The Gauntlet Is Thrown

I got this email from a woman named Helen Hill today:

global warming is a hoax to tax the people thanks for being taken in, and helping spread the scam. Be careful in your desire for fame

Leaving aside any comments about her lack of punctuation (or any further comment on the whole hacked email hoax hoo-ha), here's my response back:

Helen, I wish it were a hoax.

But I am here in Copenhagen with people from all over the world - people from Pacific Island nations who are already suffering rising sea levels, and people from Africa who are already suffering drought, and people from the Andes and the Himalayas who are watching their glaciers shrink before their eyes - glaciers which provide their sole source of fresh water.

All of these folks are already having their lives threatened by climate change. I'm sorry you've been mislead by the climate deniers - who tend to be funded by big oil. Exxon-Mobil alone has funded 39 climate change denier groups.

The people - you and me both - have already had money taken from us to fund subsidies to big oil and coal. Switching to renewables can only serve us all, both financially and environmentally.

Best regards, Kathryn