The Springfield News-Leader from Springfield, Missouri • Page E7

Sunday News-Leader NewsLeader.com August 2, 2015 7E LETTERS Preference is given to brief (under 300 words), direct letters. We verify submissions, so include name, address and phone number. Email submissions to letters The News-Leader reserves the right to edit submissions for potential libel, accuracy, objectionable content, clarity, civility and length. Letters must provide sources for specific data. Today's editorial cartoon CHECK the FACTS Editor's note: This Sunday feature will try to vet common misconceptions or false statements in the news.

The answer comes from FactCheck.org, which is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, and other sources. FOOD DESERT Adopting 4 carbon farming' could help environment and feed hungry people and put this organic material back into soil to form systems that produce abundantly with little maintenance and no need for fertilizers or pesticides. The benefits of wide-scale adoption of permaculture methods in Springfield exceed just reversing our carbon footprint. We could pay people to harvest food and start new food forests rather than weed-eating. We could fill food banks and grocery stores with cheap, nutritious food, and create beautiful landscapes that far surpass the beauty of turf and brittle grass that requires undue maintenance and resources.

We could also be generating enough food to feed anyone who is hungry, with an in Golden Pen Award Vietnam Wall Moving visit stirs memories Robert Oliver Nixa The visit to the Vietnam Wall was very moving even though I had seen it before in Washington, D.C. Most people I talked to seemed to be unaware that America's involvement started much earlier (than 1965). In January 1955 while stationed in Japan, I received orders for Vietnam, but since I was a newlywed, another soldier volunteered and was allowed to take my place. Almost exactly 10 years later in 1965, 1 did have to go. When I arrived in Vietnam there were 23,000 troops.

When I left one year later, there were over 100,000. Ultimately there were 500,000. In the early days of the war, General Westmoreland would greet new arrivals, a practice that had to be discontinued after the buildup. A favorite expression of his: "If your gonna play on my team, you gotta carry the ball." Revenue Tobacco tax is no different Robert E. Hackley Republic Regarding the Voice of the Day by Republican State Representative Eric Burlison: Eric criticizes Democrat Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster and Democrat Missouri Treasurer Clint Zweif el for proposing an increase in tobacco tax revenue to go directly into the funding of higher education without the control of the Republican House and Senate.

It is my understanding Eric and past representatives have had control of past and present tobacco funds and gambling tax resources. These tax resources were to be used for educational noble purposes. But for the average and politically informed citizens of Missouri, the tracking of these tax resources have disappeared into the proverbial stellar "black hole!" Eric's article is apparently a case of "the pot calling the kettle black!" Higher education Innovation keeps costs down Brittany Wagner Education Research Associate, Show-Me Institute, St. Louis College affordability is a concern shared by many young Mis-sourians. Gov.

Jay Nixon announced an increase in the maximum award amount for Access Missouri scholarships. Scholarships will increase for 50,000 students from $660 to $850 for students attending two-year schools and from $1,500 to $1,850 for students attending four-year colleges. The goal of reducing student debt is noble, but it is worth asking: Is increasing scholarships the best way to do this? What about trying to bring down the cost of college in the first place? Increasing scholarships simply shifts the costs from students to taxpayers; why not shrink the cost for both? There are many reasons for rising college costs, but one is that many students have to take extra courses be- JOE HELLER In Missouri, 82 percent of all residents support passage of a two-person crew bill, according to a survey conducted by DFM Research on behalf of the SMART Transportation Division's Missouri State Legislative Board. You can find the entire survey here: www.smartmoslb.org. A crew of two people a certified engineer and a certified conductor is without question a safer practice than relying on a single operator, and it should be the law of the land in Missouri and nationwide.

America Nation faces old, new dangers Martin Capages Jr. Springfield When did it become politically incorrect to feel patriotic about America? Who decided that the Constitution with its Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence are now irrelevant? Why did our country get split so evenly into liberal and conservative factions that can be manipulated so easily by a small minority of politicians and special interests? It is time to stand up and be proud of being an American again. It is time for journalists to once again become the objective protectors of all Americans, not just a vocal minority of special interests that jump between the liberal and conservative factions and control the direction of our country. The next president needs to be Reagan-ist, a person who is proud of America and not an apologist for our past missteps in history. It needs to be a person who is morally honest.

Now we have new, old dangers in the world. By old I mean we have seen radical Islam before, even in 600 AD. Freedom as we know it does not exist under that religious perversion. We worry about keeping that evil from making their own nuclear arms and we try to negotiate with this evil. An evil that believes it does not need to honor any agreement with a non-believer.

And, they don't need to build a bomb. They can just buy one from North Korea, who got theirs from Pakistan. There may not be enough time for those of the Muslim faith to rise up against radical Islam. They are afraid of it much like the German people were afraid of the Nazis. It took the whole world led by America to correct that problem.

It is clear that there is no room for Christianity or any other belief or non-belief in Islam. It becomes more clear with each passing day and each severed head. It is time for America to stand up and lead again. Mike Huckabee claimed that a single volcanic eruption "will contribute more than 100 years of human activity" toward global warming. This is far from accurate.

Humans actually pump upward of 100 times as much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year than all the world's volcanoes combined. In an interview with Katie Couric of Yahoo News, the former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate said he thinks "the climate's been changing over the entire history of the earth." Couric asked him if he believes that man contributes to global warming. He responded: "He probably does, but a volcano, in one blast, will contribute more than 100 years of human activity. So when people are worried about it you know?" Huckabee gives volcanoes far too much credit. According to a summary of evidence by the U.S.

Geological Survey, the entire collection of volcanoes around the world emits an average of 0.26 gigatons of C02 per year. (A gigaton is equal to one billion metric tons.) Humans today, on the other hand, emit over 30 gigatons every year, from power plants and factories, cars and airplanes, agriculture, and other activities. According to the Energy Information Administration, humans worldwide emitted 32.3 gigatons of C02 in 2012, the most recent year for which complete data is available. So that means, humans collectively are responsible for nearly 125 times as much C02 entering the atmosphere every year as volcanoes. Among several published studies that yielded the 0.26 gigaton average, the absolute highest possible value was 0.44 gigatons per year, according to the USGS.

Even at that extreme end of the range, humans emit more than 73 times as much as volcanoes. But Huckabee said "in one blast," so what about when there is a single, large eruption? The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, in the Philippines, was one of the largest in modern history. According to the USGS, this eruption released 0.05 gigatons of C02, or about 50 million metric tons. Again, humans emit more than 30 billion tons of C02 every year, let alone every 100 years. Another famously large eruption, the 1980 explosion of Mount St.

Helens in Washington, released even less C02 than Pinatubo, in spite of its fearsome and deadly local impacts. That eruption released only about 0.01 gigatons of C02, according to the USGS. As the USGS says (using 2010 C02 emissions), you would need 700 Pinatubo's or 3,500 Mount St. Helens' eruptions, to match a single year of human-caused carbon dioxide emissions. To get to 100 years of human emissions, as Huckabee said? That would take 70,000 Pinatubo or 350,000 Mount St.

Helens eruptions. Though the volcanoes of the world do contribute a reasonable amount to the C02 in the atmosphere about the equivalent of New Zealand's contribution or about half that of the Philippines (its people, not its volcanoes) their more important contribution in terms of global climate is sulfur dioxide, or S02. This molecule acts as an aerosol and reflects sunlight away from the earth, helping cool it down. In other words, Huckabee has it backward: volcanoes actually act to tamp down human-caused warming, not to exacerbate it. Volcanic eruptions can be powerful events.

They certainly can change the world's climate in extreme cases. But Huckabee's claim about their contribution to global warming is little more than hot air. Editor's Note: SciCheck is made possible by a grant from the Stanton Foundation. Dave Levitan, factcheck.org Editor's note: This Sunday feature aims to give special recognition to a letter (under 300 words) that stands out for impact, style or in another intriguing way. As a small-business owner, I am invested in making sure Springfield thrives.

I am writing this letter in response to the article on food deserts and to start a discussion on the need for businesses and individuals to think beyond just reducing their carbon footprint. We need to learn to float. "Carbon farming" is helping soil retain carbon, thus creating more plant food by boosting photosynthesis. By using permaculture methods and offering free gardening classes, Springfield could se quester more carbon than it releases. Studies report these systems can create a substantial increase in crop yields and decrease fossil-fuel emissions by 5 to 15 percent per year (Lai, R.

2004, Science). We need it in every inch of spare soil, backyards to front yards, in front of businesses, around sidewalks, in traditional farm spaces, and in wild areas. We need to recycle the thousands of trees cut from power lines cause they are not ready for college work. For example, the remediation rate for Normandy High School graduates was 51.5 percent in 2014. Some Missouri students may use these scholarship funds to pay for remedial coursework.

Thus, taxpayers are paying twice to teach the same stuff, in high school and again in college. A few universities have experimented with Massive Open Online Courses that offer students free access to lectures, readings and course-work. This innovative approach has the potential to keep costs down and allow students to acquire skills at their own pace. Everybody wins. Instead of further subsidizing the rising cost of college, Missouri should encourage this type of creativity in the higher education market.

Railway Safe Freight Act should pass Ken Menges SMART Transportation Division Missouri Legislative Director, Jefferson Gty Sept. 30 will mark the 150th anniversary of the first train to A single gunshot to the head. These are among the greatest fears of an African-American man to be arrested for a crime you did not commit or abused by law enforcement and not be believed, or not live to tell it at all. As a boy who grew up in the Deep South, I know the fear that can become seared into your psyche based on our history of domestic terrorism. At some point, we all learned the Emmett Till story.

He was a 14-year-old Chicago boy visiting relatives in Money, Miss. As the story goes, he allegedly whistled at or flirted with a white woman in a store. Days later, Till was kidnapped from the home he was credibly biodiverse selection of nutritious, high-value foods. I think we can have an amazing future ahead of us as a species, but we have to respond to the truth in front of us in innovative ways. We need to want a better future.

What better place to start than in Springfield? -Steven Small wood, Springfield cross Missouri from St. Louis to Kansas City. Missouri shares a rich history with our nation's railroads, as Kansas City and St. Louis are the second- and third-largest rail hubs in the nation. The risk of injury and death has been a constant companion of railroad work, and our union has always made safety its top priority.

With approximately 4,400 miles of main railroad tracks, more than 7,000 public and private crossings and nearly 450 trains operating daily in our state, Missouri residents need assurances that our communities are safe. The safety of communities surrounding rail lines has garnered significant attention in the wake of several deadly train accidents. Perhaps most notably, in 2013, a train operated by a single crew member derailed and exploded in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, leveling the town and killing 47 people. While the Canadian government took immediate action following that tragedy to ensure that all trains are operated by at least two people, legislation introduced in Congress to address this critical safety concern known as H.R. 1763, the Safe Freight Act has yet to receive a hearing on Capitol HiU.

staying in, tortured, shot in the head and sunk to the bottom of the Tallahatchie River. His mother chose to show the world his damaged body at his funeral, an image that sparked the civil rights movement. Trained professionals All my life, I have been a defender of law enforcement, even to the point that some of my acquaintances call me naive. I have never been stopped by law enforcement without cause. I have never been arrested.

I have terrific relationships with friends of all races in law enforcement. It would be unfair to lump one officer's actions in with those well-trained professionals who serve and protect every day. McCauley Continued from Page 6E ing to answer the questions from Tensing. He handed Tensing an unopened bottle of liquor in his confusion. The questions continued.

A driver's license was demanded, repeatedly. More confusion. "I didn't even do nothing," Du-Bose pleaded. More questions. An angry cop.

A black man stopped while driving a car with a missing front license plate. A "chicken crap" reason to pull a person over, Deters said in the news conference. Even so, it's important to acknowledge that the experiences of some of my family members, friends and others have been different. Those who are raising little African-American boys can seem especially perplexed, having to decide when to have "the talk," or to allow their boys to have their innocence for a little longer. But for that video camera, a moment of unspeakable violence might have been passed off as a good cop doing his job.

And today's conversation would have been a whole lot different. Byron McCauley is a community content coach and editorial board member at The Cincinnati Enquirer, where this was first published..