, but when the scientists tell us how to maintain our environment, we suddenly have a change of heart.

If we like living here on our planet, we should be ready to help to maintain it. That’s not an outlandish suggestion, is it?

But it will take some effort and patience, and that’s a bit too much for some of us, eh? Well, nobody’s going to force us to take the planet-friendly action that we would need to take. If we don’t like the green alternatives, then we’ll just have to live with the consequences (or die with them).

I’m in my eighties now, so I’ll already be gone when the planet finally loses its ability to support life, but my grandchildren won’t. The best I can do for them now is apologize for failing to keep their planet in good working order.

I’ve never owned a car, and I’ve never found that to be a problem. My children think me a bit odd, but they still love me. I wish we would all show our love of our descendants by giving them a planet that could support them far into the future.

Ed Healy Marystown