Air Date: Week of May 3, 2002

This week we dip into the Living on Earth mailbag to hear what listeners have to say.

Transcript

CURWOOD: Time for comments from you, our listeners. Phil Getty from Philadelphia, who hears us on WHYY, e-mailed in with a concern. "Your shows are informative," he writes," but the information can be overwhelming to listeners, who often are hearing bad news. For example, monarch butterfly habitat is being cut down. Attempts are being made to try to stop this, but it’s still being cut down. And you end with ’This year’s frost kill may be an indication of more permanent things to come.’ Why don’t you try putting an enabling statement at the end of each segment? After you capture the interest and heart of a listener, it is hard being left with a feeling that the world is going to hell."

Well, Mr. Getty, we understand how you feel, but we’re not here to promote causes or give out stamps of approval. But if you use the information we present to take action yourself, that’s fine, and that’s why we have a free press.

Indeed, KOPB listener Gerry Scheerens in Portland, Oregon, was inspired to call us with her solution to the monarch butterfly crisis.

SCHEERENS: I was thinking that maybe either the people that live there, or volunteers, could gather up the butterflies and either put them in contact paper and have, like, a sign saying "Buy me. Save a tree," and maybe we could sell them, and get people to understand what’s going on in Mexico. And that money, the proceeds from that, could go back to those people or to compensate them for the fact that they’re not being able to sell the trees.

CURWOOD: Thanks for the suggestion, Ms. Scheerens. And if you have one for us, call our Llstener line any time at 800 -218-9988. That’s 800-218-9988. Or write to us at Eight Story Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138. Our e-mail address is: letters@loe.org. Once again: letters@loe.org. And visit our web page at www.loe.org. That’s www.loe.org.

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