Letters: Youth have right to fear climate change

Rotorua students rally for the Strike 4 Climate march. Photo / File

I am saddened and uncomfortable after reading John Smale's letter to the editor regarding student strikes against climate change (Daily Post, September 30).

Surely this is not the time for flippant remarks about whalebone combs and nylon stockings.

These young people are fearful for their future, and well might they be. The planet they have inherited from previous generations, mine included, is not in a happy state. No matter how responsibly many aware members of the older generation are trying to live now, we must all recognise that climate change is the result of our actions and our lifestyles, our dependency on fossil fuels and our love affair with plastic.

This is our gift to our children, and it has prompted their protests. I would say this is not a minute too soon. These students are still young enough to say, "please help us". However, the response seems to have been an extraordinary amount of ridicule and criticism. It is time to take our heads out of the sand and look at the wisdom of those of the next generation, those who are to inherit this planet.

Sue Edwards
Rotorua

An interesting comment by John Smale (Daily Post, September 30), suggesting that the youth protesting against climate change involve themselves in a practical way.

A few years back my daughter, who was studying for a degree in environmental science, obtained a $15,000 grant from the government to establish trees along the banks of a frequently flooded stream.

Three secondary schools were involved with raising seedlings. The children, along with a group of concerned adults, planted and cared for the thousands of trees. It was a community project.

Now the trees are the height of a house and there is no longer a problem. A combined science lesson and an aid for the environment!

Madge McQuire
Springfield

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