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Page 4A The Braselton News Wednesday, December 12, 2007 Opinion “Difference of opinion leads to enquiry, and enquiry to truth. ” -Thomas Jefferson our views Would state action hurt industrial development? IF STATE leaders succeed in doing away with property taxes in favor of some form of higher sales taxes, will local governments still seek busi ness growth? That is one of the unspoken questions that’s got ten little discussion so far in the debate over chang ing the state’s local tax structure. Historically, local communities have sought out industrial development as a means of helping pay for public services. Most businesses, especially large industries, pay more in property taxes than they consume in services. That helps offset the tax burden on homeowners, who would otherwise bear higher taxes. Because of this dynamic, local towns and coun ties have been willing to invest in infrastructure — roads, water, sewer — to lure industrial growth. The property tax system has, in effect, worked as an incentive for this local investment. But if that incentive is done away with, will local governments still be willing to invest money in busi ness growth? Probably not. Why should they? If the state takes over all taxation and does away with property tax es, then why would any local government spend money to lure businesses to the state? In fact, the plans being discussed by state lead ers would work as a double incentive NOT to build an industry in Georgia. First, local communities would no longer be will ing to build the infrastructure necessary to handle those businesses. The incentive to do so would be gone. Second, higher sales taxes would hit those busi nesses hard, charging them for all kinds of goods and services they do not now pay a sales tax on. State officials need to consider all the conse quences of the proposed plans they are discuss ing before upending the current tax system. As flawed as it is, the current system does have many benefits that would disappear and perhaps, in the process, do great harm to business development in Georgia. The Braselton News A Publication of The Jackson Herald & Mainstreet Newspapers, Inc. Mike Buffington Editor & Co-Publisher mike@mainstreetnews. com Scott Buffington Co-Publisher & Advertising Manager scott@mainstreenews.com Angela Gary Managing Editor angie@mainstreetnews. com Kerri Testement News Editor kerri@mainstreetnews. com Jeremy Ginn Advertising jeremy@mainstreetnews.com Web Site: braseltonnews.com Classified Advertising classifieds@mainstreetnews.com PO Box 908, Jefferson, Ga. 30549 General Phone: 706-367-5233 Braseltoons by John Sheppard letters Responds to parade letter Dear Editor: Last week, a letter was printed titled, “Why no parade in Braselton?” Mr. Jeff Rodes said that he had to tell his 7-year- old that “there will be no parade this year.” While Mr. Rodes was correct in stating there was no parade this year, what needs to be known is that there was no parade due to circumstances beyond Mayor Pat Graham’s control and had noth ing to do with any specific community. The Braselton Business Association co-spon sors the annual “Christmas in Braselton” festivities, which include lighting of the town tree, a movie in the park and a parade, all to begin the holiday season each year. Even though we could not have a parade this year, we did hold the traditional “Christmas in Braselton.” This year’s festivities were held on Saturday, November 3, and as always, all activi ties were free, well-attended, and enjoyed by hundreds. We are sorry Mr. Rodes missed this annual, family event. Hopefully, he will be able to make it next year. Sincerely, Carlos Llorens President Braselton Business Association Georgia leaders aren’t warming IN THE rational part of our world, there is widespread agreement among scien tists that temperatures are getting warmer and that humans have contributed to this warming by producing large amounts of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has issued several reports this year, based on input from more than 2,000 climate scientists from 130 countries, that support the theory that human activities are a major cause of global warming. During a recent conference in Indonesia, more than 200 of the world’s leading climate scientists urged government lead ers to act quickly to slow global warming because “there is no time to lose.” Even Republican governors from southern states such as Mark Sanford of South Carolina and Charlie Crist of Florida are taking positive steps to assess the effects of global warming and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. We are seeing the effects of this climate change in Georgia. Global warming is thought to be a major contributing factor to the droughts that are drying up water sources not just here but around the world (Australia is now in the 10th year of a drought). Our state was baked by record-breaking tempera tures in excess of 100 degrees for much of last summer. Even President George W. Bush, whose administration spent more than six years denying the existence of global warming, has reluctantly conceded that the prob lem is real. Given that preponderance of evidence, what are our political leaders in Georgia doing to address this issue? Well . . . nothing. Gov. Sonny Perdue, unlike his Republican colleagues, has appointed no commit tees to study it and doesn’t mention the issue in his public utterances. His major environmental thrust this year was to promote a series of bass fishing tournaments - which, ironically, were cancelled because of the drought that global warning has helped induce. As for the leadership in the General Assembly, they have generally said that global warming is either an unproved concept or a phony issue amped up by the “hysteria” of environmentalists. Legislators in the House and Senate have held committee hearings this year that were dominated by global warming deniers from right-wing think tanks who receive up to the idea of global warming funding from oil and energy companies. The most recent of these hearings was held on the Senate side last week and fea tured a full-bore attack on people who believe all that so-called scientific evidence from Sen. Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg). “I would not say that there’s an overwhelming consensus in the area of global warming,” said Seabaugh, possibly the most untrue comment uttered by a lawmak er this year. This is the same Seabaugh who several months ago remarked, “I will venture a guess that in 10 years we won’t be talking about global warming, but we’ll still be talking about how we produce electricity in a cost-efficient, environmentally friendly way.” Sen. Ross Tolleson (R-Perry), the chairman of the natural resources committee, opined that global warming could really be a good thing for Georgia because it was preventing the onslaught of another ice age. “Would you agree that we’re at a better stage today than we would be in an ice age?” Tolleson asked one of the hearing witnesses. The answer, from another global warming denier, was affirmative. It’s not hard to figure out the origin of a lot of this opposition. The Southern Co., which owns Georgia Power, has been a dominant force in state politics for decades. Georgia Power operates coal-burning generation plants that are among the biggest producers of carbon gases in America. Lawmakers like Sen. David Adelman (D-Decatur) plan to introduce legislation that would require 15 percent of the state’s electricity to come from renewable resources by 2020 - a concept known as a renewable portfolio standard. Requiring Southern Co. to switch to these less-noxious forms of power generation would be costly and put a dent in corporate profits. The current generation of legislative leadership, needless to say, is not about to stand in the way of corporate profits. Thus, we see them pushing back against the consensus of the mainstream scientific community. This should not be a surprise to anyone who’s followed Georgia politics. After all, we have an elected state school superintendent who tried to remove all references to evolution from the high school science curriculum a few years ago. In years to come, as you’re baking in 105-degree temperatures and hoping that the drought lets up enough so they can stop rationing water, you can take comfort in knowing that at least it’s good for business. Tom Crawford is the editor of Capitol Impact’s Georgia Report, an Internet news site at www.gareport.com that covers government and politics in Georgia. Kerri Testement kerri@mainstreet- news.com No such thing as ‘perfect’ Christmas MY FAVORITE holiday movie is “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” Perhaps it’s one of the funniest movies of all time because of its simple premise — a father’s deter mination to make his family have a “traditional,” all- American Christ mas celebration. But the truth is that few of us have “traditional” Christmas ex periences. Try as we may, like Clark Griswold, it just ain’t gonna happen. As a child, our home in Texas was that “Christmas freakazoid” house that went overboard with holiday decorations. There was a Santa in our yard, Smurfs singing carols, more Smurfs decorating a tree, decorations around the front door, and plenty of lights covering most of the house. We were the Griswolds of the neighborhood. As an adult, I’ve opted to skip many of the excessive outdoor decorations. And when I did try putting up holiday lights at my house this year, most of them were no longer working. Oh, the frustration (and cursing) that followed. That, too, is a great scene in the movie — the frustration, turned to obsession, to get those stupid lights to work. Inside the house, our Christmas tree this year is one that Charlie Brown would adore. It’s lean ing a good bit, but my husband refuses to touch it again until the thing actually falls over. In years to come, we’ll probably laugh at how pathetic it looks in family photos. Our cat is also determined to ei ther play with the lights on the tree or drink all of its water. That’s one scene from “Christmas Vacation” I don't want to see with my cat. Shopping for that matter, isn’t as “fun" as it used to be. Too many people during the holidays are either too rude or too rushed to be kind to others at the mall. That’s one reason why I hate shopping during the holidays. So, instead, I resort to giving people gift cards — the recipient gets what they want, even if it’s not an actual gift or money. I also haven’t found any “forgotten” Christmas gifts hidden in my house — just gift cards that I have forgotten to use. Christmas also means that few us attend just one, big family gathering. Divorce, separations and other family situations have resulted in the “Christmas fam ily spree.” That involves visita tions among numerous locations — sometimes over a two-week period around Christmas — with family members. While you may get more than one Christmas dinner at these gatherings, it also means shuffling a complex schedule to attend ev ery family event. And don’t forget all of the other Christmas-related special events at church, school and work. Christmas isn’t perfect for any of us, but it’s still a time to enjoy with family. Kerri Testement is the news edi tor for The Braselton News. Her e-mail address is kerri@main- streetnews.com.