Just as Chamberlain acknowledged with his actions that the English refused to face the dangers of Hitler's Germany, our politicians in both parties, and the electorate they represent, refuse to accept the dangers to our country and the world of climate change. Not one word was mentioned on this topic in the three presidential debates.

Corporate propaganda on the right and alarmist views on the left have us lurching toward a future with no policy to tackle the effects of climate change upon our food supply, water levels, the spread of tropical diseases and invasive species and the increased load on our electrical grid.

If the Midwest drought this year were caused by a terrorist plot, we would declare war on the perpetrator. Instead, we pretend that human behavior has no effect upon our atmosphere. We whistle past the cemetery while the chemistry and physics of our atmosphere determine the kind of future our grandchildren will inherit. Denial will have a heavy cost.

ROBERT KLAPUT
Ford City

First Published: October 28, 2012, 4:00 a.m.