Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO’s) are controversial for a number of reasons. Questions regarding the raising of such large numbers of animals in confined spaces, the overuse of antibiotics, and the impact on consumers of meat typically dominate the public dialogue in regards to these “factory farms.” What is often neglected is the health impact that CAFO’s have on communities, both locally and globally. These effects include typical industrial pollution, inescapable foul odors, and the contamination of soil and water. With North Carolina in particular being home to so many of these operations, there is an exigent need to better quantify the damage these industrial-scale monstrosities have on health and human safety.

"It is a sound you never forget. Perhaps because it is so unexpected in an animal weighing two tons: a piercing, unearthly keen, like an infant child crying out in pain. It is hard to describe and even harder to endure."

The people of the Georgia Coast call on you to protect the North American Right Whale. Right Whale mothers swim the length of the Atlantic Seaboard to bear their young here in their only known calving grounds. They are the most vulnerable members of a species that the State Legislature named “Georgia’s State Marine Mammal.” But the Right Whale is in serious danger of extinction at the hands of the U.S. Navy. The Navy is building a submarine warfare training range adjacent to the nursery of the most critically endangered of the large whales. Underwater explosives and sonar from surface ships and helicopters used in routine training exercises are extremely harmful to whales and dolphins. In 2005, 36 whales from a population of many thousands beached themselves on the Outer Banks after just a few days of sonar from the USS Teddy Roosevelt. The Navy says it will use sonar and underwater explosives 470 times a year over the 20-year lifespan of the warfare range. If 36 whales wash up dead on our beaches, that is 10% of the population. NOAA has said that the death of only one whale threatens the existence of this species. The massive whale and dolphin “takes” predicted by our Navy in the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Gulf of Mexico---5 million instances of temporary hearing loss, 15,000 instances of permanent hearing loss, almost 9,000 lung injuries, and more than 1,800 deaths from sonar and underwater explosives over the next five years are cruel; and they are unnecessary. The Navy could prevent death by vessel strike by installing smart buoy systems and cellphone apps to detect whales instead of binoculars. In fact, it is only by using modern satellite technology, underwater drones, and simulation techniques to train personnel that we can maintain our place as the best Navy in the world. 20-year old sonar technology is useless against modern enemy subs coated with sonar-repelling paint. By converting to modern technology, we can reduce the toll on marine life without compromising national security. You are our leaders. You have the power to stop this inhumane slaughter. We urge you to use your influence to stop the Navy from removing from the earth a magnificent creature that has been here 50 million years.

Newspapers need to stop publishing letters that deny climate change. Cliamte change is real, attested to by scientists, not ignorant clowns.

Newspapers need to stop publishing letters that deny climate change. Such letters do not add to the discussion, and prevent us from moving forward to address the serious consequences of climate change.

We have worked hard to protect US sharks from overfishing and sharks threatened with extinction posed by the shark fin trade.. US fisheries managers should manage our shark populations, not succumb to pressure by shark fishers and the shark fin trade. State shark fin trade laws do not interfere with the Magnusen Stevens Act. We support Congresspersons Jared Huffman, Grace Meng and 62 other representatives from both parties insisting that NOAA must remove the language weakening the Shark Conservation Act and State's rights to protect sharks.

Newspapers need to stop publishing letters that deny climate change.

Gasoline powered leaf blowers are noisy, negatively affect our health, and pollute our precious environment. Many are powered by two-stroke engines which can emit 30 percent of their unused gas and oil as exhaust according to the California Environmental Protection Agency. The American Lung Association states that leaf blowers "can pollute the air even more than cars." For more information, go to banblowersseattle.wordpress.com.

The Morning Joe segment started with coverage of an Op-Ed by Stuart Stevens, Romney's former campaign strategist, but quickly evolved into a one-sided discussion of fracking and renewable energy, which praised the growth of fossil fuels, supported the Keystone XL Pipeline, and ridiculed the feasibility of renewable energy sources for the next few decades. While it is not surprising Joe Scarborough always takes the pro fossil fuel side of any discussion, neither his co-host Mika nor any of his guests offered balance to the discussion and merely nodded in agreement for the majority of the conversation. One-sided media coverage is one of the reasons the public is not more aware of the dangers of fracking and natural gas production in the US, and both sides of the issue should be presented in any intelligent discussion of fracking and renewable energy.

Newspapers need to stop publishing letters that deny climate change, starting with the Las Vegas Review Journal. Anthropogenic climate change is a reality supported by the scientific community that poses an enormous threat to life on our planet. Pretending that it is anything less is irresponsible and immoral.

Newspapers need to stop publishing letters that deny climate change.

Newspapers need to stop publishing letters that deny climate change.