Letters to the Editor 04/23/2008

Editor's note: In the April 16 Letters to the Editor, Terry Weygandt challenged the data behind a portion of Joseph Duerrmeyer's column, "Driving green not as simple as it seems." Joseph Duerrmeyer responds below.

The opinion piece titled "Driving green" was written to encourage responsible citizens to look beyond the surface when it comes to buying green. It explores the environmental innovations at the Ford plant, which is the only ISO certified green automobile manufacturing plant in the world, and discusses the hybrid and its possible future based on international experience.

Mr. Weygandt's comments about the accuracy of the CNW report may or may not be true. I had not seen the report until this week nor do I listen to Rush Limbaugh. My sole comment about the Hummer was that it takes more energy and creates more pollution to build a Prius than it does a Hummer or any conventional SUV. That fact is not disputed in any of the reports that are available for download from The Pacific Institute, nor apparently by Toyota who has remained silent on the subject for well over a year.

As a counter to The Pacific Institute debunking of the CNW report, CNW issued a thorough response calling into question the methods and numerous assumptions made by The Pacific Institute in their allegedly biased paper. I see no reason to become embroiled in the debate that is still being waged between CNW and The Pacific Institute over who is being the most accurate and least biased.

The nickel issue is not really open to debate. Nickel is a known carcinogen, according to the EPA (both the USA and Canadian agencies), and should be avoided by humans. The Inco plant may have made some strides toward reducing ancillary sulfur pollutants, but the end product is still a known carcinogen. Toyota still buys a 1,000 tons a year of a known carcinogen and puts it in the cars it sells, where we put our children, and it eventually enters the environment. Inco is still the target of class action suits over their operations and, according to the government of Ontario, Canada, is "unresponsive" to community concerns.

Visit http://www.environmentaldefence.ca and use their search feature. This returns more than 200 papers on the pollution problem at Sudbury which still exists.

Here is the link for one of the lawsuits filed against Inco. The Canadian government was also named but settled out of court: http://www.heydary.com/resources/caselaw/pearson_v_inco_ltd.html.

Another good link (from a mining advocacy group but still useful) is: http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=940.

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To the Editor:

There should be no question as to the importance of the burn-to-learn training component for our emergency service personnel. Men and women in our community are putting their lives in jeopardy to save life and the property of others. Any educational piece that increases their odds for safety while performing the task at hand is a worthwhile opportunity.

Last year our district handled seven residential structure fires, with a property loss of near $3.5 million dollars. As we have seen in The Nugget, we are on a path to bypass that number this year. As our population grows and we continue to build farther into the forest interface, we could face more demand for experienced personnel to handle our fire emergency needs.

This means new volunteers coming forward that will need every bit of training available to them. Learning to fight a real structure fire in a controlled environment is certainly a viable answer. Let's use the tools we are given, including "burn to learn."

Jeff McDonald

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To the Editor:

"Expelled - No Intelligence Allowed."

Our family went to see this documentary movie this weekend, which is about the freedom to explore the truths discovered in science, wherever those may lead.

They took the time to explain what the scientific theory of Intelligent Design is, as well as how it differs from both Darwinism and Creationism. There is a "wall" between these two ideas both historically and today, which affects the true spirit of science.

Scientists with both perspectives are interviewed and asked questions which challenge them. If you want to know more, I encourage you to take the time and go see this movie as well.

Thanks for your consideration,

Monika Piatt

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To the Editor:

When Sisters Video was broken into last week, the money stolen was Girl Scout cookie money. Juan Sanchez, through the video store, has been helping the high school troop by selling their excess cookies.

The likelihood of getting our money back is slim to none. But if the community could help out by buying cookies, Trefoil and All Abouts, then maybe all will not be lost. We will have to schedule a car wash or something to make up the stolen $65.

Evelyn Brush

Cadette Troop 711