Letters policy
We welcome letters, but please include your full name, address and a daytime
telephone number. We edit all letters for libel, length and clarity.
Send letters to: Letters, Illinois Times. P.O. Box 5256. Springfield, Illinois
62705. Fax: (217) 753-3958. E-mail: editor@illinoistimes.com
“YARD TO NATURE”
NOT “YARD TO YARD”
I am sure that most of the people promoting
the Yard to Yard Challenge are well-intentioned. I am not so sure
that it will result in an improved environment for Springfield. The
use of the word “yard” is unfortunate. The most common
definition of yard is “the grounds immediately surrounding a
house that are usually covered with grass.” Grass is usually
the problem.
The usual lawn care comes at a high
cost to the environment. Thirty percent of the water consumed on
the East Coast goes to watering lawns, 60 percent on the West
Coast. Eighteen percent of municipal solid waste is composed
of yard waste. The average suburban lawn receives 10 times as much
chemical pesticide per acre as farmland. More than 70 million tons
of fertilizers and pesticides are applied to residential lawns and
gardens annually. Per hour of operation, a gas lawnmower emits 10
to 12 times as much hydrocarbon as a typical auto, and a Weed Eater
emits 21 times more and a leaf blower 34 times more. And where
pesticides are used, 60 to 90 percent of earthworms are killed.
Earthworms are important for soil health.
There are alternatives. One is the native
grass lawn, just as the name implies, made up of grasses that
are native to the area. They are typically very well adapted to
that area, so they don’t require as much maintenance and as
much in the way of chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Or one could
eliminate grass entirely and plant hardy drought-resistant plants.
I removed all the grass in my front yard more than 15 years ago and
planted a variety of flowering and nonflowering plants. Not a drop of water is
needed, and it is always green!
I do keep a small lawn in the back for playing
games and cavorting with my grandson. No pesticides — grass
clippings are the primary fertilizer, and I water only in extreme
drought conditions. However, there is no way to make the transition
in one summer as the Yard to Yard Challenge requires.
Lawns can do much good such as absorb and
hold water, which helps reduce storm runoff and improve water
quality. Lawns also have a significant cooling effect, provide
oxygen, trap dust and dirt, promote healthful microorganisms,
prevent erosion, and filter rainwater contaminants. However, it is
very important to keep aware of the costs to the environment in the
typical all-American lawn.
Perhaps “yard to yard” should
read “yard to nature.”
Alex Casella
Springfield
SOMETHING DOES INDEED SMELL
After reading Todd Spivak’s article in
this week’s Illinois Times [“The return of Hunter Lake,” May 5], I
now know why poor Hubert Smith is being hounded out of his house,
which is owned by City Water, Light & Power on property planned
for Hunter Lake, a project that has been in the works since 1965.
His is the only house that is in good enough
condition to be saved, so they have to think up other excuses to
get him out. For instance, they claim that there is an odor in the
house caused by the 15 dogs he keeps. These dogs are strays that he
takes very good care of. Smith claims that there is indeed an odor
but that it is not from the dogs but rather from the old, moldy
carpet, which the previous property manager would not allow him to
remove. It is also from an antiquated heating system in the house.
Smith is due to be evicted on May 31 — and we now know that
it is because plans are going forward to build Hunter
Lake.
Beni Kitching
Springfield
FRIST OFFERS FAIR COMPROMISE
The proposal Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist
sent to his Democratic colleagues last week could not have been a
more fair compromise to end Democratic obstruction of President
George W. Bush’s highly qualified judicial nominees.
Frist’s proposal would guarantee Bush’s nominees a fair
up-or-down vote on the Senate floor while allowing all senators an
opportunity to have their say through a guaranteed 100 hours of
debate. This is a reasonable resolution to the Democrats’
unprecedented use of the filibuster against Bush’s nominees
and will ensure that the filibuster remains intact for use against
legislation.
One nominee, Janice Rogers Brown, grew up as
the daughter of Alabama sharecroppers and became the first
African-American woman to serve on the California Supreme Court. In
1998, Californians reelected her with 76 percent of the vote, and
the majority of senators support her nomination for a federal
judgeship, but Democrats are standing in the way of her receiving
an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor. A fair up-or-down vote for
highly qualified judicial nominees is too important for Republicans
to stand by as Democrats sacrifice decades of Senate tradition for
partisan gain.
Douglas R. Turner
Springfield
BEING ALL THEY CAN BE
The Salvation Army salutes the residents of
Sangamon County, the army behind the Army, comprising thousands of
volunteers, advisory organizations’ members, and donors who
give valuable time and generous donations, enabling the Salvation
Army’s day-to-day ministry, 365 days of the year.
Grounded in mission-minded dedication, the
Salvation Army continues to adapt to an ongoing mission for a new
century of services: adult rehabilitation, emergency housing,
programs for women and children, family services, seniors,
emergencies and disasters, community-care ministries, service
clubs, service units, and world services.
For 125 years (119 years in Sangamon County),
our neighbors have helped Salvation Army officers, soldiers,
volunteers, and donors, who continuously strive for the biggest
change in society by serving the smallest among us. This year, Gen.
John Larsson declared 2005 the International Salvation Army Year of
Children and Youth. Salvation Army ministries to children and youth
are as varied as the communities served. From after-school tutoring
programs to music lessons, from boys’ and girls’ clubs
to sports leagues and summer camps, the means change constantly,
but the mission never varies: reaching children by serving them.
Thank you for your gifts of time and resources
to further the mission of the Salvation Army to preach the gospel
of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in his name without
discrimination. Your extraordinary contributions have made 125
years possible. Together, we will continue to help the neediest of
the needy for the next 125 years.
Capt. Deon Oliver
Capt. Michelle Oliver
Capt. Jessica Lofu
Springfield
A QUESTION FOR PAT QUINN
Regarding Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn’s letter to
the editor [May 12], please confirm or dispel the following:
“If you remove agriculture subsidies that hold the price of
corn down, extracting ethanol from corn actually costs more than
refining gas from oil.” I’ve heard that more than once
over the years and am still wondering whether any credible source
will openly recognize it as truth or reject it as myth. Ask Pat or
do the research on your own, if you will. I’m probably not
the only one waiting to know.
John Levalley
Austin, Texas
BAD NEWS FOR PRO-LIFE MINISTRIES
The Illinois General Assembly is currently
considering House Bill 2492, an unnecessary piece of legislation
that imposes the nation’s toughest restrictions on the use of
ultrasound. If passed into law, pro-life ministries would be
negatively affected, and their ability to use ultrasound machines
to reach out to women in crisis pregnancies would be made more
difficult and more expensive.
This bill is being pushed by Planned
Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider. They
claim to be concerned about health effects of ultrasound exposure
for women and their developing fetuses. But there is no evidence to
substantiate such a concern. Even the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration has said of diagnostic levels of ultrasound:
“There is no evidence that these physical effects can harm
the fetus.”
If Planned Parenthood is sincerely interested
in the well-being of women and their unborn children, why
aren’t they promoting legislation that would deal with the
health risks to unborn babies posed by alcohol and tobacco?
In short, there is no empirical evidence
pointing to the need to protect women and babies from ultrasound
exposure — yet there is undeniable evidence that when
abortion-minded women view their babies through ultrasound, the
vast majority choose life. This is no time to make Illinois the
harshest state in the nation in regulating this life-affirming
technology.
David E. Smith
Senior Policy Analyst
Illinois Family Institute
Glen Ellyn
This article appears in May 19-25, 2005.
