DEAR EDITOR:

In his Sept. 26 syndicated column titled “Teenagers believe they know all,” Cal Thomas berates 16-year-old Greta Thunberg, who called out world leaders at the United Nations for their collective inaction toward fighting climate change.

He questions her credibility because of her age and uses as proof an admission that he did not know the meaning of “precocious” when he was 18.

In discounting this young hero’s knowledge and courage, Mr. Thomas says that she and other teens only know what they’ve been taught or what they have read in textbooks about climate change, and since these textbooks are biased, she is an intellectual captive. In his opinion, she would do better by reading his go-to resource, “50 Years of Failed Eco-pocalyptic Predictions,” from which he cites four examples of failed forecasts of dire conditions.

In his venom-filled attack on this young activist, what Mr. Thomas is actually demonstrating is his apparent lack of knowledge about climate change and its consequences if a worldwide effort isn’t made to eliminate its cause, global warming resulting from greenhouse gas emissions.

Calling concern about climate change “Chicken Little” hysterics, Mr. Thomas, like all deniers, continues to keep his head buried out of sight of the evidence that grows daily. Because it doesn’t have the immediate impact of a nuclear bomb, climate change is not real to him. While the worst effects will not happen until Mr. Thomas and I have died, Miss Thunberg’s generation will be burdened with disasters of increasing intensity and numbers.

Instead of ridiculing her for trying to save a future for today’s young people, Mr. Thomas would do well to educate himself and take a good look around at what is happening right under his nose.

As for his dismissive attitude concerning the credibility of a 16-year-old girl, let me remind Mr. Thomas of one shining example — Joan of Arc.

RICHARD FOGO

Youngstown