Letters: The parable of the cyclical commuter

There was a man who commuted to work many miles each day through a remote part of the Nevada desert. In summer his car’s temperature gauge registered slightly above normal and in winter, slightly below. This is cyclical, he told himself, and since this car is in fine condition, preventative maintenance is an unnecessary expense. He failed to notice the small drip of water under his car.

One day the temperature gauge registered way above normal. This is just cyclical, he told himself, and it is summer so it should register above normal. Then the engine seized up and left him stranded on the hottest day of the year in the middle of the Nevada desert.

Climate-change deniers — and even those who believe global warming is real but just cyclical (and not man-made) — are headed down the same road. Unfortunately, many of them occupy high government positions, and their failure to provide preventive maintenance to the environment will leave us all stranded on a world that is far hotter than ever.