Georgians must insist Okefenokee stays pristine
Andrew Morse, president and publisher of the AJC, recently published an editorial about about proposed legislation allowing an Alabama mining company the rights to mine for titanium dioxide on the eastern boundary of the Okefenokee Swamp and National Wildlife Refuge. (“Governor and speaker must preserve singular wonder of Okefenokee,” AJC March 10).
Titanium dioxide is an ingredient in powdered doughnuts and toothpaste. Anyone who has paddled a canoe in the black water of that sanctuary, listening only to the birds, knows the peace, solitude and beauty it provides. I’ve been there, and on the Nile, the Amazon, and the Perfume River in Hue, Vietnam, and what we have is so special. If we found metals for solar panels and car batteries in the Grand Canyon, would we allow digging there?
I am hoping my fellow Georgians will block the mining and insist the Okefenokee stay as pristine as the indigenous Georgians left it for us. Consider writing Gov. Kemp and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division before April 9, when public commentary ends. If we need more doughnuts, we can get the ingredients elsewhere.
DANIEL F. KIRK, KENNESAW
Don’t be deceived; facts show climate is changing
I recently had a conversation with a person about climate change. That person said it was arrogant to think that man could change the climate when only God can change the climate. It is not arrogance that establishes that man is changing the climate; it is physics.
We are pouring unimaginable amounts of planet-warming gases into our very thin lower atmosphere, warming our planet and changing our climate. To say that this reasoning is arrogant is precisely what the fossil fuel industry wants us to think.
Please don’t make up your mind before you have studied the facts from legitimate scientific sources. Do it for future generations. I can safely say that God does not want us to be deceived.
GINGER ENGLAND, YOUNG HARRIS
