Dear editor,

Isn’t it strange that our city council members voted to get an injunction against the recall vote, when they campaigned for more transparency and democracy in our city government?

What could be more transparent and democratic than a vote of the people? Furthermore, some of these people pushed for a re-vote on the size of the council when the people had spoken for a five-person government. It seems a majority of this council stands against what they campaigned for, transparency and democracy.

Let the people vote, listen to them. What could be more open, more democratic?

Ray Houser,

Iola, Kan.

(Editor’s note: The council did not formally vote on attempting to get an injunction to quash the pending recall vote of council members Ken Rowe and Kendall Callahan. Rather, five of the eight members signed a letter asking either County Attorney Wade Bowie or District Judge Daniel Creitz to file an injunction.

Such an action would require a formal filing in Allen County District Court.)

Dear editor,

Please vote for Ed Bideau for state representative in the August primary. 

I have known Ed since 1970 when we both left southeast Kansas to attend Washburn University in Topeka. Since we were both sons of school teachers, we immediately bonded and became good friends. 

Since then I have seen what an incredible individual he is and his commitment to public service. During his past service as county attorney and as state representative, he always did what was right and he will make a great public servant again during these difficult times for our state and country. 

Over the past 42 years, I have also seen the compassion and commitment Ed has for his family, his country, his God and for people from all walks of life. He is a fiscal conservative who will make sure our schools are properly funded, our safety net for those less fortunate is available and our taxes are kept low. His ability to first listen and then provide input and advice to find solutions is just what is needed in government today. 

Ed is Kansas-born, Kansas-educated and Kansas-committed. Please vote in the August primary and send Ed to Topeka to help keep Kansas a great place to live. 

Sincerely, 

Mark V. Heitz, 

Topeka, Kan.

Shale gas supply offers promise of huge benefits

America is known as the planet’s energy glutton. We’re also accused of having a tin ear when asked to do anything to reduce the threat of climate change. Europe is often cited as the model to follow.

But it is America that has reduced the size of its carbon footprint. In the past five years we have reduced our carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 4,500 million tons. In Europe, total carbon emissions have actually risen, despite the fact that they have policies in place to limit emissions and the public sentiment there is so robustly in favor of the limitations.

Why is the glutton less gluttonous and the scold more profligate?

There are a variety of reasons, the economy being one. The cost of oil has made coal-fired generation cheaper in Europe, thus the increase in emissions. But while the same would appear to be true here, we have something going in our favor that they do not: the production of natural gas from shale. 

It’s been a revolution of sorts. At a time when the production of oil is controlled by hostile political forces, we’re producing gas at a fraction of the cost and have tapped a supply that could easily last another century  — and that’s using today’s technology. Our advances have created tens of thousands of jobs and have reduced our energy costs significantly.

For anyone concerned with the costs associated with the nation’s energy security — the war in Iraq, for example — this is good news. For the first time in a half-century we are actually a net exporter of energy. It feels good to be marching toward a future that is far less dependent on OPEC than it used to be.

It is a march not without its challenges, however. The process used to extract the natural gas — known as fracking — is under attack by environmentalists. In Vermont we’ve gone so far as to ban the practice even though, as a practical matter, it’s meaningless since we aren’t known to have any natural gas supplies worth fracking.

ENVIRONMENTALISTS are not misguided in their concerns. The fracking process has the potential to pollute aquifers and to release methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. The answer, however, is not to ban the process, which more extreme activists advocate. Nor is the answer to allow producers to do whatever is necessary to generate more gas and more jobs.

To ensure that the fracking process does not pollute our groundwater or air would raise the price of gas an estimated 7 percent, according to a report issued by the International Energy Agency. 

Seven percent.

The cost could be double that and still be a bargain. The problem is that there is no trust on either side of the argument. Environmentalists don’t trust the industry to keep the bargain; the industry doesn’t trust environmentalists to be content with half a victory.

It’s a common refrain in today’s all-or-nothing political environment. But it’s something the public should resist. There is huge potential for us to reduce our energy costs and to become more energy independent if we promote the technology necessary to extract these fuels. There are enormous benefits to being released from the geopolitical pressures of being dependent on oil from the Middle East or Venezuela. And there are global benefits of burning natural gas versus coal, when it comes to the threat of climate change.

It would be absurd to forfeit these benefits just because the industry could not embrace the 7 percent increase in costs to ensure that the process was close to environmentally benign. 

The added benefit of cheap gas is that it is a politically palatable means to impose a carbon tax to move us toward more renewable energy sources. It is easier to tax something that is cheap than something that is expensive. The worst that could happen would be for the extremists to reign, for fracking to be banned, resulting in higher energy prices, less security, higher carbon dioxide emissions and a reduced ability to move toward renewable energy sources. 

Will either side allow the 7 percent solution to prevail? Let’s hope so. Much depends on it.

— Emerson K. Lynn,

The St. Albans (Vt.) 

Messenger.

Dear editor, 

This is a letter that I hope will save the public from theft of gas.

My husband and I have been the victims of not only gas theft but also the loss of a garden hose used to steal fuel and in the process, destroyed the vehicle’s gas tank, a $150 cost.

If this letter helps just one person, we will be happy.

Sincerely,

Joyce Peck,

LaHarpe, Kan.

Dear editor,

 The Iola Municipal Band is such a wonderful asset to Iola. It was started in 1871 and has always had the young and old in perfect accord from 16 to 92 years old.

In 1920-21, my father and mother made the band concerts their date night with riding in a horse and buggy. It was already 50 years old and very well attended. Even the merchants stayed open later.

At the last concert, a lady and son sat on the bench with me. She was so proud of her son up there playing and that he went to New York with the Iola High School band.

Her other son will be playing the saxophone in the band this coming school year. A very proud mother! She said that they did not understand this John Philip Sousa thing. Wow.

Please allow me to tell his tradition of the world famous march king who came down on the Santa Fe Railroad from Kansas City to Iola for a stop. They marched from the depot on West Madison with hundreds of people lining the streets to the largest, most beautiful courthouse square in Kansas. They marched around the square to our wonderful band stand. They then gave a great concert. They stayed overnight at our then very famous Kelley Hotel. The next morning they continued on to Tulsa.

We must always let the municipal band members know how much we appreciate them and enjoy their talents. Public television was here a few years ago and acclaimed that no city in Kansas has anything to beat this.

This Thursday night will close this year’s season. Remember they have to meet Monday evenings to practice so that they can give us their best on Thursday night. Let’s beat the heat and give them a great crowd. It is hot on the bandstand and many give a great deal to get this together.

Respectfully submitted,

Don Hillbrant,

Iola, Kan.

Dear editor,

Ed Bideau is the smart choice, but better than that, the right choice.

Members of the entire Bideau family through the years have greatly supported this community in many, many ways. They have reached out with kind words, words of encouragement, words of wisdom, and always with loving hearts, only looking at how they can benefit and help others.

They are truly about how they can better and support the needs of others.

We feel in out hearts when one can look at another entire family, and say the same heartfelt words about them all, we truly have, and can have what we need in the Kansas House 9th District as our representative, Ed Bideau. Ed’s loyalty, wisdom, family values and integrity will take us to where we need to be and want to be.

Not only Ed, but the whole family, us included, marching forward for the better of us all and our communities.

We have always been big fans of the Bideau family and will continue to be wholeheartedly!

Generation after generation of Bideaus have proved and will continue to prove their commitment and loyalty to mankind.

Vote Ed Bideau for the sake of us all. It’s a win, win.

Stacy Borjas,

Chanute, Kan.

Dear editor,

I agree with Larry Richards’ remarks. I supported and still support the nine-member council. The council and its members were voted into place by a majority of the population in Iola. What I do not understand is why a few people think they have the right to constantly create problems for certain members of the council. I do not think their attitude presents a very positive image for Iola. To be very honest, I have not heard so much whining since the last time I was in a preschool!

The council has made some decisions that did not make a number of people happy, but they were decisions that needed to be made and that is what they were elected to do, make decisions to improve our town. 

I would suggest that if the “Good Citizens” would like to do something positive for Iola they could volunteer to help with Farm City Days. Let the council do what we voted them into office to do, make the decisions that will improve our town, without constant criticism. 

Darcus Kottwitz

Iola, Kan.