Air Date: Week of August 1, 1997

Transcript

CURWOOD: Our recent story about the control of water resources in the West Bank drew criticism from Ebie Ayal, who listens to WBEZ in Chicago. He says it was peppered with anti-Israeli sloganeering, and disingenuous Arab claims that they are being forced to conserve water. Palestinians, Mr. Ayal writes, have more water today than they had under the Jordanian Arab rule, and their standard of living has risen greatly under Israeli control, which has increased their demand for water.

Our report on Hudson River cleanup efforts sparked memories for former West Point cadet Michael Hunter, who hears us on WHYY in Philadelphia. He reports that a favorite activity of cadets in the 19th century was swimming across the Hudson. He writes, "Unfortunately, by the time I arrived at West Point, the river had become so dangerously polluted that regulations prohibited swimming."

And after our profile of New York's Wetlands Nightclub, Steven Gilmore, a listener to WFAE in Charlotte, called the owners hypocritical. How can a bar consider itself environmentally friendly, he writes, when it can't even stop people congregating in its vicinity, from spoiling the landscape with trash they throw on the ground.

Send your comments to us at 8 Story Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138. Our listener line is 800-218-9988. And the e-mail address is LOE@NPR.ORG. You're listening to NPR's Living on Earth.