To The Editor:

One thing that the 345 million United States population should agree upon, is that we want clean air, clean water and clean land.

Around 97% of experts worldwide (scientists, climatologists and meteorologists) agree that climate change is happening and that human beings are responsible.

Currently, politicians are divided. The Biden-Harris 2022 Inflation Reduction Act invests close to $370 billion to combat climate change. Not a single Republican voted for it. Then we have Donald Trump, who refuses to acknowledge climate change. We know that from the debate, where Harris spelled out her plan and Trump was asked numerous times, but answered by talking about the border.

In order to solve a problem you must first acknowledge it exists.

Look at Florida, hit by two terrible hurricanes (Helene and Milton) within the space of 15 days. We all watched those poor people without power, suffering from storm surge flooding and tornados in extreme heat.

We saw families that lost businesses, homes, friends and communities, some still unable to claim on insurance. And we have Florida’s Senior Republican politicians: Ron DeSantis, Marco Rubio, and Rick Scott all denying global warming exists.

A recent survey suggests one out of twelve Floridians are going to move out in the next two years. If so, that’s about 1.5-2.0 million people. What will that do for their state’s economy? And these disasters impact us all. Think about the citrus crops and the price of food. Take a look at the cost of your insurance. Somebody has to fund the payouts!

A number of these folks may have thought about moving to Appalachia … Is that any safer? Hurricane paths have become much wider and more unpredictable. Helene impacted parts of Alabama, Georgia, West Virginia and South Carolina before slamming Asheville with catastrophic flooding.

It was so bad, that major highways were shut down for days. People complained that FEMA wasn’t there. They couldn’t get in because of the damage! FEMA has done a phenomenal job. Almost every politician (Republican or Democrat) says the response was great. But FEMA only has a limited budget and Donald Trump wants to cut it back.

He has committed to do the same to our environmental protection agency (EPA) which is there to guarantee clean air and clean water, regulating emissions and pollution by unscrupulous organizations. Trump stripped out the environmentalists in 2017. If elected, it is certain he will continue to gut the agency in 2025.

We have to wake up and not allow this to happen. We cannot allow Donald Trump to regain the Presidency.

I’m in the twilight of my life … My physical stamina and mental acuity are not what they used to be. I commend Joe Biden passing the torch for the good of the country. We need younger, more vigorous forward-thinking Leaders.

We have a choice. Our votes matter. Vote for the Environment.

The reason I’m writing this is very simple. I truly care about my kids and grandkids.

Frank B. Gardner

Sandy Hook