At 14, fear for the future

I completely agree with Alwyn Moss’s statements on President Obama’s response to climate change (“Climate change: our challenge,” Aug. 6 commentary). I congratulate him on being the only president to make such progress in a response to this imminent threat, but also question his emphasis on growth in this already overpopulated world.

However, I don’t believe this is solely Obama’s issue; nearly every politician thinks this country needs to focus on economic growth instead of making this a truly livable world. Having interest in propelling growth looks good in the short term.

However, if this planet is to survive throughout my generation’s lifetime, we cannot grow past our natural limitations just to make our gross domestic product rise a couple percentage points.

Every species has limiting factors that determine how big a population can grow. The human race may have blown past our limit, and pretty soon the consequences may come bearing down on us.

We can no longer blind ourselves to our own destruction of the planet in the name of economic growth. My generation calls upon all political leaders, including Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, to rethink their approach to the protection of the planet.

AMANDA EISENHOUR

Age 14 ALEXANDRIA

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