This page was last updated on June 8, 2011.
Stop denying reality; Sherry Allen; Beaver County Times; June 8, 2011.
Since January 2008, the Times has published at least 32 letters from Ms. Allen. Letters I critiqued are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Of letters I didn’t critique, one (“Conserving water for future,” 1/13/08) asked us to conserve water (primarily by not eating meat), another (“Say ‘no’ to push polling,” 2/10/08) complained about alleged telephone “push polls” by Republicans, and the third was (“Plant a garden to offset oil usage,” 8/1/08). In one letter I did critique, Ms. Allen gushed about a book she found “that has hundreds of ideas on how to save our planet.” In a partisan letter, Ms. Allen concluded with “Let’s endeavor to walk together peacefully.” In one letter, Ms. Allen related a story of disaffected Republicans voting for Mr. Obama. In another letter, Ms. Allen tried to compare abortion and war in an effort to promote Barack Obama over John McCain. Other letters from Ms. Allen were entitled “Just appreciate the here and now,” “Let’s be proactive on the environment,” “Arena a valuable community asset,” “Time to get behind health-care reform,” “A state budget we can all live with,” “Keep pushing for a public option,” “Election ruling terrible for nation,” “Practicing small acts of kindness,” “It’s how we act after events that matters,” “Use freedom of speech wisely,” “Let’s reduce our carbon footprints,” “Natural gas drilling impacts our water,” and “Don’t take shortcuts on drilling for gas.”
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“It’s mind boggling that the only political party in denial of global warming, out of all the countries in the world, is in America.”
[RWC] Hmm, I wonder which “political party” Ms. Allen is writing about. <g> Heaven forbid one political party chooses not to behave like sheep on this issue.
Someone should tell Ms. Allen now that manmade-global-warming believers have been embarrassed too many times by colder-than-they-expected weather, they have mostly switched their terminology from “manmade global warming” to “climate change.”
“And they refuse to admit that our carbon dioxide emissions are mostly to blame.”
[RWC] Please read my paper “Manmade Global Warming.”
When Ms. Allen was concerned about the Bradys Run Park Indoor Ice Arena closing early in spring 2009, she appeared unconcerned about the arena’s carbon footprint. I also noted Ms. Allen didn’t tell us what she and her family were doing “to reduce our energy usage.” I don’t know Ms. Allen so it’s possible she puts her money where her mouth is. On the other hand, Ms. Allen could follow the Al Gore model of “do as I say, not as I do.”
“I was thrilled to find a new donated book at the Beaver Memorial Library about global warming, the effects of changing weather patterns and our health and food supply.”
[RWC] This is at least the second letter in which Ms. Allen told a similar story. In “Let’s take steps to be self-sufficient” (7/6/08), Ms. Allen wrote, “I was very happy when I found a new book in our local library a few weeks ago about being green that has hundreds of ideas on how to save our planet.” As in the previous letter, Ms. Allen didn’t tell us the title of the alleged “donated book” or name its author and donor.
“With all these deadly destructive storms we’ve been having these past few months, and the many hurricanes projected in the next six months, this book is timely. Remember how hard it was to find canned pumpkin for Thanksgiving pies last fall because canning factories were flooded?”
[RWC] You will recall this is the same stuff we heard from manmade-global-warming believers after the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season (Katrina, Rita, et cetera). We were told 2005 would be the “new normal.” As a reminder, after 2005, three hurricanes made U.S. landfall (category 2 or lower) in 2008, one hurricane (category 1) made U.S. landfall in 2007, and no hurricanes made U.S. landfall in 2006, 2009, and 2010. As for “the many hurricanes projected in the next six months,” this year’s NOAA projection is actually lower than last year’s projection but pretty close to last year’s actual figures.
I have to admit I was unaware of last year’s canned pumpkin shortage. FYI, there was a “Great Pumpkin Flood” in 1786 along the Susquehanna. Who knew manmade global warming went back that far? <g>
“A 92-year-old war veteran told me several years ago when things were looking bad, ‘Man is pretty smart and is good at finding solutions when the odds are against him. I don’t know how we’re going to do it, but we will. I only regret I won’t be here to see it. You’re fortunate.’”
[RWC] I assume this is the same “92-year-old World War II veteran” Ms. Allen mentioned in “Time for all Americans to unite” (9/2/08). When Ms. Allen wrote “several years ago when things were looking bad,” was she implying things are now looking good?
“Let’s open our eyes to how denial and lies are costing many valuable human lives and jeopardizing life on this planet. Acknowledgment is the first step.”
[RWC] Will Ms. Allen take her own advice?
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