To the editor:
On Jan. 2, you published three letters to the editor. I am responding to two of them: those written by Marshall Gibson ("All I want for Christmas: A Counterpoint") and Tim McDowell ("The left doesn’t want to know the truth about guns"). I intend to refute the arguments laid out by these gentlemen.
I really don’t expect to dissuade them from their opinions. I simply intend to show where they are wrong. And wrong in exceptional ways.
First, let us look at climate change, the accepted term for the phenomenon that will destroy the planet, if not mitigated and quickly. Let us first look at what is evident here in central Indiana. Storms — snow, thunder and rain — are more extreme.
According to an August 2017 report by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, there have been definitive changes in our climate. Indiana has warmed 1 degree since the last century. Floods are more frequent. Ice cover on the Great Lakes is forming later or melting sooner. Carbon dioxide has increased 40%, in the air, since the late 1700s. Northern Indiana has warmed more quickly than southern Indiana. Over the last half century, average rainfall has increased by 5% to 10%. For millennia, carbon dioxide has never been above 300,000 parts per million. Starting in 1950, it went above 400,000 parts per million.
These are scientific facts. And I only gave information for one greenhouse gas. I know, to some, these amounts seem small. But relatively small changes lead to great problems in our climate.
One need only look at numerous reports in the news and in documentaries to realize that ice cover around the world has changed drastically in relatively recent history. Greenland is actually becoming green. The arctic ice cover is melting quickly within the arctic circle, endangering polar bears, caribou and other wildlife that depend on the ice for survival.
As far as the current president, respect is earned. And this president seems to run the other way from respectable speech and behavior. From his campaign to now, he has made it clear he will not follow expected norms for a president. And it is likely he has gone beyond refusing to follow expected norms and has actually broken the law. And this is not just in Ukraine, but many other places domestically and internationally. And while I agree the impeachment process has been poorly handled by both Republicans and Democrats, it does not negate the fact Donald Trump behaved in a way that should result in impeachment.
And now to Mr. McDowell’s letter. His first statement, "the GOP-controlled Senate and the NRA have nothing to do with the lack of Centers for Disease Control investigating gun homicides in our country," is false. In a March 20, 2018, article in Healthline, Claire Cameron wrote about the heavy NRA support for the so-called Dickey Amendment which was essentially an NRA response to a 1993 CDC study that called for more studies into gun violence. While the Dickey Amendment was not binding, it had a chilling effect on the CDC pursuing funding on guns and gun violence. The sponsor, Rep. Jay Dickey, R-Arkansas, later voiced regret for his actions and called for the CDC to pursue funding for studies of gun violence.
And then Mr. McDowell goes on to characterize the relationship between guns and race. Much of what is presented matches what I found in an article on the subject. 2013 FBI statistics show black on black shootings resulting in death were 90% of shootings. His assertion that "liberal" Chicago is responsible for its own high homicide rate is false. Most of the guns used in Chicago came from outside the city. Forty percent came from other places outside Chicago, but still in Illinois. Twenty-one percent came from Indiana. Indiana has very lax gun laws.
Please present results of studies, not opinions based on your overall philosophy.
Jim Matthews
Greenfield
