I Penetrate Shallowly Into Enemy Territory

I was ego-searching and discovered that the Boston Herald had run one of my letters. Notably, they’d done so without checking on my bona fides.

Here’s their edited version (the article which triggered the letter was about the current heat waves):

It’s revealing that the phrase “climate change” appears in this story exactly once – when mentioning a Maine-based research center (“Above-normal temperatures persist in Northeast,” Aug. 5).

The facts are unequivocal: The heat wave pummeling the Northeast is exactly what climatologists have predicted for decades (and what Republicans have been mocking and ignoring for just as long). This year is on track to be the hottest year on record.

How much worse will it have to get before our media decide the greatest existential threat humanity has ever faced is more important than, say, celebrity prison experiences?

And here’s my original:

It’s revealing that the phrase “climate change” appears in this article exactly once: when mentioning a Maine-based research center. The facts are unequivocal: the heat wave pummeling the Northeast is exactly what climatologists have predicted for decades (and what Republicans have been mocking and ignoring for just as long). 2010 is on track to be the hottest year on record. According to scientists, even if we took dramatic and immediate action to drastically reduce CO2 emissions, we’d still be looking at worldwide crop failures, droughts, storms, and ecological collapses. How much worse will it have to get before our newspapers and broadcast media decide the greatest existential threat humanity has ever faced is more important than, say, celebrity prison experiences? The Boston Herald’s treatment of climate change has long been a flagrant disregard of journalistic responsibility.

Warren Senders

I’m surprised they printed it, but not surprised that they left off the last sentence.

The comments in the online edition are worth a look.

I wonder if they’ve printed other letters without letting me know.