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UNFINISHED JOURNEY (Oct. Contest)

I have seen creeks flowing multihued
from textile dyes dumped in
which left fishing line imbued
with the color of that day's toxin.

And paper mills from miles away
smelled bad enough to make me ill
any time winds blew my way.
Their dioxins remain here still.

At one time even PCBs
were thought to cause no harms
and dumped into rivers and seas
whose waters would irrigate our farms.

And smoke stacks belched evil and black
into skies which once were blue
causing us to cough and hack
as the smog thickened and grew.

Turds would float in waterways
discharged straight from sewer plants
where they'd last for many days
giving cause for swimmers' rants.

Thank god most of this is in the past
as we've cleaned up our ways a great deal
from how we were in years long passed
when we gave no though to fish or seal.

Today I walk through old growth trees
whose leaves give the breath of life
smelling just forest on the breeze
whose chill cuts like a keen knife.

Easy to think our clean up is done
but we still have a way to go.
Too many places have not begun
to stop the poisoned flow.

So let's keep on taking strides
until the onerous journey is through
for although the earth abides
it can do so without me and you.

* another unedited scribble

Style / type: 
Structured: Western
Review Request (Intensity): 
I want the raw truth, feel free to knock me on my back
Editing stage: 

Comments

best wishes for the contest ..."have fun"...

when we gave no though[t] to fish or seal.
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raj (sublime_ocean)

Thank you but you know that my contest poems are entirely for fun since I am disqualified from winning.....stan BTW I agree that the "fish and seal" line is pretty forced and hope to improve it over time lol

author comment

No issue...i thought "t" was missing...ignore it
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raj (sublime_ocean)

but you sound like a Democrat. Your boy Trump is doing a great job destroying every thing he can to leave us in the chemical mess. But to do so we need that dreaded
"R" word, (regulations). hey, bring back "clean coal"
So I like your poem. But the problem of considering the earth does have a political side. And surely, without any doubt whatsoever, you must agree this is not Republican message. It's just fake news. And the truth is there is still a hell of a lot to clean up before we are through.

Eumolpus
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance
ee cummings

Don't tell me you're one of those people who think all conservatives want dirty air and water and want to throw grandma off a cliff. You Are aware we ALL breathe the same air and drink the same water I hope. Just pulling out of the one sided Paris accord doesn't really mean much when you consider that We are about the only country actually cutting emissions Right Now while most others are just throwing about promises for future cuts or at best maintaining present levels.And this poem should be clear in its message that although we have made tremendous progress we still have a long way to go.. Appreciate your time to read and even your comment lol........stan

author comment

The Chinese are now way ahead of us with emission controls and state planning in which environmental concerns. How could they not, you can't breathe in Peking.
We once had to take the torch with this matter, we are the largest user of energy by far. Don't like the Paris Accords- don't pull out, make them stronger.
The former president identified climate change as the most important issue of our times. Guess he thought you can't choose the science you want to believe in and deny the rest. There are solutions, but they require research and commitment.
Now you cannot say the new right is not totally on the wrong side of history here.
This should be abundantly obvious. So the question becomes we have a party run by a fucking dangerous psychotic moron, just listen to him talk! what he says and how he says it! At what point do you moderates who believe in sanity distance yourselves from this. It's like Hitler, or Stalin, you can't be on board with him, because it's an all or nothing affair. There is no room for dissent in his party. It's like saying I don't like Hitler because of how he treats minorities, but I'll vote for him and support his causes because I agree with his economics.
So sadly I do not agree that there is room for your voice and concern among those drooling at these ego feasts he rambles on at. They will shout you down as a communist. Be a conservative, be a Republican, but right now in history, just vote against Trump. Then you will be living the hope that you put in your poem.

Eumolpus
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance
ee cummings

We use the most energy? Likely so but we also produce the most. And China leading the way? don't make me laugh. They are averaging bringing over one coal fired power station per week. And the source of that Pacific plastic mess? About one third Chinese in origin and most of the rest from southeast asia. You don't like Trump? Well that's your right but he is by far better than the evil hag he beat and better than any dem who is being considered in next prez election. Oh BTW which party did all the shouting down at Kavanaugh hearing? Which party shouts down conservative speakers at colleges?

author comment

the Russians did a good job on you. Obama spoke in complete sentences, with thoughts. Do a little more research on China, you'll be quite surprised.

Eumolpus
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance
ee cummings

is not all bad as far as environment goes. They open new coal burning plants and dump their garbage at sea. But they are also pushing forward with solar energy.

author comment

Hellary has done a good job on You

author comment

I liked your satirical comment Eumolpus....

false claims have become an every day by Mr. T ...latest being about the Caravan though he also says "there's no proof"...he is already making his cabinet members look like "Yes Sir" guys and he makes them stand belittling even the VP...
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raj (sublime_ocean)

You forget all the yes men the last prez surrounded himself with?

author comment

Obama was dignified and respectful ...hope you are aware about what happened due to highly inflammatory, insulting, fear mongering campaign rhetoric consequently resulting in those who were targeted given bomb scares...the impact is visible ...whosoever may have done it is likely to be impacted by the fiery rhetoric is what the world is saying...not me...
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raj (sublime_ocean)

still is ignorant of how the real world works because he has been on the gov't patrol literally since the day he was born.If one looks back on his early speeches he actually says the U.S. has gotten too powerful and needs to be brought down a notch or two.
As to the bomb scares......in my opinion they were likely sent by dems to dems for political gain. A conservative would have sent bombs which were not so easy to detect and would have actually worked. BTW I don't guess ya'll over seas even heard about the actual sarin dust sent to the conservatives a few weeks ago? Nor heard hillary calling for actions to be taken against repubs? Or Waters saying repubs should be run out of all public places? or Booker saying the same? THAT's real inflammatory rhetoric . The world is being led around by the nose by liberal media who don't report on these things much and when they do, they slant it.

author comment

There must be a reason the overwhelming number of creative people- writers, artists, musicians, thespians, composers, choreographers, jugglers, and poets support progressive causes. Perhaps it is the link between creativity, compassion, and imagination, and a desire to alter the status quo. There have been some exceptions of course. Roy Cambell, an excellent poet and translator of Baudelaire, was the only known artist to support Franco in the Spanish civil war. Pound was a dedicated fascist who supported Moussalini and indeed served time for treason. T.S. Eliot was conservative on the William Buckley Jr/Geroge Will level, but is unlikely would have stayed Republican in the current scene. If we look around there are
There are times when politics cannot help but be adopted by poets. Yeats was drawn into the Irish rebellion, as was Auden drawn into the politics of the age. Needless to say all the beat poets where anit-Vietnam war. It is just who we are as a nation. Good Lord, even Willie Nelson has thrown in the towel.
Having now learned that Scribbler is caught up in the same ludicrous conspiracy theories of Rush Limbaugh and Alex Jones, that this whole bombing affair was done as a setup and all the rest, I see there is no room for debate.

I would however strongly recommend he apply for Poet Laureate of the United States. Trump has not appointed one, and the competition is very small, there are I'm sure very few poets in the Alt-right. There is Conway West, but surely Scribbler is a far superior writer...and he's also white. That would be a great honor.
Of course, he would suffer the same curse as all the supporters of this maniac and his divisive gangster. History will not be kind to them.

Eumolpus
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance
ee cummings

At the same time how many hillary enemies have conveniently committed suicide? BTW I'm not now and never have been a republican. I am a registered independent but although I've always voted a split ticket, this Nov. it will be straight republicans. Not because i like all republicans candidates but as a tiny show of protest against the leaders of the dem party and what they have turned a once great party into.

author comment

but if nothing else the maniac has destroyed decency and civility, as the world laughs at us. And they are.
Glad you're independent. You have so vilified the Democrats, like Trump has, as evil people. It seems this is the party that always has to clean up the mess made after the Republicans bankrupt the country with greed. See the deficit soar. See the unions that once created the middle class in this country be dismantled. See the student debt be increased. See all the progress in conservation be pushed back.
Build a 2000 mile wall to keep out people from South America, and "the people who come from south of that" (he actually said that yesterday!)
oh, what's the use? "Uncle."

Eumolpus
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance
ee cummings

It seems we are very far apart politically. But I can't help but laugh at your deficit remark after obama's DOUBLED national debt in only 8 years..... but it's likely best we constrain ourselves to poetic topics and remain friends instead of harping at one another over political differences....appreciate your visit

author comment

good luck friend Stan for the contest and to your favored party for mid term elections
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raj (sublime_ocean)

You know I'm not eligible to win contests as I'm the director. As to politics, I do hope the dems don't regain control of either house of congress but either way America will just keep on keeping on lol....stan

author comment

contrary to your belief that we overseas are ignorant I'm aware about Sarin....

I never said the conservatives were responsible for the 7 packages sent specifically to those who are critical of the Commander-in-Chief....however your theory about dems sending them to dems is pretty far fetched.....incidentally 2 more reported today also to you know whom....a clear pattern is seen....dunno if there have been more after the former VP....
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raj (sublime_ocean)

that some madman is responsible for them all. It may be that they were sent as a warning (thus not intended to detonate) to the leaders of the dem party that it's time they toned down their urging of violence and incivility to all who don't agree with them.

author comment

The posters on the van say it all...thank God no one was hurt and FBI was pretty fast in nailing the culprit down....
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raj (sublime_ocean)

Did you notice that the posters all look brand new,,, and that these bombs were supposedly sent by hand to all parts of the country in a couple of days by one person driving that one van,,,,and that his facebook posts listed mostly dems as friends? this who thing is looking stranger and stranger to me.

author comment

No one is pointing a finger at the President was involved in the scheme of things...ABSOLUTELY NOT....however were his words, tone, incendiary comments during rallies and tweets unbecoming of leader of the free world...commander in chief of a powerful nation? that's the question...does he demonstrate moral responsibility of the supreme office he holds in the executive branch is another question?...does he have the etiquette to call up at least the two former presidents to express regrets about the incident is also an important question...contrary to claims of immigrants being terrorists in both instances of serial packaged bombs and hate crime at the Synagogue appear to be home grown terrorists...

one remarkable thing is the Intelligence Agencies he keeps rubbishing time and again proved what they are....

what if the culprit says "is it wrong for me to subscribe to and get inspired by the fiery speeches of the POTUS and his tweets"?

hopefully truth shall prevail...
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raj (sublime_ocean)

he doubled our national debt in 8 years, he doubled the food stamp recipients, he oversaw the slowest recovery in modern times, he showed himself as weak on the world stage, indeed he even said that it was time America was taken down a notch or two. But he sure made pretty speeches. I'm no big fan of Trump personally but I Am a fan of the things he is getting done that obamas said would never happen again.
The left is presently following the Hitler handbook in blaming one's enemy of the crimes They commit.

author comment

experts have said (not media) backed up by figures that the current employment figures as well as economic scenario is a continuing impact of the previous Administration....one has to take into account that Obama had to deal with a severe breakdown in economy and had to painstakingly bring about a recovery...in spite of "repeal and replace Obamacare" high pitched rhetoric and even though the conservatives enjoy majority in both houses....they haven't been able to keep the promise ...

it's worthwhile noting that the rating of this President compared to other presidents on completion of 2 years in office is the lowest...doesn't resonate with "he gets things done"...i hope you are aware to what extent the debt has gone up in spite of which he is trying to be populist by promising additional 10% tax cuts for Middle Class...this from someone who hasn't shown his tax returns and New York times published a scoop of how he helped his dad evade taxes and get paid for it...he often doesn't know the facts or deliberately gives false figures, recent example being initially saying Saudis creating 45000 thousand jobs a figure which jumped to half million and the latest claim 1 million....
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raj (sublime_ocean)

Yep obama inherited a mess. Then he made it worse. I've been through about 5-6 recessions before and thus have a good idea what does and doesn't work in getting out of one. Obama dis right by not letting the auto industry die but that's one of the very few things he did right. That stimulus money went to political crony groups and the worst part is that there are Still no CEOs in prison who brought the crash into being.
Now to the proposed tax cut. It has been proven time and again that the only way to curb gov't spending is by starving it of tax income. There will come a point when the gov't will have no choice but to balance the budget whether they want to or not........sta n

author comment

Noted Stan
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raj (sublime_ocean)

A profound write, my friend!

IRiz

profound? lol. Been called a lot of things but never that lol. Appreciate your time to read and comment......stan

author comment

i usually don't flatter unless I need something
by the way...
just kidding

IRiz

But I am available if you need any help in your new position.....hmmmm.....that could be taken the wrong way lmao

author comment

hmmmmmmm
that was not the plan
i just liked you poem

IRiz

just joking around with a friend

author comment

I am gullible beyond a reason. HAHAHA

IRiz

just read mine
before the contest
is over
and note more than nature
politicians are the garbage makers

and we all say
we love our mommies

GOD bless ma earth
Stan we haven't read each other
after your knees are now again running
in the forests like FROST did
but you after bees

I have already read your but at late night when too tired to comment.Knees Are better but still about 5-6 months from full healing.

author comment

the poem and the comments. Great to
see you guys disagreeing so passionately
yet holding a respectful tone. That is what
it's all about, the right to disagree and be
vocal about it.

and ..."uncle"

Eumolpus
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance
ee cummings

Too bad the politicians can't do the same. Always good to see you pop up.....stan

author comment

considering they mystery of what lies ahead in the journey of the planet, I wonder if "Destination Unknown" could also be a good title...just a thought that came to mind...
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raj (sublime_ocean)

Would be an excellent title if not for my extreme reluctance to change titles lol. I appreciate the thought you put into this.

author comment

I wish that we could stop pollution, that is the pollution of Neopoet site with a lot of political talk.
To the ones concerned we know of your views we only have to turn on the NEWS channel, but please remember that this is a place for poetry.
Stan a good thing to do with this poem is to Unpublish it, and restream the poem again so that we can comment on it and not who's who..
Yours Ian .T

.
Give critique to help keep Neopoet great.
Unconditional love to you all.
"Learn to love yourself first"
Yours as always, Ian.T, Sparrow, and Yenti

Politics seems to ooze into everything doesn't it? But my political beliefs are strong enough that the idea of my being seen as weak by following your advice doesn't seem right. What I MIGHT do is just unpublished and not repost. I never meant this to be a political poem but when readers made it so I was not going to let the ideas I think wrong go unchallenged..........stan

author comment

Sorry that some have spoilt your write, if you unpublish, please edit and stream it as new one Please they should know better.
We know you are not weak and those that have commented about Politics on your poem should, just withdraw those comments, don't know what to say really it went against the grain for me.
Take care and know we walk with you (Though slower these days Lol) Yours Ian ..

.
Give critique to help keep Neopoet great.
Unconditional love to you all.
"Learn to love yourself first"
Yours as always, Ian.T, Sparrow, and Yenti

There are times when poets cannot help themselves to be engaged in politics- such as Yeats and the Irish movement, or the Beat poets and the war in Vietnam. So we try to stay above it, but these are not normal times. Not to say as did Thomas Mann in 1922 "Everything is Politics" in 2018, but it is one of those unfortunate time when it is hard to keep out of the conversation.
I guess I was blown away to see this poem by a person who has in several instances
passionately declared his allegiances to the current political powers who are diametrically opposed to the theme of the poem..., and doing their best to remove all the gains and regulations and deny science...so I just fell into the trap and mentioned it...indeed it is only through political will that the environment will be respected, it will not happen by itself. There are certain issues which cannot be discussed outside the political arena. Gun control, refugee issues, etc.
I have noticed at open poetry readings a preponderance of poetry, from the left, about politics. I have yet to see a poem praising Hannity. I think this will continue for some time. I have written and posted some of mine, it is hard not to share an outrage if you have one boiling inside you.
But I will indeed try my best to temper the subject here and try to focus on the craft.

Eumolpus
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance
ee cummings

I know it is hard not to put a point of view out, if words trigger the emotion, but I suppose that's the norm.
At least the work did invoke a response, it is a shame that all the works here don't invoked something in our members.
I have been here quite a few years now and just recently we seem to be in that hole again where few poets are streaming and the comments are becoming less.
Yes I remember the walk that the poets use to have when they put the world to rights, then that was probably reflected in their next writes.
Just me fishing for more poets here to comment more, must write a nasty piece on that one day lol.
You take care and thanks for your reply,
Yours Ian ..

.
Give critique to help keep Neopoet great.
Unconditional love to you all.
"Learn to love yourself first"
Yours as always, Ian.T, Sparrow, and Yenti

was wondering what had triggered your political response to this apolitical poem. Perhaps you now see a person usually has far more layers that just republicans (which I'm Not) and dem (which I'm also not).
I kinda wonder how you could have though that somebody like me could love and write about nature as much as I do then turn around and want it destroyed? We both want clean environment we just apparently think there's more than one way to go about it. At least we managed to not let this misunderstanding devolve into name calling lol.......stan

author comment

It was the first thing popped into my head after you had in the past been such a defender of the emperor. Your position on immigration because of a random murder in LA, and other issues. In truth though, the subject is political. It will not fix itself.
The poles are melting. NASA has shown this time and time again. It will only be fixed by political will. That is probably why I made it political. Nobody wants nature to be destroyed, but we can't turn a blind eye to the politics. Fracking is a political issue. But I will respect you're being an independent. So rather than tow the line, hey, vote for the green party at least, not the people who couldn't give a damn about nature.
All good.

Eumolpus
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance
ee cummings

In South Carolina there is little need worrying that a dem will win any national race this November. But I will vote straight republicans this time anyway as my little form of protest about what the once proud dem party has become. Kind of an aside, you know Greenland was so named at the time because it was actually green and fertile. It was comparatively recent that it became frozen. But decreasing all types emissions is a good idea in and of itself. Fossil fuels are finite and have uses which are better put to use than trundling people and goods around in cars.

author comment

Now that is better we are talking about the planet.
When I was in Canada quite a few years ago I was given a music tape of a group who ran a radio station up in Churchill or around that area.
Some of the track on there were about pollution and how Industrial Man was destroying their eco system, how the beluga whales had to be handled with heavy gloves because they were so polluted, this tape was made over 30 years ago..
I listen to it sometimes and it reflects that nothing has changed for many years, we are all to blame..
I will copy the words for this poems comments so that you can see how it was 30 years or so ago and what they were worried about,
Take care and great to walk with you,
Yours Ian ..

.
Give critique to help keep Neopoet great.
Unconditional love to you all.
"Learn to love yourself first"
Yours as always, Ian.T, Sparrow, and Yenti

You all seem to be converting
this NEOPOETICS
to POLITICKS
not a good trend I think

new CEO
Irene
may you like to jump in

CRITICIZE on the poem
poemically
not its content
politically

Unfortunately, there are themes and certain times in history when politics and poetry intermingle. There are books of anti-Vietnam war poems which did, despite Auden's claim that "poetry changes nothing" did very much become part of the effort to finally end that war. How many poems have we seen about gun control in response to all these recent shootings? How many poems about the tragedy of refugees? These are very political poems. So it is normal that in the discussion of the poem content is discussed above form. We cannot bury our heads in the sand and totally ban political poems or comments, any more than banning religious poems or atheist poems. And we cannot just always focus only on form and craft, as content matters.
Many poets argue that the poet must share in public responsibilities. Look at Yeats...

That said, I do a agree that most of the poetry here is not political, and I think that is largely respected. As these months heat up politically in the US, with the brutality of hate groups and growing tribalism in the world, I'll do my best to keep it to a minimum.

Eumolpus
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance
ee cummings

I agree.

IRiz

politics has its place in poetry. Indeed it has been used by parties here for generations. But I'm still shocked that this apolitical poem I wrote with no regard to politics has become such a political lightning rod.

author comment

It tells that you wrote a powerful poem, my friend.

IRiz

I just wrote it straight from empty head to posting it with no editing. There must be Something to it but I appreciate your kind words

author comment

Your poem WAS POLITICAL!

Thank god most of this is in the past
as we've cleaned up our ways a great deal
from how we were in years long passed
when we gave no thought to fish or seal.

Who is "we"? That was Bush and Obama and the government placing restrictions and making laws that those industries hated because it cut into the profits. It did not happen by magic or by the head of oil companies deep love of nature.

Your poem is not only about the love of nature. It is about saving the environment from the pollution by industry.

So let's keep on taking strides
until the onerous journey is through

Who is this "let's" . It is not you or me throwing a cup in the recycle bin. It's about the major political will to stop the unregulated pollution of this planet. I was a large screen printer for 50 years, and boy did I hate those regulations to force me to recycle my rags and plastic inks, my water and spend thousands adjusting the smokestacks of my textile dryers. Know what, it didn't put me out of business. What put me out of business was the whole industry moving to Asia. Now that their rivers are the dye colors of the hot seasonal colors, they too are having to regulate, because the people are in revolt.
So write a poem about how you love nature, but not a poem about environmentalism
and then say you are voting for the polluters. Doesn't add up.

Eumolpus
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance
ee cummings

But it's a fact that environmentalism is not free and a company can only participate if it makes a profit. I have close friend who is an engineer at Clemson. He oversaw the operations of the university's own power plant which when he began ran off coal. And, yes, it needed to clean up a good bit when he started working there. And each time the EPA would add a requirement they would meet said requirement but before they could even get the change made the EPA would hit them with more requirements requiring more reworking of the plant. So Clemson decided it would be easier (and cleaner) to just change over to natural gas and ditch coal.Now the reason I tell you this is a little thing called "the law of diminishing returns" which states that at some point throwing more money or labor at a problem does not result in a proportional improvement.
Clemson finally gave up and no longer produces their own electricity. Instead they purchase it from Duke Energy a power company which produces most of its electricity by burning.....you guessed it....COAL.
So yes we need to continue our quest for a better environment but we also need to realize there comes a point when shoveling more money at a problem gives very little improvement regards that problem. We need to concentrate and clean up that which can result in the most bang for the buck until all the big stuff is taken care of.

author comment

See if you can the HBO Vice about solutions to climate changes. Amazing new ideas being tried- feeding the atmosphere with salt from the sea to block the harmful rays of the sun, channeling energy from hydrogen, and a few others...each is being worked on by independent scientists looking for solutions because as they see it, we have a problem.
Don't focus on the failures, there will be many. But to be on the game you need some skin.
Meeting environmental requirements from EPA cost about $250,000 a year in my company. I accepted it, because it was universal throughout the industry. The EPA shoveled money at cleaning up the textile factories, and some of it worked, some were nonsense. That fact that some of it worked is enough for me. It took years to clean up the rivers in the south, and it only happened when the regulations started.
Regulation is not a reason industry does not flourish here- Germany is much more regulated than we are, yet they still manufacture. That's a big fat lie that is being sold to the public. When the water in your area or mine becomes like Flint's...O then all of a sudden it will become very real.

Eumolpus
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance
ee cummings

here, the one I used to fish in the poem, where the dyes stopped 35 years ago.But the dumping of "harmless PCBs continued until 25 years ago. This chemical is still in the food chain and is the reason for an official advisory against eating any fish from this 55,ooo acre lake.
As to keeping planet cool, I like the idea of placing an "umbrella" of reflective mylar in orbit to partially block the sun. If too much is put up it would be a lot easier to recapture than any chemical placed in the atmosphere.However we solve the environmental problems, they Will be solved.

author comment
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