Air Date: Week of October 4, 2002

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

Transcript

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CURWOOD: Time for comments from you, our listeners. Our coverage of the World Summit on Sustainable Development included a story about South Africa’s proposed pebble bed nuclear generators. Reuven AnafShalom heard the program on WUNC from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He says the issue of how the spent fuel would be dealt with was given short shrift in the story. "The biggest problem with nuclear energy," Mr. AnafShalom writes, "is the waste it produces, and how to dispose of it."

Jennie Oppenheimer heard the story on KQED in San Francisco, and emailed us to say that we should have included more voices of nuclear critics. "Of all the exciting sustainable clean technologies on the forefront of development," she wrote, "I was disappointed by your choice of what to highlight."

Our report on the military’s request to be exempted from some environmental protection laws drew this comment from WQCS listener Marty Bergoffen from Asheville, North Carolina. He writes, "The Department of Defense and the Armed Services have demonstrated very convincingly, over the past 30 years, that they can both comply with environmental laws, and still be the best and most ready military force. We would be well-served to remember the words of Dwight D. Eisenhower who cautioned, "The problem with defense is how far can you go without destroying from within that which you are trying to protect from without."

And Dan Hutzley, another North Carolina listener who hears us on WUNC in Chapel Hill, says our profile of mockingbird scientist Cheryl Logan prompted him to report that mockingbirds that frequent a patio at his office have a new song in their repertoire. Mr. Hutzley says he’s been outside when a mockingbird lets out a song that sounds like a cell phone ringing. "It’s interesting to see that people look around for the cell phone, only to see it coming from the trees."

You can make our phones ring anytime by calling our Listener Line at (800) 218-9988. That’s (800) 218-9988. You can also write us at letters@loe.org. Once again, letters@loe.org. And visit our web page at loe.org. That’s loe.org.

[LETTERS THEME MUSIC]

CURWOOD: You’re listening to NPR’s Living on Earth.