Although only a first-generation Mainer, I can truly appreciate and respect Freemont Tibbetts’ feeling for the beauty of this state, which I fully share (Oct. 27).

In many ways, I wish my nine grandchildren could have available to them the wonders and beauties I have experienced in my lifetime. There is no way, though, that that can happen. All things change with time, and with the Industrial Revolution and its aftermath, things are changing far more rapidly than many people thought, and much more so than many people realize.

The change in the climate is here, now, and opening our minds, we see it all around us, and around the globe. The forests will continue to be devastated at an increasing rate by the wooley adelgid, the Texas longhorn beetle and the pine bark beetle. Alpine fir will no longer have the habitat that allows its growth. Lyme disease, Eastern Equine Encephalitis will continue to spread. Asthma, along with other respiratory illness, will affect a larger part of the population.

We cannot stop this but, if we face reality and then work out compromises, adaptations and ways of mitigation, it won’t be quite so bad, and our grandchildren will be much better off.

It is unlikely that Tibbetts or I will be around to see a lot more of these changes (and for me, that’s a good thing), but for my grandchildren, and those of others, people should please consider their future.

Richard K. Jennings, Fayette