"What a nation values".

• Author: Ghiradella, H.
• Position: On the Ecology of Meat, GM Crops, and the Embodied Energy in a Car - Letter to the Editor

Once again I find myself in awe at the accuracy with which you have put into words what many of us have dimly perceived but were not able to articulate (Note From a Worldwatcher, September/October). You make many points, but I would like to consider one, the role of the media and in particular the advertising media.

It seems to me that when we catalog organizations or entities that pollute, we should place the advertising industry high on the list. They pollute overtly by consuming unimaginable quantities of paper, chemicals, energy, and the like. They pollute somewhat more discretely by fostering materialist values that result in additional enormous waste of resources and energy. But I believe that they practice more subtle forms of pollution that are harder to see when we try to evaluate the footprint of an industry.

My friends in Hollywood recording studios tell me that much of the finest musical and artistic talent in the nation is tied up in advertising (there's a reason all those jingles stick in one's head!). The reason may be simply that only a few artists can find adequate employment in academic or performance venues, and if the others wish to live well and support families, they must go where the money is. Whatever the cause, these talents are not available to enrich our culture and heritage. How do we see, let alone evaluate, the resulting waste of spirit?

Drawing from your Note, I suddenly realize that in pushing our...