Energy is a complex discipline. It is difficult to make detailed predictions since a multitude of factors can interact in so many different ways. Like all sciences, ecology changes as new ideas are developed and new data is examined. Michael Coffman in an Op-ed opinion (BDN, Aug. 5) seemingly missed the point of some of these developments.

In the face of dramatic species extinctions, it makes little sense to quibble over the exact number of organisms that are doomed; wholesale forest destruction in the tropics is obvious to even the most casual observer. To assert that clearcutting “can dramatically improve biodiversity” is both misleading and demonstrably false. Such a claim is equivalent to saying “cancer is good for you.” Apparently the politics of biodiversity are as complex as the underlying science. Irv Kornfield Professor of Zoology University of Maine Orono