Gazette headline was misleading

In the Aug. 9 Gazette, the headline on the top of page 9A proclaims in bold type: Blame the environmentalists. Anyone reading this article about the current wave of wildfires in California will discover two things about this incredibly misleading headline.

First, while no quotation marks appear in the headline, the phrase 'blame the environmentalists” is actually the distillation of political statements made by President Donald Trump and some of his Cabinet members.

Second, the article goes on to outline the scientific position that these wildfires are becoming increasingly dangerous as a result of climate change and other factors that have nothing to do with the policies put forward by responsible environmentalists. In other words, environmentalists are not to blame!

The article is really a description of the policy differences between some politicians and the scientific community. I certainly hope that your poor choice of headline does not reflect which side The Gazette is rooting for.

Terry Pitts

Cedar Rapids