Oct. 23, 2026 6 AM PT

To the editor: Steve Lopez’s recent column quotes someone who says something the environmental zealots don’t like to hear: “That’s the heart of the issue — we’re fundamentally trying to impose permanence onto a space that is meant to be constantly changing” (“It’s been a great romance, but it’s time to rethink our relationship with the California coast,” Oct. 17). Why don’t they like it? Because the exact same thing is happening to the climate.

Trying to “impose permanence” on the climate is a fool’s errand in the same way that trying to keep the coast the same is — only magnitudes harder. Climates are always changing and always have. If you study earth science (geology) as I have, you learn that when the climate changes, you must adapt, move or perish.

Humans will have to adapt to the warming climate; forcing people to get rid of their gas stoves, among other things, is not helping. Spend money on adaptation — and please stop telling me to buy a Tesla.

Chris Richgels, Scottsdale, Ariz.

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To the editor: In the 1978 movie “Superman,” Lex Luthor (a great Gene Hackman performance), hoping to turn his undesirable desert real estate into beachfront property, tries to explode a bomb on the San Andreas fault line so that California falls into the sea. If he was patient enough, he could have waited for climate change to do just that.

Dennis E. Ibon, San Fernando

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To the editor: The Los Angeles Times reports that “Southern California is on track to lose 30% to 70% of its beaches over the next several decades” (“Major loss of California beaches predicted in latest climate forecast,” Oct. 30). In the 1960s, the Beach Boys rode gentler Southern California waves to international fame.

After the heyday of that fame, were they prophetic? In 1971, they released the album “Surf’s Up,” a title very relevant for us today. The song “Don’t Go Near the Water,” about ocean pollution, speaks even more acutely now:

Don’t go near the water
Don’t you think it’s sad
What’s happened to the water?
Our water’s going bad

“Surf’s up” back then meant good waves for surfing. Now it appears to be saying “Time’s almost up.”

Tim Vivian, Bakersfield

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To the editor: Climate change is real. The Times reports almost daily on how this phenomenon affects Californians in real time.

What we don’t hear about as often are the many solutions we already possess to address this climate crisis. Scientists claim definitively that ceasing to burn fossil fuels should be a major priority. Engineers have developed technology to create and store renewable energy on a massive scale, thus drastically reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. Economists and environmentalists, meanwhile, indicate a most efficient and fair way to make the transition away from fossil fuels by applying a fee and dividend on carbon extraction at its source.

In general, folks turn away from dire warnings and scary statistics. We don’t have to turn away. Our society has the solutions right now to address our climate challenge.

Even as our beaches erode and our homes and forests burn, lawmakers act like climate change is decades away, waiting to happen. Call your state and national senators and Assembly members. Tell them over and over again to enact effective climate legislation now.

Meredith Rose, Pasadena