NEWS TIP?.
Phone: 6ol.928.48o2
Email: news@stoneeountyenterprise.eom
PINION
Wednesday, July 17, 2o13
YOUR OPINIONS
A response to Senator Wicker
Politicians like Roger Wicker challenge the scienc of
climate change with no empirical evidence. They use
common myths and talking points to keep you, the peo-
ple, from calling on them to take action. When econo-
mists fight over whether or not the economy is crashing,
everyone demands action. When every scientist in the
world warns congress that the climate is crashing, noth-
ing happens. Why? There's money to be made from the
one issue, but not the other.
If you have questions about medicine, you ask a doctor,
not a politician. If you have a question about global
warming, ask a scientist. The following statements are
universally accepted facts, as real as the 28-foot storm
surge that pummeled Biloxi in 2o05.
If you have questions about medicine, you ask a doctor,
not a politician. If you have a question about global
warming, ask a scientist. These are universally accepted
facts, provided by NASA, IPCC and NOAA.
FACT: 97 percent of climate experts, which include
physicists, chemists, oceanographers and the like, agree
that climate change is happening and that humans are
the cause (NASA).
FACT: Climate change is not a belial system or some-
thing be "believed in" anymore than ?eople "believe in"
gravity - it is science, not politics, pure and simple.
FACT: The Earth's climate has already risen by about 2
degrees Fahrenheit in the last z5o years, which is higher,
not lower, than the conservative estimates by the IPCC
(IPCC). Think of the Earth like it's your body: when you
get a 2 degree fever, you start to feel queasy and perhaps
even take off work. At a 6 degree fever, the conservative
estimates of how much more warming we are in store
for, your brain begins to melt and you slip into a coma
then die.
FACT: The sun's energy has dedined in the last 40
years while temperatures continue to rise. This is not the
sun (NASA).
FACT: The concentration of carbon dioxide, a potent
heat-trapping gas, is now the highest it's been in more
than 65o,ooo years. If the climate were behaving natu-
rally, or if man had never existed, our planet would be
getting colder, not hotter. It's getting hotter because we
continue to pump carbon that was meant to be stored
inside the earth back into the sky (NASA). If you think
carbon gas can't be dangerous, sit in your closed garage
with your car engine on for a few hours.
FACT: Keystone XL could cause an additional z-2
degree Fahrenheit warming in itself- the single most
polluting carbon-based resource known to man (Hanson
2o12). Not to mention the ecological impacts of pollu-
tion, leakages and inevitable spills. Think BP 2ore -
times 50.
FACT: NOT acting on climate change has already cost
the U.S. more than $1 trillion - $8z billion for Hurricane
Katfina alone. And, yes, hurricanes are getting worse and
will continue to become more severe as ocean tempera-
tures continue to rise (FEMA).
FACT: We are running out of oil and coal, and they will
continue to become more expensive as their rarity
increases. The cost of wind per-unit energy is actually
lower than coal when you remove the $500 billion of
your tax dollars that have gone to keep the prices down.
This is not some government-aided hoax meant to line
the pockets of scientists (who don't make much money,
by the way) - deniers of climate change are the only peo-
ple who stand to profit. All you have to do is look at who
is funding their campaigns. Always follow the money.
I work between 5o-7o hours per week for less than the
average teacher's salary because I love my job, not
because I want to wreck the economy - a slanderous
accusation toward an entire group of scientists. The
Earth will survive this radical change - the question is
whether or not we survive with it.
Visit climate.nasa.gov for more information.
Rebekah Jones is an atmospheric physicist and climate
expert at Louisiana State University. She welcomes your
questions at RJONn2@LSU.EDU.
Rebekah Jones
M.S. Louisiana State University
BA. Syracuse University
Got An Opinion?
The Stone County Enterprise encourages its read-
ers to submit letters to the editor about issues dis-
cussed in the newspaper or that are relevant to the
community. Letters may be sent by mail to PO Box
157, Wiggins, MS 39577, or dropped off at the news-
paper offices: 143 S. First St., Wiggins, or sent by
email: editor@stonecountyenterprise.com All letters
sent my mail, email or dropped off at the office
must be signed and contain a telephone number
and address for verification purposes. No unsigned
or anonymously-written letter to the editor will be
published. The Stone County Enterprise reserves
the right to proofread or edit letters to the editor.
The Enterprise also reserves the right to refuse to
publish any letter. The views expressed in letters to
the editor are those of the writers and do not neces-
sarily reflect the views of the Stone County
Enterprise or its staff.
Wicker supports long-term student loan reform
Senate Democrats Continue to Block Bipartisan Solutions
manship.
As a recent
Washington Post edito-
rial put it, "Lawmakers
should reject
this pathetic,
non-solution
and put their
effort instead
into finalizing a
compromise
plan that is well
within their
reach." Needless
Obstructionism
That is exactly
what many
Republicans
and Democrats
are calling for Senate
Majority Leader Harry
Reid to do. Rather than
kick the can down the
road, widely supported
plans to lower student
loan rates by linking
them to market rates
would help students and
shield taxpayers from
future costs. Market-
based solutions would
also remove Washington
from the business of
arbitrarily fixing these
rates in the first place.
Permanent reform
makes budget sense,
too. According to the
independent
Congressional Budget
Office, taxpayers will
lose an estimated $95
billion on student loans
over the next o years
under the current sys-
tem. Last year's post-
ponement of the rate
hike for just one year
came with a
price tag of
nearly $6 bil-
lion.
So far,
Leader Reid
has refused to
either
the bipartisan
Senate bill or
the plan
U.S. Senator passed by
the House
Roger Wicker of
Representatives for a
Senate vote. Unlike the
proposal from Senate
Democrats, these plans
would lower all new stu-
dent loan rates, not just
the rates for newly
issued subsidized
Stafford loans.
Much of the recent
public attention on stu-
dent loans has been
fueled by the rate
increase on these
Stafford loans. On July
1, the rates jumped from
3.4 percent to 6.8 per-
cent, affecting approxi-
mately 7 million stu-
dents likely to take out
this type of loan for the
next academic year.
Putting Students First
There is no excuse for
Senate Democrats to
play politics on this
issue. Planning ahead
for college is a difficult
process, and students
and families should be
able to make these
important decisions
without worrying about
uncertainty in
Washington. The
Obama Economy and
costly premiums under
the President's health-
care law have com-
pounded the challenges
that young Americans
face. Financing their
education should .not
add to this burden.
If Senate Democrats
are serious about educa-
tion affordability and
accessibility, they must
be willing to work
together and with
Republicans to ensure
students have lowest
borrowing costs possi-
ble. It is long past time
to abandon proposals
designed to fail.
Solutions that can have
an enduring impact are
ready and waiting for a
Senate vote.
Roger Wicker is a mem-
ber of the U. S. Senate. His
opinions are not necessari-
ly those of the Stone
County Enterprise.
Finding a way to curb
the drastic spike in stu-
dent loan rates should
have been an easy bipar-
tisan win. Republicans,
Democrats, and the
White House agree that
students and families
deserve lasting reform -
not annual showdowns
in Congress every time
the student loan rate is
scheduled to rise. A
group of Senate
Democrats, however,
continues to choose the
path of most resistance,
blocking long-term
measures in favor of a
shortsighted, band-aid
approach.
'Pathetic, Non-
Solution,' Says
D.C.'s Post
On July lo, a proposal
from Democratic leaders
to extend the expiring
student loan rates for
one year failed to earn
enough votes in the
Senate. The stopgap
measure would have
addressed only about 40
percent of all new feder-
al student loans, cost
taxpayers $4.3 billion,
and put in place a per-
manent tax hike with
only temporary results.
Within the year,
Congress would face
another deadline - sub-
jeeting the issue to even
more political games-
Taking Embarrassing to a New Level
Every administration hits rough waters
By Donald Kaul Obama is not on a roll. in the international the major countries of
His good times may
not have been spectacu-
lar, but he did win re-
election by a wide mar-
gin and things were
looking up. That seems
a distant memory now.
If he had nothing more
than the disastrous
Edward Snowden affair
to deal with, it would be
enough.
Not only did the
youngish intelligence
worker reveal that we
are building the capabil-
ity of spying on every
man, woman, and child
in the nation, the docu-
ments he released
showed we are also spy-
ing on our best friends
and allies.
Doesn't everybody do
that, you ask? Perhaps,
but to have it revealed
to the global community
via a leak from our most
secretive government
agency takes "embar-
rassing" to a new level.
And to have Snowden
flee to Russia, of all
places, allowing
Vladimir (The Thug)
Putin to withhold grant-
ing asylum unless
Snowden promised to
stop revealing U.S. intel-
ligence secrets...well,
that's an irony almost
beyond endurance.
We have, in short,
become a laughingstock
community. But that's
not all.
The so-called "Arab
Spring," which we wel-
comed as the healthy
introduction of democ-
racy into autocratic
Middle Eastern and
North African countries,
has gone completely off
the rails.
The popular uprising
in Syria has degenerated
into what amounts to a
full-scale civil war. We
now face the choice of
getting involved in it -
which we definitely do
not want - or looking
like a pitiful helpless
giant.
Egypt had its own pop-
ular uprising against the
military strongman (and
our ally) Hosni
Mubarak, replacing him
with an elected Islamic
leader.
We weren't altogether
happy about that, but
we made approving
noises in support of
democracy. Within a
year, the Islamists had
screwed things up so
badly that they inspired
another popular upris-
ing, followed by a mili-
tary coup. Naturally,
people want Obama to
do something about it.
They just don't say
what.
If that weren't enough,
Europe are threatening
to break off important
trade negotiations with
us because of our spying +
on everybody.
On the home front, the
conservative Supreme
Court has just made it
easier for states to sup-
press voting by the poor
and people of color.
Obstructionist House
Republicans are treating
the immigration bill, on
which Obama has spent
so much of his political
capital, as their favorite
hostage.
I have an old and dear
friend, a woman only
slightly to the left of
Lenin, who recently
wrote, "Obama is the
worst president we've
ever had."
I also have a rabid con-
servative friend. He
thinks Dick Cheney is
the greatest vice-presi-
dent we've ever had, and
he agrees with her.
And, don't forget, it
won't be long before
Obama has to convince
Congress that it should
raise the debt ceiling so
the nation can pay for
the things it's bought
recently. Good luck to
him with that.
No, Obama is definite-
ly not on a roll
Contact Us
telephone ................................. 6ol.92848o2
rollfree .................................... 866.231.672t
Fax ........................................ 6ot.928.2191
General email .......... editor@stonecountyenterprise.com
Newsmom email ........ news@stonecountyenterprise.com
Classified email ..... chssifieds@stonecountyenterprise.com
unvw tonecountyenterprise.com
Virtually every presi-
dent gets on a roll at
some time during his
administration, general-
ly early on. And while
he's on that roll, every
day is a wedding. He
gets bills passed, inter-
national relations go his
way, and people love
him. It seems he can't
make a bad move.
It happened to Lyndon
B. Johnson, whose early
years gave promise of
giving us the greatest
presidency of modern
times. And it happened
to Richard Nixon, who,
much to the consterna-
tion of his enemies,
seemed to get stronger
as his years in office
mounted up.
Eventually, the roll
ends. Whether it's
Watergate, Moniea
Lewinsky, the Iran-
Contra scandal, the
Vietnam War turning
sour, or the Iranian
hostage crisis - every
administration hits
rough waters.
The president goes into
a slide and things are
never the same again.
Suddenly, he can't do
anything right. Every
day brings a new head-
line that lands like a
punch to the stomach.
President Barack
00tone Count? 00nterp00ee
SERVING STONE COUHTY SINCE 1916
Published each Wednesday at 143 First Street, Wiggins, MS 39577
(601) 928-4802 * fax (601) 928-2191 • E-mail: edttor@stonecounteq)dse.corn
USPS 522.300 Periodical postage paid at Wiggins, Miss 39577.
Heather Freret
Jody O'Hara Publisher/Editor Rose Martin
Staff Writer Classified / Legal Clerk
Charlotte Wippler Chelle Grantham
Advertisifi-g3ales Advertising Sales
Member
Mississippi Press Association
0
MTt KI
Single copy price 75 cents. Subscription rate inside Stone County is $25.00 per year; in-state $37.00 per year; outside-of-state $42.00 per year. Service members subscriptions
are $25.00 per year. Entered weekly as a second class mail matter July 3, 1906, at the Post Office in Wiggins, Mississippi, under the Act of Congress March 13, 1879. !
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Stone County Enterprise, P.O. Box 157, Wiggins, MS 39577. R
+
