S U N D A Y , M A Y 18 , 2014
Ideas&Issues
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WWW.TUSCALOOSANEWS.COM
LARRY CLAYTON
THE PORT RAIL
Our Founding Fathers were men of faith
OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS
Should Congress work to combat climate change?
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recent decision by the Supreme Court to allow for an almost superficial, quick prayer by the town council of Greece, N.Y., brought the entire brouhaha of church and state, and the freedom of religion issues before the public again. As far as I know, the council did not seek to convert anyone or to turn the city government over to the pope in Rome. The subject, by the way, came up during the 1960 presidential election when John Kennedy had to deny — if elected — that the pope was likely to manipulate him like a puppet. The irony is rich, given that John Kennedy was a most unlikely candidate to be persuaded by the power or morality of the church. The subjects of church and state, and religious freedom — two separate but related issues, by the way — haven’t vanished since the Founding Fathers credited God with putting everything in order. Even grumpy deists like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson grudgingly allowed that a maker and creator was behind it all, but man also had some responsibility to make it all work rationally and with due regard for each other. It is ridiculous to say or claim that any of the Founding Fathers were atheists, agnostics or any other “ists” or “tics” other than believers in God, no matter what they called him — creator, maker, deity or something else — and what point on the spectrum of belief they occupied. George Washington, for example, issued the fi rst Thanksgiving Proclamation in 1798. He asked the people to devote themselves in service to “that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.” Washington urged all to thank God for his protection of them through the Revolutionary War, for the civil and religious liberty they possessed and “in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.” The proclamation ends by calling the people to prayer and beseeches God “to pardon our national and other transgressions;” to promote “true religion and virtue, and the increase of science;” and to “grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.” The question then becomes, why were church and state separated? The answer is long and complicated, but can be extracted from what happened in Salem, Mass., in 1692. SEE R AIL | 6D
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AT LARGE
‘Muscle Shoals’ documents music history
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MICHAEL E. KRAFT
AMY RIDENOUR
Decisive evidence shows Push to thwart climate waiting is catastrophic change is political scheme GREEN BAY, WIS . cientifi c evidence of climate change mounts steadily, and only determined skeptics deny its reality and the human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels, that cause it. The last six months have brought exhaustive reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and now a landmark study by the U.S. National Climate Assessment program. The last report tells us that climate change is already having specifi c regional effects all over the United States — from torrential rain storms and flooding in the Southeast, to heat waves, droughts and wildfi res in the Southwest. This assessment makes climate change a more concrete and immediate problem, and it may help to build a public sense of urgency about action that has been sadly lacking. The implications of these scientifi c reports are clear. The United States must try to limit the worst effects of climate change and adapt to the inevitable impacts, from flooding of coastal areas by storm surges to drought and water shortages in the West, that are coming regardless of what we do. These challenges call for governments at all levels to respond with creative, effective and equitable policies. SEE P RO | 6D
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WASHINGTON ere are the top 10 reasons Congress should ignore advice to pass major legislation to combat climate change: ■ The world isn’t warming. Scientists measuring surface temperatures and atmospheric temperatures using satellites — including scientists who believe in the global warming theory — say the Earth hasn’t warmed since the Clinton administration. ■ Anti-global warming laws hurt people. All the major legislative and regulatory proposals to combat climate change kill jobs and disproportionately hurt lower-income people and minorities. ■ The U.S. already leads the world in carbon dioxide reduction and is a great role model for others. U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide emissions fell 12.6 percent between 2005 and 2012, thanks to technologies and conservation. Worldwide, carbon dioxide emissions increased by 17.7 percent during the same period. Those who want the United States to set a good example should wake up and realize: We already are! ■ Global warming climate models don’t work. Since 1979, more than 96 percent of models created by scientists predicted more future warming than eventually took place. SEE CON | 6D
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ECOVIEWS
Europe-based wall lizards are here to stay
ilan, Italy, and Cincinnati, Ohio, are seldom mentioned in the same sentence. One reason to do so is that both are home to a reptile known as the common wall lizard. In books about U.S. lizards, the wall lizard has become a standard entry because it’s become naturalized, meaning it is a non-native species that is reproducing successfully and maintaining sustainable population levels. Wall lizards arrived in North America more than 60 years ago. They thrive on outdoor walls of brick or concrete with plenty of crevices, presumably a preadaptation from living in rocky habitats of cliffs and boulders in their native range of southern Europe. They are handsome creatures, reaching lengths of more than 9 inches from nose to tail.
TOMMY STEVENSON
Like many birds, the males become more brightly colored during the mating season, displaying a row of bright blue spots down their sides. Cincinnati’s local habitat is perfect for WHIT the wall lizards — so GIBBONS is the climate. Milan and Cincinnati could use the same weather map much of the year as daily and seasonal temperatures, rainfall and humidity are similar. When wall lizards arrived in Cincinnati, they may not even have known they had left Italy. As often happens with invasive species, they could have become exceedingly unpopular with local residents. But according
to an upcoming publication by Jeff Davis, wall lizards “are beloved creatures, and [the residents] enjoy seeing them scurry about their landscape.” Jeff is an Ohio herpetologist who has done more research and is more knowledgeable about the species than anyone else I know. Recently, I talked with Jeff about wall lizards. The most plausible story of how a European lizard made its way to Ohio involves a boy named George Rau, who returned home to Cincinnati from a vacation in northern Italy in the early 1950s. Like many another youngster of that era, George collected critters. While he was on vacation in Milan, he caught some lizards that were common in the area. Turns out he brought 10 of them home with him. He released
them in his Cincinnati neighborhood, which proved ideal habitat because of the stacked rocks and brick retaining walls in the hilly residential areas. Jeff says wall lizards probably number in the hundreds of thousands today in densities as high as 1,500 per acre in some areas. How an animal survives and how widespread it becomes in a region depends on a variety of ecological factors. What kills it and how it disperses over the landscape can be critical. Cats and cars are primary sources of mortality. Nonetheless, although wall lizards are subject to the same hazards as other wildlife when crossing streets, they are apparently expanding their geographic range beyond Hamilton County. SEE E COVIEW | 6D
hen it comes to homegrown musical talent, Alabama need not take a backseat to anywhere. From Hank Williams, the greatest country singer of all time and a native of Georgiana, to Sun Ra, who dwelled at the outer reaches of modern jazz and claimed to be from Saturn (though Bessemer was his port of entry to this world), Alabama musicians covered the entire musical spectrum. Between Hank and Sunny, you will fi nd the likes of W.C. Handy, the “Father of the Blues;” The Temptations of Motown fame; Steve “Seven Bridges Road” Young; boogie-woogie-er Cow Cow Davenport of A nniston; Leighton’s Percy Sledge, of “When a Man Loves a Woman” fame; Sand Mountain’s country duo the Louvin Brothers; country music sweetheart Emmylou Harris of B i r m i n g h a m ; Mo n t g o m e r y crooner and jazz pianist Nat King Cole and many, many others. Tuscaloosa is also well represented on the list of the greats from the state with smoky jazz singer Dinah Washington, protean blues man Johnny Shines and the underrated white soul singer Eddie Hinton all hailing from the Druid City. The things all the aforementioned artists have in common is, well, that they don’t have much in common. They all made their marks in their various musical fields without much cross-pollination. There is, however, an Alabama sound, and it fi nds an extraordinary voice in the documentary “Muscle Shoals,” which aired on public television last month and which I caught on Netfl ix. The documentary is a celebration of the life and work of Rick Hall, the founder of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, one of the Quad Cities of northwest Alabama along with Florence, Sheffield and Tuscumbia. (FAME, for Florence Alabama Music Enterprises, was founded in Florence in 1959 but moved to Muscle Shoals two years later.) To those of us of a certain age, much was already known about the legendary studio that turned out much of the rhythm and blues soundtrack of our formative years, from Arthur Alexander’s “Anna” and “You Better Move on” to Aretha Franklin’s “I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You” all the way through “Wild Horses” by the Rolling Stones and Wilson Picket’s version of “Hey Jude” featuring a young Duane Allman on blistering slide guitar. I had a passing knowledge of some of the lore of Muscle Shoals, but it was nice to see the defi nitive versions of some of the stories told. For instance, there was the tale about Aretha’s decision to flee the FAME Studios on the banks of the Tennessee River after her thenhusband got into a drunken dispute with Hall. After laying down the tracks for “I Never Loved a Man,” Franklin and entourage high-tailed it back to New York Cit y, pull ing t he legenda r y Swampers, FAME Studio’s allwhite house band, with them to record Aretha’s debut Atlantic record. It was surprising to me that perhaps the strongest, most articulate voice in support of the Muscle Shoals magic was that of grizzled Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, who waxed positively ecstatic about the wonders of recording in Alabama. Richards said the Stones knew Muscle Shoals music even before they knew there was a Muscle Shoals, chiefly through the early hits of Arthur Alexander, one of the artists they covered on their first album. SEE AT L ARGE | 6D