Friday, 7.3.15 ON THE WEB: www.yankton.net views VIEWS PAGE: [email protected] PAGE 4A PRESS&DAKOTAN The Press Dakotan THE DAKOTAS’ OLDEST NEWSPAPER | FOUndED 1861 Yankton Media, Inc., 319 Walnut St., Yankton, SD 57078 CONTACT US OPINION OTHER VIEWS PHONE: (605) 665-7811 (800) 743-2968 NEWS FAX: Fuel Efficiency: (605) 665-1721 ADVERTISING FAX: (605) 665-0288 WEBSITE: A Helpful Reboot www.yankton.net ––––– THE KANSAS CITY STAR (June 29): When you set big goals, SUBSCRIPTIONS/ sometimes you set yourself up for big failure. President Barack CIRCULATION Obama’s lofty plans to put more fuel-efficient vehicles on the roads Extension 104 crashed headlong into the realities of the marketplace. Even so, [email protected] there is value in striving to attain a noble end, especially a difficult CLASSIFIED ADS one. Extension 108 In 2011, the president shared his vision of a future in which the [email protected] nation’s cars emitted far less greenhouse gases. “I’m directing our NEWS DEPT. departments and our agencies to make sure 100 percent of the ve- Extension 114 hicles they buy are fuel-efficient or clean-energy cars and trucks by [email protected] 2015. Not 50 percent, not 75 percent — of our vehicles,” he said. SPORTS DEPT. Obama also wanted 1 million electric cars on the road by now. Extension 106 We all let the president down on that latter target. Car buyers [email protected] purchased about 287,000 plug-in vehicles in the past few years, far ADVERTISING DEPT. short Obama’s goal. Americans’ appetite for electric cars is not so Extension 122 great when gas prices settle down. Nor are they willing to be teth- [email protected] ered by limited range and performance of today’s battery-powered BUSINESS OFFICE cars. There’s always a Tesla, but few people can afford such luxury. Freedom Is Hard Extension 119 Many state governments have not exactly joined the green wave, [email protected] either. Look at Missouri. The state fleet has 10,014 vehicles. Only BY KELLY HERTZ the moment, but get there we must. NEW MEDIA: 13 — about one-tenth of 1 percent — are hybrid or electric. Indeed, [email protected] The flag issue is still waving and, as I wrote Extension 136 the most recent state fleet report does not even include the words last week, I think the Confederate flag’s only [email protected] “electric” or “hybrid.” Happy belated Second of July (if you’re a practical purpose anymore is to serve as a les- COMPOSING DEPT. A legislature that focuses on short-budget savings misses the fan of our second president, John Adams, who son about a brutal past. It has no place as an Extension 129 bigger long-term ones. State workers in Missouri drive more than thought THAT date would be long celebrated official emblem in modern American society. [email protected] 150 million miles on state business every year. Increasing average as the day this nation declared its independ- (There is now the obligatory urge to go too far fleet fuel efficiency by just one mile per gallon would save hundreds ence from England) or an early happy Fourth with this. Just this week, the TV-Land channel * * * of thousands of dollars per year. of July (that’s for the rest of us). This is the pulled reruns of “The Dukes of Hazard” be- MANAGERS Yet if Americans could not reach Obama’s high targets, neither time when our love of freedom joyeously ex- cause the car used in the show has a Confed- Gary L. Wood could his executive branch. Since he took office, only 7 percent of plodes around us and above us. erate Stars and Bars on it. That’s just Publisher the new vehicles the federal government purchased were electric or But this year’s holiday arrives silly — referring here to TV-Land’s hybrid. at a complicated moment when the decision, not just to the show itself.) Michele Schievelbein concept of freedom isn’t an answer However, there are others who Advertising Director With the 2015 deadline a bust, Obama issued a new executive order earlier this year. but, instead, a difficult question. Last see the Confederate flag as a celebra- Jim Gevens By 2025, he wants to reduce the per-mile greenhouse gas emis- week’s Supreme Court decision on tion of personal and familial pride Circulation Director sions of the federal fleet by 30 percent from 2014 levels. He also same-sex marriage and the debate and are vowing to defend that sym- over the Confederate flag are two bol, no matter how much pain and Tonya Schild wants 50 percent of the new cars the federal government buys to be zero-emission or plug-in hybrids. current debates that show us conclu- humiliation it represents to others. (I Business Manager sively that freedom is hard. was thinking, as a reverse example, Those goals might be more attainable, but Obama’s opportunity The court’s ruling on same-sex that insisting on flying the flag in the Tera Schmidt for success has closed on this particular issue. His executive order Classified Manager marriage, for instance, has set off an Kelly South might be akin to renaming the is only as good as the next president’s willingness to abide by it. emotional earthquake. main thoroughfare through Atlanta Kelly Hertz Still, setting the loftiest of goals and striving to reach them can Those who oppose the ruling on HERTZ the William Tecumseh Sherman Free- Editor lead to progress even if the end remains elusive. Fuel efficiency religious grounds are now facing a se- way in honor of the Union general James D. Cimburek nationwide is trending upward, and technology is improving the rious legal headwind. The expansion who plundered that city during the Sports Editor quality and reducing the cost of fuel-efficient vehicles. of same-sex rights comes into conflict with Civil War. But that’s not even close to being an No, America did not buy as many fuel-efficient vehicles as some religious principles, creating potential apt comparison.) Beth Rye Obama wanted, but ambitious goals are necessary in the face of Digital Media Director cultural flashpoints. Alabama Supreme Court But once again, the battle cry of freedom finite fossil fuel resources and climate change. The American spirit Justice Roy Moore, an outspoken critic of gay does not speak clearly. If, for instance, a per- Kathy Larson is to tackle the greatest challenges head on, not to sit complacently marriage, predicts that “Christians will be son’s right to burn a flag is protected by the Composing Manager while things fall apart. persecuted” for their beliefs. Meanwhile, some First Amendment, could flying a Confederate Sarah Lynde lawmakers are already crafting legislation that flag fall under the same mechanism of expres- Circulation District Manager will, they say, “respect the rights” of organiza- sion? Also, my dislike of the flag is tied to tions that have religious convictions opposing personal sentiments, but that’s not a quantifi- * * * same-sex relationships. They cite the First able basis for outlawing that thing. However, DAILY STAFF ONLINE OPINION Amendment’s guarantee of religious freedom “that thing” is an artifact of an ugly mentality Reilly Biel The results of the most recent Internet poll on the Press & Dakotan’s Web site are to buttress their case, which is quite fair. — more loathsome than anything America’s Cassandra Brockmoller as follows: However, didn’t same-sex couples face a history has ever produced. It’s something many people warred and died over, and that can’t be Brandi Bue LATEST RESULTS: form of persecution before last week’s deci- Rob Buckingham dismissed either. Do you agree with the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalizes same-sex sion? In some states, like South Dakota and Caryn Chappelear Nebraska, they were forbidden from marrying Quite often, freedom is not a plain proposi- Randy Dockendorf marriages nationwide? tion when more than one person enters the Jeannine Economy No .............................................................................................................................58% because they didn’t conform to the Christian Rachel Frederick Ye s ............................................................................................................................38% standard of “traditional marriage.” Don’t they picture. Thus, on this Independence Day, it Jeremy Hoeck Not sure ....................................................................................................................4% also have a First Amendment right of freedom makes me wonder sometimes how our coun- Nicole Myers TOTAL VOTES CAST ...............................................................................................426 FROM the religious dictates of others? (That’s try ever made it this far without collapsing in Robert Nielsen The Press & Dakotan Internet poll is not a scientific survey and reflects the opinions a writhing heap of conflicting intentions. only of those who choose to participate. The results should not be construed as an ac- actually another reason for the First Amend- Diana Smallwood ment’s existance.) But it also makes me marvel that it has. David Stephenson curate representation or scientific measurement of public opinion. The republic has endured anyway, which is a Cathy Sudbeck ——— As far as seeking laws that protect religious groups amid this new reality, it could also be great hope for the road ahead. These are not JoAnn Wiebelhaus CURRENT QUESTION: Brenda Willcuts fair to say that these groups want laws that, the first tough questions about freedom we Alissa Woockman Do you think South Dakota lawmakers may repeal the death penalty during the in effect, respect their right not to respect the have faced; they won’t be the last. As long as 2016 legislative session? right of others. That’s a knotty little paradox. we search for the answers together, America To cast your vote in the PRESS & DAKOTAN’S Internet poll, log on to our website will stay standing.