June 2009 Archives

Is carbon being held hostage by politician? It would certainly seem so given the ground swell of popular political action in favor of reducing human activity that produces carbon dioxide. However, there is an ever growing number of reputable and heavily credentialed scientists who take issue with the popular pronouncements of doom from carbon.

I am not a scientist and therefore, not qualified to pass judgment on the conclusions of qualified scientists. But as a fairly intelligent person, a taxpayer, and a voter, I have to ask questions about expensive public policy based on less than agreed upon science. 

We are witnessing a time of ecopolitics where human emotions and political preferences are trumping the scientific method. Consider the following:

The famous "hockey stick" graph that launched this global warming panic and was largely the underpinning of Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" has since been totally discredited and subsequently removed from the proceedings of the U.N.'s International Panel on Climate Change" (IPCC). Noted Scientists such as Dr. Edward Wegman, former chairman of the Committee on Applied and Theoretical Statistics of the National Academy of Science, have proven that the "hockey stick graph" is the result of incorrect statistical analysis.

A British Court has ruled that if Al Gore's book, "An Inconvenient Truth", is used in public schools then they must be informed of "11 troubling inaccuracies."; 

According to Dr. William Happer's U.S. Senate testimony on February 25, 2009, there has been no increase in global temperatures during the last 10 years and the global warming cycle started in 1800, long before any appreciable carbon increases in the atmosphere due to human activity. There are many more incidents by credible sources of serious disagreement with IPCC conclusions that are used to justify enormous public outlays of the people's money to attempt to influence the world's "carbon footprint"

What troubles me most with this issue is the almost total willingness of communities and their elected officials to accept the need to reduce our carbon output regardless of the cost and the cadre of scientists who disagree with the "supporting" science. The "green movement" transcends the need for truth. Indeed, it is a religious crusade that invades our lives with proselytization in lieu of settled science.

-- Charles J. Hayes

 Takoma Park, Md.

Kudos to Compassion Over Killing and Takoma Park for creating Takoma Veg Week. Whether we're concerned about animals or the environment, we can make a difference simply by eating a plant-based diet--and making the switch has never been easier. 

Vegetarianism is growing in popularity as more people learn of the environmental degradation and inherent cruelty in modern farming. Restaurants, grocery stores, and dining halls across the country are meeting the demand for vegetarian foods. Even in our own community, there is a plethora of choices--from the TPSS Co-op to the newly opened Roscoe's.  It's no surprise that a month later Senator Raskin is still a vegetarian! 

Even though Takoma's VegWeek is over, you can keep protecting animals and the environment by eating vegetarian foods. Compassion Over Killing offers a free vegetarian restaurant guide to DC on VegDC.com.

-- Veronica Valente

Takoma Park, Md.

Thank you for the May 2009 article, "Takoma Park Veg Week." It is encouraging to see our town's rich history of advocating non-violence being represented by so many levels of government. With earlier declarations opposing the force-feeding of birds, and the confining of egg-laying hens to wire cages, Mayor Bruce Williams' signing of the proclamation establishing a week of vegetarian awareness, typifies Takoma Park's spirit of compassion. Senator Jamie Raskin's and Delegate Tom Hucker's pledge to go veg for the week of April 24-30 is another positive step towards raising awareness of the negative impacts animal agriculture has on our health, the environment, and the animals. 

-- Rose Nealon

Takoma Park, Md. 

While I almost always enjoy the message in Citizen Bill each month, the implication of the cartoon a couple of issues back on  our Nuclear Free Zone was off base. The cartoon's commentary states that the free zone was "enacted as a protest against the bellicose Reagan administration." 

This is absolutely untrue. I helped spearhead the local free zone movement and personally wrote the ordinance language back in l983. The motive behind the effort was to alert the public to the possibility of nuclear annihilation with the growing number of nuclear weapons worldwide and at no time was there ever discussion or even mention of our effort being directed at the Reagan administration. 

The cartoon further states "Some now question the zone's relevance." Well, not only isn't our law a throwback to the l980s,  it represents instead an ongoing mission with an ever changing dynamic. To wit, two years ago the Free Zone ordinance was expanded to give us, the Nuclear Free Zone Committee, the task of monitoring and reporting to the City Council the threat to Takoma Park of the transport of high-level nuclear waste. 

And just this year, the Council has asked us to investigate the possibility of making our city nuclear power-free. 

-- Jay Levy, chair

Nuclear Free Takoma Park Committee.