To the editor: When politicians resist taking action to fight climate change, they often cite concern about loss of jobs. What about loss of lives? (“As national heat deaths rise, California girds for worsening bouts of extreme temperature,” Aug. 26)
How many deaths will it take for conservatives to address the problem? How many people must die?
Jeffrey Howard, a public health professor in Texas, is quoted in your article as saying that the research finding rising heat deaths in the U.S. justifies “further investment in surveillance and better tools to understand what underlies these trends.”
We know what underlies these trends: climate change.
What this finding justifies is an immediate and drastic shift away from fossil fuels. The heat deaths underscore what we mean when we say climate change affects the livability of our planet.
The article talks about the expansion of hydrating and cooling centers, but people taking cars to get to these places will only exacerbate the problem.
Murray Zichlinsky, Long Beach
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To the editor: The rising number of heat deaths is just one of the damaging effects of climate change that calls for an acceleration of our efforts to combat it. But it is game over for urgently needed climate change action if former President Trump gets elected in November.
Trump has called climate change a hoax, and his past administration contemptuously refused to address the crisis. Now, in 2024, the GOP platform doesn’t even mention climate change, and Trump would roll back the Biden administration’s current climate change initiatives.
We do hope that voters will not let Trump seriously degrade the futures of our children and grandchildren.
Jack Holtzman and Irwin Rubenstein, San Diego
