I would like to respond to the letter appearing in The Daily Collegian on Jan. 9 titled "Blaming technology." Environmentalists were labeled as "attacking the American way of life, and ... pointing their fingers at progress and technology as the cause of the earth's demise."

The statement that Mr. Kephart just made is entirely untrue. The Earth has no demise, unless some weapon is constructed which could fragment the planet into asteroids no bigger than peas. The "demise" which should be referred to is the demise of the human race. Humans need to have certain conditions to continue their existence, such as required nutrients, sunlight, and a general low level of toxic exposure. These are the requirements which the environmental movement is based on.

I believe that environmentalism is horribly selfish. My wish is to preserve the Earth in its current state so that myself and my descendants can live on the planet. Is there anything wrong with continuing to exist in the current manner that humans do?

Reference was also made to the Mount Pinatubo eruption and the escape of gases during it which harmed the ozone layer. If all pollution was analyzed on a global scale, there would be no reason to care. But, in isolated pockets, such as the lovely nitric acid-flavored smog of Los Angeles and the permanent soot hanging in the air over most major cities in China, or even the orange colored water which runs in some streams in Central Pennsylvania, environmental issues are very hot topics because people wish to continue to live in these areas.

Another point made in this letter was the dislike for technology in dealing with environmental problems. One issue for using less or "lower class" technology is obviously cost, especially if this technology is to be implemented in a large quantity. Second, environmentalists are tired of waiting. If everyone sat around and waited for some great new technology to solve all our problems, there would be no world left by the time it arrives.

I also agree very strongly with Mr. Kephart about people working together to solve a problem. Too many environmental problems have grown beyond proportion because of people being unorganized or unsure of what to do.

I would like to invite anyone interested, especially Mr. Kephart, to attend the Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture, a conference to be held at Penn State at the beginning of February. Here is an organization dedicated to solving problems in the environment and in agriculture. The conference will provide many solutions and ideas for the future and no scrutinizing or blaming is involved.