SUN JOURNAL • January 2, 2022
We Boomers have left quite a mess to clean up — climate change, which threatens human existence; economic inequality, political corruption and disinformation, which threaten democracy; and the deterioration of America’s international leadership, which threatens world peace and stability. If we continue at the present rate — emitting about 11 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere per year — global temperatures by the end of this century are predicted to be 5 to 10 degrees F warmer than the average for 1901 to 1960. The impact of the greenhouse effect is evident. Increasing temperature extremes, reducing snow cover and glacial ice, intensifying rainfall and drought, changing plant and animal habitat ranges, and raising sea levels. Little has been done to stem, let alone reverse, this trend. Not only has trust in government eroded, but many Americans see their own government as the enemy. I doubt that apologies from my generation would count for much at this point. What we can do is to resolve to use our numbers, experience and influence to work to improve things for the generations that are inheriting this country and this planet. ~ Elliott Epstein