Letters to the editor for Oct. 3

Let’s give animals a break

As a bit of an animal lover, I have been scouring the Internet for some special occasion celebrating animals. I came across an international observance called a “day for animals,” but it wasn’t quite what I expected.

I was shocked to learn that nearly 99 percent of all domesticated animals are bred and raised for food. That, unlike our cats and dogs, they get no compassion or respect from the meat and dairy industries.

Male baby chicks are suffocated in plastic garbage bags or ground up alive because they lay no eggs. Groups of laying hens are packed into small wire cages that tear out their feathers. Breeding sows spend their entire lives pregnant in metal cages. Dairy cows are artificially impregnated each year, and their babies are snatched from them at birth, so people can drink their milk.

Like many others, I always thought of cows, pigs, and chickens as simply “food on the hoof.” Now, I realize that each dollar I spend on meat and dairy products at the checkout counter subsidizes animal atrocities. I will be replacing animal products in my diet with the new healthful, cruelty-free plant-based meats and dairy items offered by my supermarket.

U.S. needs to take lead in reducing global warming

President Trump’s reluctance to support the Kyoto Protocol and dismiss current climate science is incredibly short-sighted and will have extensive repercussions on all phases of our lives.

We need to be the leader, encouraging all countries to follow us in developing renewable energy sources to help mitigate existing acceleration of global warming. We cannot isolate ourselves from this issue —there is too much at stake. This is a multi-national problem needing multi-national solutions. Currently, the U.S. is one of the largest contributors to this problem and we are doing far too little.

A main argument from those opposing the obvious (and the science) is the adverse economic impacts to our economy from the transition to clean energy. I ask you, what are the current (and future) costs from severe flooding, intense hurricanes, changes in the productivity of the oceans, droughts and food supplies, floods and rising sea levels? The environmental impacts will be immense and future costs incalculable.

Let’s think back to the 1970s. We made progress in adopting legislation to help preserve our natural heritage: Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act. It was a fight, as I recall (and still is). I remember it well.

This is a much bigger issue and we are currently reaping the results of our short-sighted dependence on fossil fuel. Let’s lead the charge for developing renewable energy. Get out and vote for those that will free us from isolation and believe in science.