Check both sides’ funding sources
The recent AJC article questioning the ethics of research funded by Southern Co. to challenge the issue of man-made climate change (“Researcher’s ethics questioned,” Business, Feb. 24) raises valid questions about the motivation of scientists and how their sources of funding might influence their research. I hope you will follow up with the far bigger source of funding that drives man-made climate change theories and expound on how that source might corrupt scientists’ findings.
The federal government and its agencies, such as NASA and NOAA, provide far more money than Southern Co. to scientists looking to further the cause of climate change. Surely, we should not be so naive as to think that if Southern Co. funds research, the science is corrupted, but if the government funds it, the science is purely objective. With government providing strong incentives to scientists who support its position, the issue has become more politics than science.
DAN MEEHAN, PEACHTREE CORNERS
Don’t tinker with teacher retirement
How unfortunate it is state Sen. Hunter Hill is sponsoring legislation that would abolish the Georgia Teachers Retirement System. Senate Bill 152 would replace the current retirement system with what amounts to a 401(k) plan. Each teacher would have to fund his or her own retirement.
Georgia teachers, who are regularly placed on unpaid furlough, would be required to contribute their already low salaries to a 401(k) program that fluctuates with the economy. That means they could never be sure from month to month what their income might be once they retire. Yes, I know private businesses and individuals face the same situation many times, but teaching is not a for-profit enterprise. Teachers are essentially on a fixed income in comparison to private business.
For decades, the Georgia Teachers Retirement System has been the strongest and most reliable pension plan our nation has ever seen. Senator Hill would repudiate this fact and snub every retired and current teacher in this state by abolishing this system that has served so many so well.
DAVID RUSSELL, WASHINGTON, GA.
Tax bill expands income inequality
Though income inequality in metro Atlanta is one of the highest in the advanced world, Georgia’s lawmakers are going to make matters even worse with their latest tax scheme (“Tax overhaul plan unveiled,” News, Feb. 24). Do they even care shifting more of the tax burden onto low and middle-income Georgians will likely worsen child poverty, which has risen from 16 percent in 2000 to 27 percent in 2013? If that’s not bad enough, even with the triumph of pro-business policies, 60 percent of public school children are considered low income. It’s bad enough our politicians ignore this sad situation, but with this new tax policy, they will likely make matters even worse.
DON MCADAM, SANDY SPRINGS
