Readers React: We shouldn’t need laws to tell us to drive less or take other steps to fight climate change

To the editor: I read the headline “California’s destructive summer brings blunt talk about climate change,” and I wanted to scream, “Duh.”

Of course the heat is not a fluke. This has been coming for some time and it is time for all of us to get real about climate change. It is obvious that the positive steps that were made on a federal level are going to get tied up in ideological manipulation and childish bickering that hampers our progress.

It took millions of individual actions to get us where we are, and it will take millions more to curb our use of fossil fuels. As individuals, we can start a silent revolution and truly make a difference.

Stop driving. Can’t do that? Take Metro once a week or don’t drive on the weekends. Stop or limit your purchase of plastic products. Plant a tree. If you own a business, give your employees the chance to work from home once a week.

Go online to learn more about steps you can take to make a difference. It’s time.

Dorrit Ragosine, Los Angeles

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To the editor: It has been said that “the people get the government they deserve.” This is especially so in a country that elects its politicians.

Donald Trump campaigned as a climate-change skeptic. He told us science is bunk and we should not worry, he was going to dig more coal and lower gas mileage standards and everyone will be rich and happy. And we elected him president.

We have no one to blame but ourselves. If the people don’t like what is happening, they must vote for politicians who are intelligent enough to read and learn, not clowns who entertain.

Karl F. Schmid, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I do not think people in California care about global warming.

As I walk around each day, I notice car after car parked with someone inside with the engine running, air conditioning on, playing with a smartphone or reading something. Some states have laws about leaving your engine on while parked.

Think of all the other cars idling this way across the country and how needlessly they spew so many greenhouse gasses into our atmosphere. But we don’t care in California, because playing on our phones in cool comfort is more important than protecting our planet.

Victor Oster, Granada Hills

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