To the editor:

I just read and re-read the Aug. 30 New Yorker article about Charles and David Koch. The article is titled “Covert Operations” and was written by the respected reporter Jane Mayer. It discussed the Kochs’ philanthropies and sponsorship of conservative think tanks and political action groups, using their billions from Koch Industries. The article pointed out how they use their vast wealth to promote “lower personal and corporate taxes, minimal social services for the needy, and much less oversight of industry — especially environmental regulation.”

The example of how the Kochs have been lobbying to prevent the EPA from classifying formaldehyde, which their company, Georgia Pacific, produces in great quantities, as a “known carcinogen” in humans, is too close for comfort. I urge concerned citizens to find and read this article. It is frightening to think that the Kochs could use their influence to risk future generations’ health and climate.

I also urge people to either read Elizabeth Kolbert’s book, “Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change,” or attend her lecture for the Hall Center for the Humanities at the Kansas Union on Sept. 13. She has researched and witnessed what global warming is and will do to the Earth in the near future.

Both of these writings should scare all of us to do what we can at the local, state and national level to save our world for now and future generations.