> SOUTHERN INDIANA — Energy consumption part one



We have had deaths in mines in the U.S. and in China and deaths on the oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico.

In addition, there has been pollution of our oceans and air, and melting ice caps have created rising water on the Alaskan coastline, which has forced villages to move inland. We, each, need to ask ourselves about our consumption of energy.

Even though China and India are closing in on the U.S. in energy consumption, the U.S. still uses a disproportionate amount of energy. For more than 50 years, the U.S. has vied for control of the flow of oil in the Middle East. Armed conflicts and the deaths of many — from the Middle East and America — has been a constant during this time.

Recently, I met a man from Crestwood, Ky. He was in a small sport utility vehicle and I was on my mo-ped. He told me that he also had a mo-ped and rode it five miles to work each day — which equates to 10 miles a day of not driving a 2-ton vehicle.

We all can’t ride mo-peds every day due to traffic or distance. What we all can do is find alternate means of transportation to save gas — buses, carpooling, bicycles, mo-peds, motorcycles and scooters.

Habits can be changed as well. Instead of impulsive drives to go for ice cream or a loaf of bread, make planned weekly trips to the supermarket. We will all get caught off guard and forget to pick something up, but the more we plan ahead, the less likely we will use a 2-ton vehicle for a loaf of bread.

The more we all do, the more we lessen our need to import oil or drill for oil, and the less death and pollution as a result of our ravenous consumption of oil.

Let’s remember the men who died on BP’s oil rig when we get in our cars. Let’s remember the thousands of miles of polluted waterways we now have when we start our engines. And, finally, let’s remember the loss of jobs on the Gulf coast.

— Steve Fetter, Jeffersonville



Illegal immigrants should be kept out



I applaud the Arizona law of not letting illegal immigrants into the country. I wish every state in the union was like Arizona.

However, it should be the people in Washington, D.C., who make all the laws, and the people of the federal government who ought to enforce the laws, including not letting other people from other parts of the world into our nation.

We are losing our own nation as well as our own livelihoods each and every day, all because these illegal immigrants want to live in our nation.

If Washington, D.C., would put a stop to letting in illegal immigrants and enforce the law, maybe, just maybe, America might become a better nation. If we truly call ourselves Americans, then we truly need to fight to take America back and tell these illegal immigrants “no” they are not allowed here in America.

— Ron Stewart, Jeffersonville