Editor,

I was dismayed recently to hear some local citizens’ responses to the “PaddleInSeattle” protest against Shell Oil’s plans to drill for oil in the Arctic. One gentleman found the whole protest “ridiculous,” because the protestors used canoes made from petroleum, and had driven to Seattle in cars powered by gasoline. Thus, the reasoning went, these protestors were naive at best, and hypocritical at worst.

I’m grateful for remarks like this, as they highlight how the message of this and other similar protests is not coming through clearly. What is required of us is not just to reduce our individual oil consumption as consumers, but to challenge a system that doesn’t allow us choices, such as access to affordable alternatives to fossil fuels (hard, when the fossil fuel industry systemically opposes their development). Several other countries have already made a transition to the predominant use of renewable, clean energy sources — there are no insurmountable technical or economic obstacles to doing this. So why is our government cutting funding for the development of alternative energy sources? Why are we taxpayers subsidizing Big Oil, enabling it to spend billions of dollars to shape government policies and consumer preferences that are antithetical to the very system changes which must occur if we are to prevent our world from becoming less and less habitable?

If our own Defense Department says that climate change is the greatest threat to our national security, why don’t we take this seriously? What are we waiting for? We don’t have to forsake all fossil fuel use and the jobs that depend on it. We can accelerate our transition to clean energy, and insure that future drilling is done safely and responsibly (not the situation for Shell in the Arctic). We can exercise our collective will and remember that our children’s future and the health of the earth — our home — is our most important value. Climate change is not a partisan issue, it’s a human issue which affects all of us, especially our children.

JULIE GLOVER

Clinton