Our ‘Letter to the Editor’ Published in ROTARIAN Magazine

An article in the Rotarian magazine, December 2021, titled “The End of the World as We Know It?” disturbed us because it seemed to say that climate change isn’t worth worrying about. RCWP member Paul Schwartz volunteered to draft a ‘Letter to the Editor’ expressing our disagreement with the article’s message. Of course we didn’t think it would be printed.

After a brief email back-and-forth between Paul and the Editor, we were informed that out letter would in fact be printed in the March 2022 issue of the magazine, along with 2 other letters from readers responding to the same article.

Here is the letter we sent to the magazine:

We were shocked and dismayed to read the article by Frank Bures [“The End of the World as We Know It?”] in the December issue. Bures equates the warnings about global warming to ancient mythology. This isn’t just nonsense; it’s worse than that. Rotary has clubs in parts of the world that are already feeling serious effects of climate change. For that matter, here in the United States the changing weather patterns are unmistakable.

Of all organizations on the planet, Rotary should be at the forefront, a leader in urging the adoption of policies to stem the creeping danger. It is shameful to see you instead giving space to someone whose message might well be summed up as: “Don’t worry, be happy.”

— The Board of the Rotary Club of White Plains, New York

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PDF which contains:

1. the original article from the ROTARIAN magazine (“The End of the World as We Know It?” by Frank Bures);
2. the three letters to the editor responding to the article;
3. and the email thread between Paul Schwarz and the magazine editor.