Air Date: Week of February 11, 2005

We dip into the Living on Earth mailbag to hear what listeners have to say.

Transcript

GELLERMAN: It's Living on Earth. I'm Bruce Gellerman. And, coming up, over the river and through the woods of Wisconsin. The dogs know the way! Mush, you huskies.

But first...time for your comments.

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GELLERMAN: We received some emotional responses to our recent story about how the people of Newfoundland have dealt with the demise of their economic foundation, the Northern Cod. In its hey-day, the industry employed more than 30,000 people but then the cod were fished near-extinction and the island lost part of its heritage.

Mary Zukas, who hears us on KIOS in Omaha, Nebraska, writes, "I listened with tears in my eyes. I was driving home from work thinking about how the world is moving in fast- forward and so much history is being lost."

Rebecca Bell, who listens to us on KOUW in Seattle, expressed a similar sentiment. Her mother and aunts used to vacation on the island. "Because I grew up hearing about these magical vacations," she writes, "I visited there one summer. The best meal I ever had was at a small, crowded, noisy restaurant and it was cod in a creamy sauce. I was sad to hear about the loss of the fishing culture. What can we learn from it?"

Our story about the greening of the Super Bowl drew a number of responses. The NFL planted a forest to neutralize carbon dioxide released from the big event. But Peter Wang, who listens to Living on Earth on KQED San Francisco, laments the fact that the NFL didn't promote the project. He writes, "Finding no trace of 'carbon neutral' on the Superbowl.com web site suggests that the publicity associated with the Super Bowl wasn't fully taken advantage of. It would really make a lot of Americans sit up and take notice if they knew the NFL was supporting the fight against global warming."

Lee Tobin hears Living on Earth on WUNC in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and she appreciated our story on the reactionary pedestrian, Abner Serd, who walked thousands of miles across the United States; a journey that left him disgusted with the automobile. "As a bicycle commuter for the past 20 years," Tobin writes, "I can very much relate to his sentiment. I've grown to despise the automobile and all of the costly side effects its overuse and dependency have brought to American culture."

We'd like to hear from you. Your comments are always welcome. Call our listener line anytime at 800-218-9988. That's 800-218-9988.

Or write us at 20 Holland Street, Somerville, Massachusetts 02144. Our e-mail address is comments at loe dot org. Once again, comments at loe dot org. And you can hear our program anytime on our web site, livingonearth dot org. That's livingonearth dot org.

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