In response to Richard Badalamente's letter (Aug. 29), I really hate to inform you that of all the species that have lived on this planet, 99.9 percent are already extinct. And it is estimated that there are currently 8.7 million known species on the earth today. This represents about 20 percent of the total number of species on earth, so there are another 80 percent waiting to be discovered. And they are discovering new species by the hundreds every day.

To put the blame on humans and anthropogenic climate change is irresponsible and demonstrates a lack of research on the part of Mr. Badalamente. The earth has been here for 4.5 billion years and will be for another 4.5 billion years. Mankind's affect on the planet is negligible at best. We've only been here for about 250,000 to 300,000 years, hardly time to register on the geologic scale.

Perhaps it is time to apply Occams Razor to the perceived problem. His theorem states that for any problem that has numerous solutions the best answer is the simplest. In this case why not utilize a tested technology. Trees! If we all planted a tree it would help solve the CO2 problem.

LARRY LOWRY, Richland