I enjoy the AJC’s many Citizens’ Climate Lobby letters, such as the one Dec. 13 (“Political will needed in climate change fight,” Readers Write). It’s interesting knowing eons-long events can spawn a new religion, with dedicated converts forging their sacraments — such as taxing carbon emissions and, in some sects, promising to spread such revenue as a dividend to the masses. As in the mid-20th century, when we staved off the ice-age-to-come by creating global warming — or changing climate models to negate prior predictions — how about we not waste energy (pun intended) and resources on fantastical endeavors trying to now fix what we really don’t know how to fix? Dividing into climate-change activists and climate-change deniers is as useful as ancient debates about what the moon is made of – an argument subsequently extinguished by going to the moon and finding out.
GREGORY MARSHALL, MARIETTA
Smartphones are least of risks facing youth
I was amused by a letter suggesting social ills are caused by smartphones (“Screen dependence causes social ills,” Readers Write, Dec. 12). This nation’s youth face many challenges, the least of which is the smartphone. Many of these children are fed a diet of sugar and empty calories. There is an epidemic of learning disabilities and emotional illnesses. Many children are dependent on antidepressants, anti-ADD and anti-anxiety medications. Some are attending counseling, too many are not. Some kids grow up in a violent household where verbal and even physical abuse occurs. I know kids who grow up in an overly religious environment, causing the child guilt and shame for decades to come. I wonder, does the writer of that letter live in such a perfect neighborhood that smart phones are the greatest threat to mental health? I wish I lived there.
DAVE FEDACK, DOUGLASVILLE
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