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  Sierra Magazine
  May/June 2006
Table of Contents
 
  FEATURES:
Interview With a Whale
Decoder: Miles to Go
Between Two Worlds
Interview: Jane Goodall
Going for Broke
 
  DEPARTMENTS:
Letters
Ways & Means
One Small Step
Lay of the Land
Profile
Good Going
The Green Life
Hey Mr. Green
Sierra Club Bulletin
Last Words
 
  MORE:
Sierra Archives
Corrections
About Sierra
Internships at Sierra
Advertising Information
Current Advertisers

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Letters

TAKE PHOTOS NOT FLIGHTS
I believe that a more sustainable model of behavior is suggested in "Photography of Hope," by Sebastião Salgado (January/February). Instead of each of us consuming tons of fossil fuels to transport ourselves and our gear to distant places, we should simply send a few scientists, artists, and writers to be our emissaries. Our personal need to experience the awe of these places can be fulfilled through the images and ideas they send back.
John E. Davis
Everett, Washington

THE LAST WORD
Bill McKibben's article "Year One" (January/February) inserted the period that ends the discussion, silences the debate, and answers the question "Is this nightmare reversible?" How sadly interesting to be living at this point in human history. How strangely calming to know, at least, what lies ahead.
Gary Summers
Lafayette, California

DYNA-MIGHT
An important fact relating to "Sticker Shock" ("Lay of the Land," January/February, page 13) is the way these EPA [mpg] ratings are calculated. It is the 48-mph constant speed used for testing that is the problem, not the dynamometer. Dynamometers are useful tools for engineers and can be programmed to emulate street driving more effectively.
Lori Linder
West Salem, Ohio

Editor's note: In January, the EPA proposed changes in its testing procedures aimed at bringing mileage ratings closer to what consumers experience on the road.

BATTING AT WINDMILLS
In "The Green Life" section of the January/February issue, you opined that we should feel good about eating burgers cooked on a wind-powered grill ("Fast-Food Notion," page 16). Yet recent studies indicate that, in addition to killing thousands of birds across the United States each year, wind turbines are killing thousands of bats. Bats are our country's primary predators of nocturnal insect pests, like mosquitoes and crop moths, and are the world's slowest-reproducing mammals for their size, with most species bearing only one pup per year. If no solution is found to protect them from wind-turbine blades, we could lose huge populations that help protect us from West Nile and other mosquito-borne diseases.
Cynthia Myers
San Diego, California

ON A ROLL
Savannah Walters's actions [to keep tires properly inflated] are superb ("One Small Step," January/February). There's another way to save gas. It's called coasting, taking one's foot off the gas when the stoplight ahead turns red, even a block or more away. People these days keep up their speed until the last minute and then brake sharply. A slight change in driving habits could result in significant gas savings.
Ron Pinkowski
Gahanna, Ohio

CORRECTION
In "Digging Up Trouble" ("Bulletin," January/February, page 52), we misstated how much land has been stripmined in Florida. The correct amount is 460,000 acres, not square miles.

CONTACT US
Sierra welcomes letters in response to recent articles. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Write to us at 85 Second St., 2nd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105; fax (415) 977-5794; e-mail sierra.letters@sierraclub.org.


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