Naïve on Climate

The Valve Turners (“Ultimate Necessity,” Oct 4), along with Winona LaDuke and Bill McKibben, are extremely naïve to place all the blame for climate change on the fossil fuel industry. Rhode Island’s attorney general said: “…they are responsible.” No, we the people are responsible.  

The problem is the conditioned mindset of the world’s people, especially Americans. Over one billion vehicles are on the world’s roads, and the projection is that we’ll have two billion by 2035. And 95 percent of the world’s transportation energy comes from petroleum-based fuels — gasoline and diesel. We won’t stop the fossil fuel industry’s oil production simply because the vast majority of the world’s vehicle owners rely on this production.

We the people are also responsible for continuing to allow our corporate-controlled branches of government to rule over us. Working within this thoroughly corrupt system, and expecting to create real change, is absurd. A true environmental activist does not have a huge carbon footprint like Bill McKibben. He’s a splendid example of a wealthy celebrity playing inside the corrupt political box.

The solution is not to produce more electric vehicles. The solution has to come from a transformed mindset on our part that realizes our future cannot include a personal, private vehicle for every single one of us.

Robert Simms

Eugene