To the editor:

As I was reading the Journal-World on Monday, I was struck by two front-page featured articles: 1) Lawrence teacher’s web series brings classic art to students learning at home; and 2) Oil-reliant counties in Kansas predict a gloomy future. Each pertained to consequences resulting from the pandemic we are going through. If one thinks of each in a broader sense, they have quite different implications. In thinking of art, one realizes that art has many forms and implications. Art is a process from which both the creator and recipient have satisfaction. While there is a profit to be gained, it is more than financial, and it can help us through the financial depression to come. This was the case in the Depression of the 1920s-30s.

With the dramatic decline in demand for petroleum and other fossil products, the loss of jobs and income for multitudes are directly and indirectly significant. The poorest will obviously suffer the most.

If one thinks of the other major crisis facing us, it is climate change that we already are living with. According to data commissioned by The Guardian, global carbon emissions from fossil fuel would be reduced by 5% as the pandemic triggers the biggest drop in demand for fossil fuels on record. As we come out of the crisis, many new jobs could potentially come available in alternative energy. Kansas could be at the cutting edge with wind energy.

Jim Hasselle,

Lawrence