Letter to the editors: Bipartisan support for climate must extend past parks

I am encouraged by the recent article (2/15) about bipartisan support for public lands. To paraphrase County Mayor Weston Wamp, I guess we are all radical leftist environmental extremists now. However, John Muir said, “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.” Support for natural spaces is important but means little if accompanied by polluted air and water.

Trump and the MAGA Republicans show contempt for our environment. They support increased use of coal, associated with more deaths from lung disease and cancer. They ignore the science of global warming. They eliminate projects developing clean energy, destroying the jobs associated. They threaten our public lands, offering them up for exploitation. Their “Fix Our Forests Act” would increase logging of old-growth forests. They have slashed budgets and staff for our national parks.

The Democratic Party supports clean energy and the jobs associated with it. We acknowledge the scientific reality of climate change. We support families and communities over polluting industries. We support protecting our public lands from corporate exploitation. We support protecting our water supply from contamination, including PFAS. We will hold polluters accountable for the harm they cause.

So, while I sincerely applaud bipartisan support for public lands, we must take the next step and protect all the environment we live in.

Paul M. Hendricks