LETTERS: EPA EFFORTS ARE ONGOING

To the editor:

In response to the Jan. 25 letter from Ray Umbdenstock, it seems as if Mr. Umbdenstock is a little confused about some of our current environmental issues. Perhaps we can clear the air on some of the fallacies contained in his letter.

The Environmental Protection Agency may or may not be the epitome of a wealthy government agency, but is its focus something that can be taken care of in one shot, or is environmental protection an ongoing process? For example, do you take one shower in your life and conclude that your are now clean and don't need to bathe anymore? After enjoying a fine, home-cooked meal, do you toss out your tableware, just keep using it or wash it for the next time? If you do end up cleaning the aforementioned items, then you can probably also see how the EPA's job is a cycle in the same way, although much more complex.

We have not yet quit or slowed our burning of fossil fuels. In the process, we are creating a continuous supply of atmospheric pollution, a factor in global warming. The decreasing ozone layer, however, has not yet been indicted as a co-conspirator in the phenomena of global warming and is, in fact, a different issue. Our continued release of heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide (not Freon) is a contributor to global warming, as was recently disclosed by a United Nations scientific panel.

We are, unfortunately, not able to offer Mr Umbdenstock concrete proof on any scientific endeavor, because science as a concept exists through the perpetual process of questioning. The answers to those questions, then, form a body of evidence that suggest why and how our universe works. So he is absolutely correct when stating that there is no concrete proof that Freon contributes to global warming.

He is also absolutely correct in state that "people and their activities are what cause pollution. ..." But whan an ethnocentric mind to suggest that limiting immigration would stop the polluting of our environment. Perhaps a better way to limit pollution is to find and use alternative and more efficient ways of converting energy into forms we can use. Until we quite our polluting practices, the EPA will always have work.

REID JOSEPH KETCHER

Cape Girardeau