RON SCHMIDTLING: Short-term concerns are affecting long-term solutions

I hope that Bill Curtis' letter (Oct. 11) puts the petition with 31,000 names where it belongs -- in the trash can.

But I have an idea it will come up again and again with politicians and other deniers. This letter is another reply to Paul Stultz's (Oct. 2) response to my letter (Sept. 27), which was also a reply.

Arguing about who is the true expert is an exercise in futility, especially when the great majority of people who are capable of analyzing the data are convinced of the cause and the consequences. Even the Chinese are now persuaded that something needs to be done, and they are a major part of the problem. They also have a large number of talented scientists.

We need to convince people to look beyond the short-term issues such as this year's bonus or the next election and do what is best for the future of our descendants, our country and the world. I am afraid that short-term greed is the main driver of the opposition.

A tip for Mr. Stultz: If you want to find someone's name, get on the Internet and Google it. If you want to see where I am coming from, Google "R.C. Schmidtling."

I am not a climatologist, but I do know the difference between a Milankovitch Cycle and a motorcycle.

RON SCHMIDTLING

Long Beach

This story was originally published October 15, 2015 at 8:59 PM with the headline "RON SCHMIDTLING: Short-term concerns are affecting long-term solutions ."