Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/506985
ByRichardLardner The Associated Press WASHINGTON In a scath- ing critique of the Defense Department's efforts to curb sexual assaults, a U.S. senator warned Monday that the true scope of sex- related violence in the mil- itary communities is "vastly underreported" and that victims continue to strug- gle for justice. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said in a report that the Pentagon refused to provide her with all the information she requested about sexual assaults at sev- eral major bases. The ma- terial she did receive re- vealed that the spouses of service members and civil- ian women who live or work near military facilities are especially vulnerable to be- ing sexually assaulted. Yet they "remain in the shad- ows" because neither is counted in Defense Depart- ment surveys to determine the prevalence of sexual as- saults, the report said. "I don't think the mili- tary is being honest about the problem," Gillibrand said in an interview. The senator said her analysis of 107 sexual as- sault cases found punish- ments that were too lenient and the word of the alleged assailant was more likely to be believed than the victim. Less than a quarter of the cases went to trial and just 11 resulted in conviction for a sex crime. Female ci- vilians were the victims in more than half the cases, said Gillibrand, an outspo- ken advocate for an over- haul of the military justice system. In its annual report on sexual assaults in the mili- tary released Friday, the De- fense Department reported progress in staunching the epidemic of sexual assaults. It estimated that sex crimes are decreasing and more victims are choosing to re- port them — a sign there is more confidence offenders will be held accountable. Laura Seal, a Defense De- partment spokeswoman, said the department does not have authority to in- clude civilians in its surveys. In one of the cases Gilli- brand reviewed, an airman allegedly pinned his ex-girl- friend down and then raped her. During the investiga- tion, two other civilian vic- tims stepped forward to accuse the same airman of sexual assault. One of them, the wife of another service member, awoke in the night to find the airman in bed with her. Two of his fingers were inside her vagina. The investigating officer recommended the airman be court-martialed. If con- victed, he faced a lengthy prison term. But the investigator's superiors decided against a trial and used adminis- trative procedures to dis- charge the airman un- der "other than honorable conditions." The Air Force said the victims preferred this course of action. Two of them had decided they "wanted no part in the case," according to the Air Force, while the third said she did not want to testify. To Gillibrand, the out- come was suspicious and suggested the victims may have been intimidated. "It's frustrating because you look at the facts in these cases and you see witnesses willing to come forward, getting the medical exam and either eventually with- drawing their case or the investigators deciding that her testimony wasn't valid or believable," she said. The report said the case files contradict the Penta- gon's assertion that mili- tary commanders will be tough on service members accused of sex crimes. Gil- librand has backed legis- lation that would remove commanders from the pro- cess of deciding whether se- rious crimes, including sex- ual misconduct cases, go to trial. That judgment would rest with seasoned military attorneys who have prose- cutorial experience. The Pentagon is opposed to the change. 'VASTLY UNDERREPORTED' Pentagon accused of withholding information about sex crimes JACQUELYNMARTIN—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., is interviewed about military sexual assaults, in her Capitol Hill office in Washington. By Seth Borenstein The Associated Press WASHINGTON The Obama Administration's hotly de- bated plan to reduce heat- trapping carbon dioxide from the nation's power plants will save about 3,500 lives a year by cutting back on other types of pollution as well, a new independent study concludes. A study from Harvard and Syracuse University cal- culates the decline in heart attacks and lung disease when soot and smog are re- duced — an anticipated by- product of the president's proposed power plant rule, which aims to fight global warming by limiting car- bon dioxide emissions. Past studies have found that between 20,000 and 30,000 Americans die each year because of health prob- lems from power plant air pollution, study authors and outside experts say. The study was published Mon- day in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature Climate Change. The proposed EPA rule, which is not finalized, is tai- lored to different states. It aims to reduce carbon diox- ide emissions by 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. Study authors said their re- search, while not hewing to the Obama plan exactly, is quite close and comparable. The study also finds about the same number of deaths prevented by reducing soot and smog that the admin- istration claimed when the plan was rolled out more than a year ago. Some in Congress have been trying to block the regulation from going into effect, calling the plan a job-killer and an example of government overreach. The study finds that the rule would eliminate an average of 3,500 deaths a year — a range of lives saved from 780 to 6,100 — with more than 1,000 of the lives saved in just four states that get lots of pollu- tion from coal power plants: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas and Illinois. The new regu- lation would reduce hospi- talizations by 1,000 a year and heart attacks by 220 a year, the study says. Cleaning the air as part of reducing carbon dioxide has immediate and notice- able benefits, the authors said. "There could be lives saved associated with the way we implement the pol- icy," said study lead author Charles Driscoll, an envi- ronmental engineering pro- fessor at Syracuse. "Why not kill two birds with one stone if you can?" Lab studies on animals show how soot and smog harm the cardiovascular and respiratory systems and epidemiological studies link tens of thousands of deaths each year to soot and smog pollution, said study co-au- thor Joel Schwartz, a Har- vard environmental epide- miologist. The study's au- thors examined 2,417 power plants and used computer models to project and track their emissions. The study was praised by outside academics, the Environmental Protection Agency and environmental advocacy groups. But offi- cials in the energy industry called it costly and flawed. "This is more than just an academic exercise to the tens of millions of Ameri- cans who depend on af- fordable, reliable electric- ity to power their homes and places of work every day," said Laura Sheehan, senior vice president for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. "For them, this is about their livelihoods. Coal provides nearly 40 percent of the nation's electricity and its use is becoming cleaner all the time. And while these academics are hypothesiz- ing about unprovable con- sequences, what's known is that families are strug- gling to pay their monthly bills and companies are struggling to stay in busi- ness — and any increase in energy costs will unneces- sarily burden them." SMOG Cutting carbon dioxide saves 3,500 US lives a year, study says JIM COLE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Steam billows from the coal-fired Merrimack Station in Bow, New Hampshire. CANNED FOOD DRIVE *Validonly at H & R Block 1315 Solano St, Corning Call 530-824-7999 for a appointment Bring in 4 cans of food when you come in to get your taxes done, and get $15.00 off your tax preparation fees.* Allcannedfoodswillbedonatedto CorningChristianAssistanceFoodBank. Mel's Place • Lingerie • Airbrush Tanning • Swimwear 332OakStreet Red Bluff (530) 604-4182 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Smog Check (MOST CARS & PICK-UPS) 527-9841 • 195 S. Main St. starting at $ 29 95 + $ 8 25 certificate SERVICESATLOWERPRICES All makes and models. We perform dealer recommened 30K, 60K, 90K MembersWelcome | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015 4 B