Ways to get cleaner air

Global-warming skeptics are pointing to a recent cooling trend to claim that global warming doesn't exist, while others claim the time of the recent trend is too short to be significant. The evidence recorded by geologists place the ice ages as tens of thousands of years apart, so I don't believe either side can determine whether we are in warming or cooling based on the less than 200 years of data that we have.

I believe the process is cyclical and cannot be controlled by man any more than we can control the tides. There have been at least three ice ages that covered most of the northern hemisphere with several feet of ice. The ice melted until it covered only the polar area. SUVs and electric power plants didn't exist.

We need cleaner air to breathe. The global-warming enthusiasts claim they want cleaner air. However, close scrutiny shows that they are against all of the things that would be effective. Their agenda seems be anti-business.

I think building about 50 nuclear power plants would be the fastest way to start. Converting the remaining power plants and steel-processing plants to natural gas would also impact favorably. We should drill for natural gas in areas that environmental extremists have kept us out of. With new technology there would be almost zero impact to drill in Alaska's tundra and off Florida and California.

GENE L. JOHNSON, Cape Girardeau