Fighting ozone depletion not a political issue

A recent letter suggested that Democrats created unwarranted concerns about ozone depletion and global warming and that the proof is that the ozone hole still exists even though Freon has been banned (“Dems created ozone, global warming fears,” May 14).

This is politically and scientifically incorrect.

Politically, the Montreal Protocol to regulate ozone-depleting gases was signed by President Reagan in 1987, and significantly strengthened by the first President Bush - both Republicans.

Scientifically, the reason ozone-depleting substances needed to be regulated was to prevent the ozone hole from getting ever bigger. Those gases stay in the atmosphere for many decades, continuing to destroy the ozone layer. Only by banning these gases will we be able to stop the destruction of the ozone layer in our lifetimes.

The same problem exists for global warming and its resulting climate changes. Greenhouse gases stay in our atmosphere for many decades, consistently warming the earth. We need to slow down, stop, and reverse the buildup of greenhouse gases in order to stop global warming decades in the future.

I hope our next president - whether Democrat or Republican - will act to stop global warming just like President Reagan and the first President Bush acted to stop further ozone depletion.

Elwood Garlock

Cedar Rapids