My letter to the President
To the editor:
I am 16 years old and I live in Portland, Oregon. I am writing today, discouraged. I received an email from the White House about your visit to Alaska and one of the main headliners from your first day was, “Alaskans are already living with the effects of climate change”.
Wild fires, storms, and some of the swiftest shoreline erosion in the world are some examples you gave of the hardships these poor folks from Alaska have to endure every day. This is all completely awful, and I agree with you completely, that if we do nothing Alaska is in deep trouble. However, you have left me a bit confused.
Just recently, you allowed Shell to enter the Arctic for oil drilling. When I first heard about it I was outraged but I became extraordinarily offended when you decided to make a trip to the Arctic and talk about the consequences of climate change. OK, it would be one thing if you permitted Shell to drill in some desert or plain, but allowing them to move into the territory that climate change has affected the most? Have you not seen the commercials talking about how polar bears are going extinct because all of the glaciers are melting? Have you not noticed that the glaciers melting causes habitable islands to turn into a deep sea relics?
Well actually, I know you have! I just got an email this morning saying that you were in Alaska (which has territory in the Arctic) raising awareness about the catastrophic effects of climate change. This is so hypocritical. I have no idea what kind of political favor you’re getting for allowing the Arctic to be damaged even more than it already has, but I guarantee you it is not worth it.
I know that you don’t really have to worry about this issue, because obviously it is my generation’s problem. It is awful to think that in 50 years POTUS is going to have to clean up the disastrous decisions made in the Obama Administration. It would be nice if some people in government would be a bit more courteous in terms of bequeathing all of your problems on to my generation.
I am extremely disappointed in this administration that in the past has been more progressive. I hope that you will make the right decision. Thanks for your time.
Jack Morningstar
P.S. The U.S. Government should be putting more of its resources into renewable energy. We are never going to lose our dependence on oil if we continue to drill it wherever there is a chance of finding it. Someday we will run out of that oil and we’ll be left with nothing. It is a horrible decision to allow more drilling. The Keystone XL Pipeline would be awful too, but that’s for another time.
