Letter to the Editor
Extinction nonsense
Published Sunday, March 30, 2008
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Stumble It!March 20, 2008
To the editor:
Regarding the Loretta Harris letter of March 19 that said wolves and bears could go the way of the dinosaurs and that it hasn’t hurt Sweden. If one visits visitsweden.com and searches “Big Six,” you discover Sweden’s big game: Moose, musk ox, lynx, wolverine, and guess what, wolf and bear.
No animal deserves being wished to extinction so humans can have all the moose and caribou to ourselves. That is selfish thinking. It falls along the lines of letting the polar bear die so oil fields can be sucked dry to keep lining the greedy pockets of the anti-polar bear campaign.
People like Ms. Harris may think animal rights activists are exploiting extinction of species for money, but what about the trappers she is hurting because she wants wolves dead. Some trappers depend on that fur to make a living. And the Native people she mentions that show respect for animals they kill, well a number of them still need wolves and bears around to make blankets and coats to keep their families and themselves warm.
Rising prices of meat, milk and eggs is in direct correlation with rising fuel prices. The use of ethanol is to decrease our dependence on oil, which in turn will lower the price of meat, milk and eggs not to mention gas and the electric bill. If there is concern about lack of food for people, then why not fight to find a better, clean and inexpensive fuel? Do people like Harris despise the environment?
Here is what I ask of those who would hold with Ms. Harris’s view. Should you not take your anger out on animals that are fighting to survive. Take that anger out on the waste in America. Teach people not to waste the food they have, because others might be going hungry. Fight to save the bears and wolves, so people that depend on them won’t be hurt by their extinction. Search for cleaner ways to fuel this Earth that is not expensive and won’t use food sources. It may sound like a lot to ask, but the biggest problem this world faces, is that no one is willing to do the work to save it.
Community Discussion
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"the use of ethanol is to decrease our dependence on oil" are you aware that it takes 1.3 gallons of OIL to produce 1 gallon of ethanol ? Better look somewhere else....
Animal rights activists probably all start with good intentions (of course, we know where that road can lead to), but often end up either dispising man's existence, or selling snake oil. All responsible people, or so I believe, want a balance in nature. I think that neither the animal rights zealot, or the "progress at any cost" believers understand the concept of responsible development.
Fortunately, cooler heads seem to prevail in Alaska. We haven't been perfect, but I think that we've been serious up here about achieving that balance. If anything, we've errored on the side of safety and preservation a little too much. But that's cool. It beats the alternative.
"Rising prices of meat, milk and eggs is in direct correlation with rising fuel prices. The use of ethanol is to decrease our dependence on oil, which in turn will lower the price of meat, milk and eggs not to mention gas and the electric bill."
Actually, that's not completely true. Prices for meat and other grain dependent products were starting to rise before the price of fuel shot up. One of the factors leading to the rise in grocery prices is more grain being diverted to ethanol production, increasing demand for grain and consequently raising its price. Countries that depend on grain exports from the U.S. are concerned that demand for ethanol production may lead to food shortages.
Just yesterday there was an article stating that some countries are now instituting export controls on rice and how the price for rice has risen since January. Although the article didn't say so, I'd bet that's because as demand for corn and wheat has gone up, demand for rice has gone up too.
thanks booger, you said alot. Not to mention that it would have to be transported from corn country to all points around in a mode of transportation that uses oil to get it there, so again no help for ethanol in the grand scheme of things unless you live near Nebraska.
whoops! I meant bugger, sorry
HYDROGEN, SOLAR, WIND, AND GEO-THERMAL IS THE WAY TO GO. ALSO TO ALL YOU SLUM-LORDS OUT THERE, MAYBE YOU SHOULD BE RENTING OUT YURTS INSTEAD OF CABINS! ALL THE RENTALS IN THIS TOWN SUCK YOUR HEATING OIL RIGHT DOWN THE DRAIN! HORRIBLE ECONOMIC STANDARDS HAVE BEEN SET BY OUR NATION AND ALASKA HAS FALLEN DIRECTLY INTO THE PIT.
You know, for the most part I agree with this article, however...
"It falls along the lines of letting the polar bear die so oil fields can be sucked dry to keep lining the greedy pockets of the anti-polar bear campaign."
EXCUSE ME??? Where exactly is this evil anti-polar bear campaign? Because, personally, I've never heard of it. Can someone find me a link to this evil anti-polar bear campaign?
Is Jessica a conspiracy theorist, or what?
JB & Bugger - ethanol is "grain alcohol" - it does not require ANY petroleum (OIL) to produce. We should all grow hemp to make clean burning ethanol to run our society on. It burns clean and it is 100% renewable:
"Hemp contains about 4 times the cellulose value to make Ethanol as Corn"
http://ezinearticles.com/?Hemp-Can-Be-Us...
Also, check out the following for a comparison of hemp made ethanol to petroleum:
http://www.hempcar.org/petvshemp.shtml
There are no endangered animals. There is no endangered ice. There is no man caused global warming. What there is, is people who blindly believe what others want them to. Think for yourself.
I believe sugarcane makes the best ethanol. Can sugarcane grow in Puerto Rico? If it can I might change my mind about those island freeloaders......
Join my club: www.ihatepolarbears.com
The article makes many good points, but one you miss is that there are many of us out there trying to make this a better world as Jessica is. There are no easy solution or no one solution, but it does not mean we should not try. It never ceases to amaze me how uneducated people are, and some of the comments are disturbing, why can people not get along. Guess it has been that way for thousands of years, so no big surprise. Get educated, act locally, think globally, consider all solutions, those are my humble thoughts.
newsreader---
Does that grain alcohol, or even hemp grown commercially, plant and harvest itself? How do you think that gets done? Magic?
If my sources are correct, little pink faeries with pixie dust will do that for us free of charge. *grin*
Seriously though, once the farming equipment, etc is converted to ethanol (or biodiesel) it won't be an issue, will it? There will be a conversion cost, of course. But afterwards there could be little to no petroleum involved. A farmer could make his own fuel and save himself all of the money previously spent on gas, in addition to having a product to sell. Potentially gives a whole new meaning to Mom & Pop gas stations, doesn't it?
I've already heard from one friend whose planning to run his tractor on biodiesel this summer to see how it works out. As the cost of petroleum fuels skyrocket, more people will probably do so. At least, I sure hope so.
I'm certainly not claiming to be an expert - in fact I've only recently heard of biodiesel - however I do know that some of the first cars made ran on ethanol. And, I think we should do whatever we can to decrease our dependence on oil, as soon as feasible.
RunnyNoze …..Are you frickin kidding me? (If you are, I missed the sarcasm in your response.) No extinct animals? I suppose all the Dodo's, Sabertooth tigers and dinosaurs are being kept in a secret warehouse by left wing environmentalists until the US gives in to the communists. Think for your self? If we all thought like you we would be trolling about in a cave. Since you don't believe in any form of science, how does the internet work? How did your message get posted? I suppose tiny angels carried it through the ether before they danced on the head of a pin. Now do you believe in Bacteria? The Solar System? I guess there is no proof for them either. As we all know Galileo lied. After all, microscopes, archeology, space travel and medicine are all ways to promote the left wing Medias agenda. It’s a shame I will never be as “free thinking” as yourself. Nothing says free thought more then the perpetuation of ancient and abandoned dogma. Any hippies want to let me in on the location of the “extinct” animal quarantine?
The letter to the editor was about balance. Wiping the wolves out would hurt trappers and rural incomes. Trappers have just as much right to harvest fur as hunters do meat. The point was to have an equilibrium. Some wolves, and some caribou. Enough for all to use, and enough to keep the wilderness healthy.
My greatuncle jack..used to make ethanol, but the guvmint arrested him and busted up his still
Advocating or being indifferent about the extermination of a species....sounds a lot like genocide to me.
Runnynoze,
There's a big difference between thinking for yourself and deliberately ingnoring any information that doesn't fit your stagnant, unchanging view of the world. A true "thinker" takes in new information and allows him/her self to alter his/her view point based on the new information. Ignoring all information that doesn't conform to your view of the world is just choosing to be, and remain, ignorant.
Ethanol is a low BTU fuel, so if your car makes 12 miles to the gallon with gasoline, it will now make 10 MPG or less on ethanol. So it will take a lot more corn to run the transportation system than it does gasoline.
Also corn is the basis of much of our food and agriculture. Corn is in dog food and livestock feed. It is the basis of many sweetened products today. So as it is diverted toward fuel, the price of many things -- meat, milk, cola, dog and cat food, just to name a few -- goes up. I think Jessica needs to educate herself a bit on reality.
And, I agree -- where is this cabal of polar bear destroyers? Friends who live in Barrow tell me there seem to be plenty there and the last time I was in the oil patch, while I didn't see any polar bears, I did see caribou just wandering near the platforms. I realize that people make emotional pleas all the time because they love the poor little animals, but my personal observation from 40-odd years of living here is that the animals are not becoming extinct. They're simply adapting to changing conditions.
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