Want to save the world? Change what you eat | Opinion

Free Press readers | Detroit Free Press

With scorching heat and raging wildfires in the West and torrential downpours and massive flooding in the East, global warming is not just about a gentle sea rise any more. These tragic consequences of dumping greenhouse gases into our atmosphere, call for drastic remedies.

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For starters, we should rejoin the Paris climate accords and become a world leader in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. One of the most effective ways is by changing our diet.

A 2010 United Nations report blamed animal agriculture for 19% of greenhouse gas emissions, 70% of freshwater use, and 38% of land use.

Carbon dioxide is emitted by burning forests to create animal pastures and by transporting animals. The more damaging methane and nitrous oxide are released from digestive tracts of cattle and from animal waste cesspools.

In an environmentally sustainable world, we must replace meat and dairy products in our diet with vegetables, fruits, and grains, just as we replace fossil fuels with wind, solar, and other pollution-free energy sources.

Let's start with our next supermarket visit.



Don Norwalk

Detroit

Jockeying over Mueller interview disgraceful

I am amused and disgusted by the jockeying that is going on between President Donald Trump and special counsel Robert Mueller over a potential interview.

Since when does the subject and potential target of a criminal investigation have the right to dictate the terms under which he will be interviewed by a prosecutor as well as the scope of the questions? The ongoing probe, which he has designated a witch hunt, has produced criminal indictments, cooperating witnesses and a trial involving his former campaign chairman.

If he has nothing to hide, he should willingly submit to an interview. If, on the other hand, he was involved with a foreign government in the disruption of our election process, the American people should learn the extent of his role in one of the most shameful chapters in American history.

David Levy

Farmington Hills

Pope right on death penalty

I am not Catholic, I am not Republican, but I am totally pro-life. How correct the pope is for revising the church's stand on capital punishment. I have often wondered why so many abortion opponents approve of capital punishment.

Georgia Browne

Sturgis

Tigers are an MLB farm team

By now I think most Tiger fans are finally realizing that the Detroit Tigers are the farm team for all of Major League Baseball.

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Proof: J.D. Martinez, Max Scherzer, Ian Kinsler, Justin Upton, Yoenis Cespedes, Justin Verlander, Rick Porcello, David Price, Curtis Granderson, Matt Joyce, Mike Fiers, etc., etc. All are now playing and thriving for other teams. In return, we get more minor leaguers to develop. Then repeat that process over again when they are ready for the majors, and the Tigers do not want to pay them. Their argument is that we did not win with those players not resigned. They omitted, "We didn't have a manager".

This current crop of position players here are trying, but most need developing in the minors. Thus, the "farm team" tag in Detroit. That is where they are. Developing or auditioning in the majors right here in Detroit. It's 2003 all over again. Calling it a "rebuild" only assures Al Avila an extension of his position. If an organization cannot compete and ante up with those top teams, they need to sell the team to an owner with the passion to win like the late Mike Ilitch had.

Carmen Stanza Sr.

Warren

Space Force or space farce?

President Trump has proposed adding a new sixth branch to the U.S. armed forces called the Space Force, which would be responsible for protecting national security from outer space.

My name for it would be the Space Farce, as it would be another unnecessary and expensive federal government endeavor, as an existing armed services branch could easily assume its duties.

There are far more important and immediate priorities than a military space program for our country to be concerned with, like healthcare, immigration, poverty, homelessness, infrastructure and protecting our environment and ensuring our people have clean water and air.

Kenneth L. Zimmerman

Huntington Beach, Calif.

Soviet spies posed real danger

I read with interest Mitch Albom's descriptions of "free press" and "enemy of the people" regarding President Trump's comment, "the FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!" which he first tweeted in February. More recently, he said only "FAKE NEWS," not the entire media but a "large percentage" of it, qualifies as an "enemy of the American people." You then cast moral equivalence on his remarks with Stalin and Mao!

I write to correct the comment about "McCarthy and his phony communist witch hunt" which did in fact go off the rails, but was neither a witch hunt nor were the objects of its scrutiny phony communists. The Venona documents that were released after the fall of the Soviet Union revealed that communist agents worked in the U.S. government, including media darling Alger Hiss, exposed by fellow traveler Whittaker Chambers. Albom may not realize the threat the Soviet Union and communism brought to freedom-loving Americans, but we who lived under it shall never forget it.

Revisionists in your beloved media now decry indecent exposure as Trump drops your pants. Tough. You bought it and now you're going to wear it, just like a cheap suit.

Douglas A. Beilharz

Brighton

From Honest Abe to Dishonest Don

Recently President Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said the reason the President shouldn't be interviewed for the Mueller investigation is to prevent the President from perjuring himself. How sad for this country that the president's own lawyer admits that the president has trouble telling the truth.

Abraham Lincoln was known as Honest Abe. President Richard Nixon resigned from office because of lies and a coverup of deeds intending to influence the 1972 election. How far have we fallen as a nation when our current president is Dishonest Don whose motto seems to be "I cannot tell the truth, so don't even ask me to."



Ed Trainor

Dearborn