Letter to the editor: Protecting the environment and the economy is not a zero-sum game

By Scott Hartley, Fairfield

Florida’s global warming climate-catastrophe hurricane dominates the news, momentarily eclipsing even the presumptive leader who calls this situation a hoax. Too many liars have access to public attention, voicing the dangerous and defeatist idea that there is a “cost” to defending the earth’s climate, setting environment against prosperity with a zero sum result. And too many morons have believed them.

If mankind is to survive, we must see beyond that. Environment is prosperity; defending earth is survival. Every dollar we invest advances science, hires workers and ripples through the economy, multiplying itself, typically five-fold with good jobs and strong prospect of future benefits. It’s a path of winning, this week, next year, next human century if there is to be one. Survival is not a choice; it’s an absolutely primal mandate, the one we must translate through all the layers of politics, greed and other crap into collective action.