Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25241
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE @ DRILLING FOR OIL Americans know how to stir up a debate, and what could be SINGLE LAYER TECHNOLOGY ThI GEAR REPLACES THE NEED FOR FLEECE AND SHELL. more in the forefront of issues environmentally speaking than the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Is there something that I am missing here? Can we not see the downside to such activity? The fact remains that Americans can take, take, take. We do this better than any other people. There must be a limit to our consumption of oil and oil related products. Knowing the numbers presented on page 56 brings a tear to my eye. There is no value to most sitting still, breathing, and taking in something so precious as our natural environment. Even i f it were free, most Americans would never say "thank you." MICHAEL F. BROWN CHICAGO A Polartec® Power Shield jacket that insulates you and repels wind and water. T " I just Finished reading the "Drilling for Oil" article in your latest issue. I closed the magazine to see an ad encourag- ing me to buy the largest SUV I've ever seen. I had al ready read your editor's introductory letter at the beginning of the magazine. I found the ad on back highly hypocritical. Sorry if th is sounds rough, but you are promoting on your back cover what you seem to be discouraging in your article. I thought the article was great and so is your magazine. It's just your media placement is twisted. MELISSA VIA EMAIL Offers superior breathability and 4-way stretch for ultimate comfort. Interesting! Yellowstone is 3.472 square miles protected . ANWR is 29,678 square miles protected_ Are you trying to tell me the 3.124 square miles they need to drill is going to ruin it? Do you rea lly believe that the oil industry would spend billions of dollars just for six months of oil? I remember when they opened the North slope you people said the same th ing and 1lere it is over 20 years and they're still pumping. I don't know where you got your mileage Figure for the suv, it must be a tiny Honda. I own a 4x4 truck and it gets 17 miles to the gallon . But at least I don't worry about getting run over by a semi. MOOSE25 VIA EMAIL Exclusively at REI~ (' Love the Mag! Ever since the last days of Escape magazine, you've been the last bastion of hope for us traveling wan- derlust types out here in the world, at least in Yank land that is. I just have one problem with your Drilling for Oil issue. I am an Alaskan and I am also one of the few who have fought to keep the oil lobby from drowning us out up there in the land of the big oil dividend. But the problem I have with your latest issue is your advertisers directly contribute to the problem why there is any discussion about drilling for more oil in Alaska in the First place! Now I hate to label you hypocrites when you are donating funds from your issue to help the environment, but couldn't your ethics have been a bit more in line with a magazine that's globally conscious? I know you have to sell magazines too, but the SUV thing in Ameri ca is probably the biggest problem why we waste over 25 percent of the world's oil, so don't you think telling everyone they should run out and buy and SUV is not such a good thing for us all? Don't want to harp on it because I do love your magazine after all, but from a guy from the outside looking in-America has its ethics and its environ- mental morals all in a big mess right now. Keep up the great writing all the same! Cheers! PAUL NICKODEM ALASKAN NOW LIVING IN HEIDELBERG, GERMANY (Nope ... not an SUV in sight, unless I go near a US base) BIKING AUSTRALIA WITH HELMET In the Joel Frushone article entitled "In Search of the Open Road," it was recommended, that adventurers "Always carry ... a knit or baseball cap." This was good advice and the writer should have left it at that. However the writer recom- mended "_ .. a knit or baseball cap for wearing under your helmet." No helmet in the world has been designed to be worn with a "cap" underneath. It has been a long road in the effort to promote helmet use. Despite concerted efforts by helmet manufactur- ers, getting cyclists to wear helmets properly has proved to be even more difficult. Helmet manufacturers warn to never wear anything under a helmet. It should also be considered, that cyclists may purchase a helmet that will accommodate a "cap" under- neath, only to have a helmet that does not fit properly when a "cap" is not employed. Typically, the consumer purchases the right size but once the "cap" is added the helmet is almost always out of position-of-greatest-effectiveness. TERRY STERN VIA EMAIL TRAIN TRAVEL As a life long rai lfan I greatly enjoyed you recent article on t rain travel. One minor point I would like to address. The song City of New Orleans was made popular by Arlo Guthrie, but was written by my friend, the late, great songwriter and performer, Steve Goodman. Ride on Stevie! ALAN R. FINE DENVER, COLORADO PLEASE SEND LETTERS, COMMENTS AND IDEAS FOR PUBLICATION IN b I u e BY POST: 611 BROADWAY NEW YORK, NY, 1001 2, USA ATTENTION: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR/AMY SCHRIER BY EMAIL: LETTERS@BLUEMAGAZINE.COM LE.TTERS MAY 8E EDITED FOR SPACE AND CLARITY