To complicate matters, it

serves the vanity of some to specifically blame autos, or

gas golf carts, or fireplaces.

Everyone wants

"something done" about pollution and because of

misrepresentation and ignorance that

"something" is usually centered around forcing

others to use public transportation, drive smaller cars,

use electric golf carts (with lead/acid batteries, which

can be argued are more of a menace to the environment

during production and disposal then the use of a gasoline

engine) and deprive a few people of the vicarious

pleasure of an occasional fire in their fireplace.

All of this while denying

nature's role in the problem. The politically correct

phrase we are bludgeoned with is: "Man is the cause

of pollution." But we live in an age of low

"individual accountability," ethically

challenged pressure groups with an agenda and more than a

little class envy.

So the message has become:

"Man is the cause of pollution. But it's not me,

it's those SUV drivers, those guys with the fancy houses

and their fireplaces..." I can not conceive of a

more unethical or divisive message.

It doesn't matter what the

concern is: guns, pornography, the environment, child

abuse, government corruption, education, crime, drugs, it

all comes down to individual accountability and ethics.

Without ethics and accountability, "laws" are

just another obstacle to people, like the morning traffic

or a rainy day, where there is no right or wrong only,

"How can I get away with this?"

Without ethics and

accountability persuasion is affected through lies and

deceit. This is hardly the basis for a democratic

society.

David L. Constans

Peachtree City

[Editor's note: Mr.

Constans is correct that the illustration in question

shows water vapor, not pollution. No deception was

intended from the graphics person who picked the stock

photo, but we apologize for the error, nevertheless. On

the other hand, we have not yet discovered how to

"show" the pollution that he portrays coming

from new-mown grass.]

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