Thank you for publishing James P. Lenfestey's commentary on climate change ("Candidates clam up on climate," Oct. 24). No matter what your viewpoint is on the causes of our changing climate, a run of 331 consecutive months of warmer-than-average temperatures, in addition to warming nights and shorter winters (yes, in Minnesota!), deserves to be discussed.

The role of the media to facilitate this discussion is more important than ever. If our politicians don't want to utter the words "climate change" and discuss solutions that are available today, perhaps it's up to ordinary citizens to model the behavior we expect from our elected officials.

When 98 percent of our climate scientists say that climate change is happening, human behavior is a major cause and there are solutions that can help. People across political parties should work together on this. Collaboration can be fun and produce some unexpected results, like a healthy clean, renewable energy future.


PAUL THOMPSON, EDINA

The writer is an active member of the Citizens Climate Lobby.