
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 1, 1993                   TAG: 9306010213
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: F-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

THE CRISIS IS NOT ENVIRONMENTAL

ALTHOUGH the world as a whole has some environmental concerns, the vast majority of these are in Third World countries and the old Soviet bloc where there is inadequate and outdated equipment and manufacturing. There is no environmental crisis. The spotted owl is not and was not endangered. There are as many reputable scientists who state that global warming is not happening as there are those crying Armageddon. (When I was a young adult, the environmental "crisis" was the coming ice age.)

The ozone hole failed to materialize this year. Many of the predictions we hear so much about are based on computer-generated scenarios that are flawed to begin with. I don't mind that these theories are bandied about, but if the media were reputable, there would be coverage of all the facts. It appears they are not secure enough in their positions to allow impartial analysis. Balanced scientists and economists get no coverage.

Of more concern to the American family is the dismal failure of the school system to address more than the "environmental crisis." Our children are not capable of competing in the world market when the most stringent requirement for high-school graduation is to read on a ninth-grade level. How about a 12th-grade level? The local public schools not only observe Earth Day, but set time aside every day to study this crisis.

I am very concerned that the media, both print and broadcast, are such willing dupes. Continuing expansion of government power and regulation, along with the undermining of private use of property, do more to advance socialism than ecology.

When leading environmentalist organizations tell me "a pig is a boy is a rat," I become concerned. There is at least one difference: A pig and a rat aren't indoctrinated, nor do they feel guilty for existing. It is no surprise that the teen-suicide rate has increased, not when the schools start in kindergarten making children feel responsible for the entire Earth's success or failure, using the curriculum furnished by such people. ELIZABETH WATKINS ROANOKE

by CNB