Dear Editor:

I appreciated the side by side editorials in the recent Times and hope readers felt the friction of  perspectives.  Business pundit Don Brunell applied his predictable economic views to praise two controversial industries, forest management and railroads while heartbroken Swedish climate change spokesperson Greta Thunberg chastised politicians for their longstanding negligence.  Brunell declares the success of his highlighted industries but laments their ‘story’ is not better publicized although I am certain that expensive public relations and advertising have been promoting that story pretty well.  Greta and her like-minded youth have a story about our imminent future that is finally picking up speed but the business-as-usual perspective is to dismiss it as being unprofitable.  Solutions requiring funding are going to require cuts into the profits of large commodity corporations such as fossil fuels, timber and railroads, both of which are heavily subsidized already with our pocketbooks. The cost of doing business will either change--taxes-- or grim conditions for the planet’s inhabitants will worsen.  Few want to be viewed as advocates for taxes but perhaps we can just look at what public funded services actually do, from safer infrastructure and education to sewer lines.  Let’s praise both business and the taxes when we flush, together they contribute to the quality of our lives, and keep looking for solutions.

Terry Lawhead

Waitsburg