Editor,

Regarding Ed Hickey’s climate denialist Sept. 21 letter to the editor, sorry but your arguments are not facts. They are discredited talking points right out of the industry’s handbook, all refuted long ago.

As Andrew Moylan stated, “To the extent that establishment conservatives talk about climate change, it’s to question its scientific validity or complain about the left’s policy response. This is a mistake.” — “How To Tax Carbon without Growing Government,” The American Conservative, Oct. 20, 2013.

This human-caused crisis isn’t conjecture, it’s here. The Pentagon realizes this is a threat to national security. The Navy knows what sea level rise is going to do to its bases. The Pope, who is also a chemist, gets it.

Facts are hard.

Republican Congressman Bob Inglis (SC) understands your distress. He said, “The reason we need the science to be wrong is that otherwise we are going to have to change. That’s a really hard pill to swallow.”

So how did we get here? Leaked documents revealed that Exxon knew in the 1970s. While protecting its infrastructure, it started the campaign to spread doubt and protect their profits.

You know, just like the tobacco industry did in the 1960s, which is why Exxon is being investigated by several states, and now the Securities and Exchange Commission.

To find out how we’ve been manipulated, I invite you to attend “Merchants of Doubt” on Friday, Sept. 30 at the UUCWI in Freeland. Film starts at 7 p.m. Be wise. Have courage. Come to the film.

Gary Piazzon

Coupeville