I've got to compliment Lee Brinson on his eloquence in rallying the masses to join the green crusade, vanquish the evil internal combustion engine and smack Hugo Chavez up the side of the head.
His "Green economy is a robust economy" even harkened up American heroes Lewis and Clark's exploration of an unspoiled West to carry the reader to environmentalist heaven. I almost donned my green hemp tee shirt to jump on my bicycle and follow.
Mr. Brinson's rhetoric, not surprisingly, was short of details on how this magical transition is to take place. Our president announced that we were in an environmental crisis and, overnight, the House miraculously turned out a 1,500-page American Clean Energy and Security Act. So grateful was the House to be saved from looming environmental doom that they passed it without reading the bill.
More importantly, no one told us what it would cost us. The Treasury Department has reluctantly admitted that this legislation will cost the average American family $1,800 a year, and the Heritage Foundation puts it at $3,000-plus a year.
The bill makes no economic sense with the country mired in a deep recession. Energy producers will be taxed and they will pass it on to consumers. We are a consumer-based economy with a real unemployment rate at about 17 percent, and that money that will not be spent to bring new jobs and economic recovery.
ACES could not come at a worse time.
Global temperatures have not increased for the last decade, yet we have pumped more CO2 into the atmosphere every year.
Man is not the culprit in global warming. We are cutting our own throats with unsubstantiated "Hope and Change."
J.V. Fitzsimmons
Hickory
Cut back on meat, reduce disease risks
We've long known that cheese and ice cream aren't health foods, but is your side salad really a health risk?
A recent report outlines the 10 foods regulated by the Food and Drug Administration that cause the most cases of food-borne illness. Cheese, eggs, ice cream, and tuna are among the riskiest foods, but the report also implicates leafy greens, tomatoes, and sprouts.
As a dietitian, I know that when otherwise healthful produce becomes contaminated, it's because it has come in contact with water tainted by animal manure or meat products. Salmonella and E. coli are intestinal bacteria, and spinach and sprouts clearly have no intestines.
A recent front-page story in The New York Times drew attention to the meat industry's role in spreading food-borne illnesses.
Consumers can help curtail everyone's risk of food-borne illness by opting for meatless meals, which would reduce the number of animals on farms.
This healthy change also helps lower the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.
Susan Levin, M.S., R.D.
Director of Nutrition Education
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
Washington, D.C.
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