03/07/02 -- Event: Public Information Meeting: On Proposed Contamination Cleanup at Kodak-Buildings 218-351, March 14, 2002 at School #41 at 7PM. In response to public comments received during the Fall 2001 public comment period associated with the selection of final remedies to address site contamination at the above-referenced investigation areas, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will hold a public information meeting a 7:00 p. m. on Thursday, March 14, 2002 at the City of Rochester Public School #41 cafeteria, located at 279 Ridge Road West. At the meeting, DEC will summarize the nature of the contamination, the interim remedial measures to address the contamination and the final remedial actions proposed for these areas. DEC will respond to public questions and comments relevant to the remedial measures for these two investigations areas. --to find out more www.dec.state.ny.us
03/03/02 -- You can give important feedback for our environment: Get the Scoping Fact Sheet from the Army Corps of Engineers about their recommendations for cleaning up the algae in Ontario Beach Park and respond by March 25, 2002. Write to U.S. Army Crops of Engineers, Buffalo, District, 1776 Niagara Street, Buffalo, NY 14207-3199 and ask for the "Rochester Harbor (Ontario Beach Park) Section 1135 Project Modifications for Improvement of the Environment, Monroe County, New York Pilot-Scale Field Test." Here you will find a project description of the various methods the Corps of Engineers is proposing to clean up the algae in Charlotte. Be a part of the way your community solves its environmental problems and monitor those who monitor our environment. For more: Point of Contact: William E. Butler III, Environmental Protection Specialist, Environmental Analysis Team, Telephone No: 716-879-4268, Fax no: 716-879-4355, E-mail: william.e.butler@usace.army.mil
02/28/02 -- Event: 6th annual Lollypop Farm Pet Telethon 2002 takes place Saturday NEWS 10NBC will once again broadcast the annual Lollypop Farm Pet Telethon 2002 live from Eastview Mall on Saturday from 12:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. (February 28, 2002) MSNBC Local News
02/27/02 -- Event: World Water Day Start Time: 10:00 AM World Water Day The Water Education Collaborative, located and the Rochester Museum and Science Center, and the United Nations Association of Rochester invite you to attend a press conference to celebrate ¡§World Water Day¡¨: Friday, March 22nd at 10:00 a.m. at the Rochester Museum & Science Center, Bausch Auditorium Clean water is vital to our existence, yet often taken for granted. Protecting water quality and conserving water are issues that we face in this millennium. Find out how you can help protect the water in our lakes and streams and how a community in Haiti is addressing unsafe drinking water. Margit Brazda Poirier, Water Education Collaborative, will highlight several local programs that enable citizens to get involved in protecting water quality. ?X Bill Larsen, Rochester Institute of Technology, will discuss his work in providing safe drinking water to communities in Haiti. This tribute to the value of clean water is being honored in nations all around the world. See the web site for international event information: waterday2002.iaea.org. Light refreshments will be provided. I hope you'l join us in celebrating this important event! We need your help: I would like to provide the media with a list of events and programs for 2002 to emphasize that we need to care for water every day. Please provide me with brief water education program descriptions, dates, and contact info and I will add it to the list. Thanks! Send information to: Margit Brazda Poirier at (585) 271-4552, ext. 320, RMSC, 657 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14607, or email at: margit_brazda@rmsc.org.
02/27/02 -- Major UNdevelopments: Two major development project in the Rochester-area - The expansions of the Seneca Park Zoo and the proposed youth soccer complex in Greece Canal Park-- have been put on hold for the lack of taxes. Many environmental groups and citizens have fought long and hard against these two projects. Hopefully, while these projects are on hold, those who proposed them will have time to really think about their importance. If these projects, deemed so important by the Doyle administration, can be the first to be put on hold in economic hard time, maybe they are not such good ideas. Democrat & Chronicle: Deficit ready to snarl Monroe Doyle halts zoo, youth soccer plans after cut in credit rating — Monroe County could have a budget deficit ranging from $12.6 million to $32.3 million for last year, according to a new credit report by Moody's Investors Service. (February 27, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
02/24/02 -- Think the tax giveaway by the Bush Administration was a good idea? If so, then you won't mind paying for the toxic mess corporations have wrought on our environment. Bush Proposing to Shift Burden of Toxic Cleanups to Taxpayers Faced with dwindling reserves in the huge account that gave the Superfund waste cleanup program its name, the Bush administration has decided to designate fewer sites for restoration and to shift the bulk of the costs from industry to taxpayers. (February 24, 2002) http://www.nytimes.com
02/22/02 -- Think that the Internet doesn't matter. Think you are getting most of the important news, including environmental news (by the way Yahoo just stopped their environmental news service) from our major media sources? Think again. Listen to this report online. The News Host Bob Edwards talks with Leonard Downie, Jr. and Robert G. Kaiser about their new book, "The News About the News: American Journalism in Peril." (8:26) (("The News About the News: American Journalism in Peril," is published by Knopf; ISBN: 0375408746))
02/21/02 -- Check out our NYS Attorney General's reaction to President Bush's Clean Air proposals: Statement by Attorney General Eliot Spitzer on the President’s Air Policies The Bush Administration’s air pollution proposal is a grave disappointment for every American who wants to breathe clean air. In simple terms, this proposal, coupled with anticipated changes to the New Source Review program of the Clean Air Act, is a rollback, not an advance, of air pollution protection. The Bush Administration proposes to place nationwide caps on three major pollutants – sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury. The proposal offers too little too late. It virtually ignores the greenhouse gases that are linked to global warming. It sets pollution caps that are too high and are imposed too late and fails to account for regional differences. The federal government itself has concluded that enforcement of existing law will achieve greater pollution reductions sooner than this proposal. Office of New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer
02/22/02 -- This just in from Congresswoman, Louise Slaughter: One of our greatest assets in this community is the high quality of our elected officials. Congresswoman Louise Slaughter has been and is a hard worker for keeping our environment healthy. Rochester office is open at 3120 Federal Building, 100 State St. Rochester, NY. You can contact her at louiseny@mail.house.gov, or fax at 202-225-7822 or call 585-232-1954.
02/20/02 -- George Bush does good. You know me, I have not been a fan of George W. Bush's environmental record (go to GreenSolitaire.org's Bush Watch), but here's a story I can heartily approve. The Bush Administration is keeping after the irresponsible General Electric Corporation to clean up their 40-year, 40-mile pollution in the Hudson River. Read on: PoughkeepsieJournal.com - Bush wants GE lawsuit tossed Toxic waste cleanup law challenged WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration asked a federal judge Tuesday to dismiss a lawsuit by General Electric Co. and uphold the Superfund toxic waste cleanup law. The case is being watched closely in the Hudson Valley, where the Environmental Protection Agency recently signed a plan to remove 150,000 pounds of PCBs from the Hudson River. GE is responsible for the cost of the cleanup(February 20, 2002) Poughkeepsie Journal Home Page. Why not contact GE Home page - We bring good things to life and let them know about their trying to run away from their environmental responsibilities?
02/20/02 -- This from the Citizens' Environmental Coalition www.cectoxic.org: New Kodak Corporate Accountability Campaign Website launched!!!! Citizens’ Environmental Coalition Launches Kodak Kids Clean Air Campaign Website – www.kodakstoxiccolors.org Citizens Expand Campaign to Educate New Yorkers about Kodak’s Pollution. Citizens’ Environmental Coalition (CEC) has announced that it is expanding its campaign to get film-manufacturing leader, Kodak, to reduce its toxic emissions at Kodak Park in Rochester, NY. As part of this, CEC has launched the Kodak Kids Clean Air Campaign website, which can be found at www.kodakstoxiccolors.org The new website is full of information from a variety of both governmental and non-governmental sources concerning Kodak’s pollution over the years and the possible connection between Kodak’s pollution and rising health concerns in Rochester. Action materials for those who would like to get involved in the campaign have also been made available on the website. “We’re very excited to make this information concerning Kodak open to the public,” said Jaimie Radesi, Program Associate of the Citizens’ Environmental Coalition Western New York office. “An informed and mobilized citizenry is our best defense against environmental hazards such as those created by Kodak’s toxic emissions. ” But the Kodak Kids Clean Air Campaign website isn’t simply a reaction to Kodak’s toxic emissions – it will also provide a proactive approach to Kodak’s manufacturing by offering several clean production alternatives. “The public’s right to know and act on environmental health threats is an important foundation of our democratic society,” said Mike Schade, Western New York Director of Citizens’ Environmental Coalition. “Working in coalition with local Rochester groups as well as groups around the country, we are embarking on a grassroots campaign to educate people about Kodak’s legacy of pollution and spur community action for clean production and pollution prevention. Raising awareness about Kodak’s pollution is only one focus of this campaign. Our website will propose cleaner production technologies that we feel Kodak must turn to in order to ensure the healthy and safe environment that Western New Yorkers deserve.” According to the EPA, Kodak is one of the largest polluters of cancer-causing chemicals in the United States and is New York’s number one manufacturing polluter. After years of pressure from citizens to reduce its emissions of toxic chemicals, Kodak continues to release some of the most toxic chemicals known to man. CEC has taken an active role in the struggle against Kodak’s pollution over the years. “As a leader in the film manufacturing industry, we feel it’s far past time that Kodak set an example for the industry by working to eliminate their toxic emissions and phase out their dioxin-spewing incinerators,” said Schade. “Only then will citizens’ health concerns related to Kodak’s pollution be quelled.”
02/20/02 -- Important Environmental news: "Long considered America's most informative and objective evaluation of the environmental voting records of each Member of Congress, LCV's 2001 National Environmental Scorecard reflects the progress of Congress towards meeting our environmental challenges. Detailing the most important environmental votes in both chambers over the 1st session of the 107th Congress, the Scorecard provides individual scores, regional and state averages, most improved Members, Members who suffered the biggest score drop, and leadership averages for both the House and Senate. Click here http://www.lcv.org/scorecard/index.asp for our 2001 Scorecard Action Toolkit. Let them know you're watching by contacting your Members, sending a letter to the editor and downloading your own copy of the Scorecard. To view the entire 2001 National Environmental Scorecard, visit www.lcv.org
02/19/02 -- Here is something you can do to help our Energy Problem: Green Ribbon Pledge Join the 5,600 people who have taken the pledge to conserve energy for a secure future! There are hundreds of things you can do every day to reduce energy consumption. And cutting down energy use is the single most important thing you can do to secure our future from the negative effects of unreliable, unstable and environmentally damaging energy sources.
02/16/02 -- Environmentally friendly homes: Here's some information on making your home environmentally safe: RNews: Consumer Cleaner Homes If your allergies are acting up, a home air cleaner could become a lifesaver. Consumer Reports found professionally installed electric air cleaners are the best at trapping particles, but they can be costly, so you may be better off checking your air filter. Also, Healthy Homes Please look for our new educational information addressing household toxics and chemicals- what you can do to protect yourself and your kids.
02/16/02 -- I came across this yesterday: "Why do we ask you to not wear perfumes? Perfumes, as well as most artificial fragrances, are toxic. The fragrance industry has become increasingly indifferent to the health issues surround their wide use of know carcinogenic and other toxic chemicals such as methylene chloride, which is a banned substance by the FDA... but it is one of the top 20 chemicals in perfume. If you are not suppose to inhale it... why are they using it in a product that is used strictly for inhalation? The FDA is not enforcing its won rules. If you desire some fragrance in your personal care, ty using a pure, natural essential oil. But ... remember that although essential oils may not be toxic, some individuals might, none the less, have an allergic reaction... so go lightly." Some references: CPSC Urges Ventilation To Reduce Methylene Chloride Cancer Risk: Safety Alert; Environmental Health Network Petitions FDA,
02/14/02 -- Get the book: Sprawl Follows The Pipes - How Government Supports Sprawl The ‘Sprawl Follows The Pipes' Green Paper concludes with 11 environmentally related recommendations for controlling sprawl by controlling the water distribution network. Seven of these recommendations relate directly to regaining citizen control over the Authority such as redefining its mission from supporting private profit to leading the way with a regional water master plan based not on where pipes will be built next but on ‘Water Exclusion Zones' which specify where the pipes will not be built. Copies of ‘Sprawl Follows The Pipes' can be obtained by writing: Sierra Club - Rochester Regional Group PO Box 39516, Rochester, N.Y. 14604 or by calling (585) 244-2625. E-mail orders may be sent to: animalguides@hotmail.com. There will be a modest charge to cover printing and mailing costs.
02/14/02 -- Environmental groups make a difference: We can thank Rochesterians Against the Misuse of Pesticides for being instrumental in this story: Arsenic Being Phased Out Of Pressure-Treated Lumber Rochester, NY - The EPA is phasing out the use of wood that has been treated with arsenic. Several area playgrounds have been affected by leaching of the chemical from wooden play structures into the surrounding soil. (Thursday, February 14, 2002) iKnowRochester.com
02/14/02 -- Do you think President Bush understands (gets it) on global warming?: Yahoo! News - Bush Offers Alternative Plan on 'Greenhouse Gases' - Offering an alternative to the Kyoto treaty he rejected last year, President Bush (news - web sites) on Thursday proposed a voluntary plan to slow the growth of heat-trapping gases blamed for global warming, in contrast to mandatory limits sought in the pact he shunned. (Thursday, February 14, 2002) Yahoo News. Discuss this topic at Environment Forum.
02/13/02 -- Take a look at what President Bush has and has not done for our environment:: Grist | IMHO | Beating Around | 12 Feb 2002 Beating Around the Bush A look at the president's first year in office
02/13/02 -- A message about open barrel burning: The Northcountry region of New York State, comprised of Lewis, Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Franklin and Clinton Counties, is the largest milk production area in the Northeast. Open waste burning is a heavily practiced waste disposal option throughout the area. New York State does not have a ban on open waste burning. The St. Lawrence County Legislature has taken up the matter of a county-wide ban. A well informed decision on this legislation can only be reached with input from the US EPA. Cancer Action NY and the St. Lawrence River Valley/Adironac Greens, as well as the St. Lawrence County Planning Office have invited the Agency to make public presentations on the health damaging effects of open waste fire emissions. US EPA has not yet agreed to provide this educational service. Please contact Dwain Winters, Director, Dioxin Policy Project, US EPA: winters.dwain@epa.gov Request that Director Winters visit the Northcountry dairy farming region and speak on the open waste burning/contamination of animal fats issue. Thank you for helping to take another significant step toward the protection of our food supply from dioxins. in Nature, Donald L. Hassig, Cancer Action NY, St. Lawrence River Valley/Adirondac Greens
02/13/02 -- NRDC BioGems - Sign the Declaration of Energy Independence Help stop this raid on our natural heritage. Sign the Declaration of Energy Independence by completing the form below. We'll deliver your declaration to the White House along with hundreds of thousands of others calling for a safe and secure energy future that won't destroy our last wild places.
02/13/02 -- You should know about EMS - Diesel Particulate Pollution Get the facts.
02/08/02 -- Looking for an environmentally friendly car? Go to Welcome to GreenerCars.com: The online home of ACEEE's Green Book Check out the Greenest, meanest cars list released
02/08/02 -- Want to buy some environmentally friendly food: Abundance Cooperative Market -- Home Page Community owned--open to the general public. Genesee Co-op Natural Food store: We Offer... Organic, natural, and bulk foods Fresh local produce Baked goods Supplements & special diet foods Health, beauty, & household goods Deli & coffee bar Children's area Community shopping experience Please drop by and say hello! 62 Marshall Street, Rochester, NY 14607, 585 454-2667.
02/08/02 -- Reminder: The NY State DEC will hold a hearing on its proposed Environmental Justice Recommendations in ROCHESTER. It will be Monday, February 11 - 6-9 PM at City Hall (30 Church Street, Rochester). The recommendations are on the DEC website at: www.dec.state.ny.us
02/08/02 -- Looking for an easy way to help our environment? Here's a good idea: Kidney Cars Welcome to the Kidney Cars Program, the easy way to donate your car, van, truck, or boat. By donating your vehicle, you are helping to fund public education, patient and community services, research, professional education and organ donation programs of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF). Last year, more than 69,000 unwanted vehicles were collected for either reuse or recycling. This helps the environment in three important ways:
02/07/02 -- I must commend Democrat and Chronicle: for vastly improving their local news coverage: Democrat and Chronicle:. This means you have a better chance of monitoring your Rochester area environment and make informed choices and decisions.
02/07/02 --Great Backyard Bird Count Sponsored by Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society The fifth annual Great Backyard Bird Count runs from February 15 through February 18, and everyone, from grade-school students to veteran birders, is encouraged to participate. Scientists and bird enthusiasts can learn a lot by knowing where the birds are. Now that winter has gripped much of the continent, what are our birds doing? Bird populations are dynamic, they are constantly in flux. We want to take a snapshot of North American bird populations and YOU can help us. Everyone's contribution is important. It doesn't matter whether you identify, count, and report the 5 species coming to your backyard feeder or the 75 species you see during a day's outing to a wildlife refuge. Your data can help us answer many questions:
02/06/02 -- Don't forget tomorrow night -Thursday, Feb. 7: Sprawl & Pipes from the Rochester Regional Group of the Sierra Club.
02/06/02 -- Update on Hudson River PCB problem: Damage to river wildlife from PCBs under study General Electric faces a wildlife damages claim for alleged harm by toxic PCBs to Hudson River wildlife that could cost millions on top of the $460 million cleanup just made final last week by government officials. "This is very, very important because the cleanup decision doesn't address the effects the PCBs have had on the ecology of the river. It just says there are PCBs in the river and GE has to take them out," said Manna Jo Greene, environmental director of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. "The damages claim could cost more than the cleanup, maybe one or two billion." (February 6, 2002) Welcome to Record Online
02/03/01 -- Think all is well with our environment? Think our president is doing a good job on protecting our environment and our future? Read this story from the The New York Times on the Web: Study Puts Finland First, and U.S. 51st, in Environmental Health (Sunday, February 3, 2002)— A new study of 142 countries has found that Finland ranks first in the world for its environmental health and the United Arab Emirates ranks last, with the United States coming in at 51. The study took into account 68 variables — including how a country responds to water and air pollution, how it protects land, whether its government is corrupt and how seriously it takes global climate change — to measure environmental "sustainability," or likely environmental quality of life over the next generation.--NY Times.com
02/01/02 -- Need an environmental job? Work For Environmental Justice! Be an Intern With Citizens’ Environmental Coalition Full and part-time internships in Rochester are available throughout the year with Citizens’ Environmental Coalition (CEC). CEC is the only statewide organization of 110 community, environmental and labor groups and 13,000 citizens working on local and statewide pollution problems, such as toxic, radioactive and industrial waste. CEC has a Statewide Publication Clearinghouse, Citizen Assistance Program and Statewide Advocacy Campaigns to upgrade pollution remediation and prevention programs. Responsibilities may include: • Researching and writing reports, guidance manuals, and fact sheets concerning pollution in Western New York. • Organizing letter-writing campaigns in Rochester. • Helping to organize media events. • Writing articles for CEC's quarterly newsletter, which includes interviews, articles on grassroots environmental activities and key state policies.• Participating in grassroots environmental actions. The applicant should have very good written and oral communication skills, an interest in pollution problems and dedication to environmental protection. Academic credit must be arranged by the applicant. EEO employer. TO APPLY: Send resume along with a brief writing sample and two references. Please indicate a few dates and times that you would be available for a phone interview. SEND TO: Buffalo Office: Citizens' Environmental Coalition Attn: Mike Schade, WNY Director, 425 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14222, 716-885-6848, 716-885-6845 (fax) email: cecwny@buffnet.net Help Us Clean Up Pollution in New York State!
02/01/02 -- This just in from Home Page Genesee Region Clean Communities, 364 Lanning Road, Honeoye Falls, NY 14472, Tel./Fax. 716-624-8182 "I wish to call attention to the web site of the Genesee Region Clean Communities, part of the U.S. Dept. of Energy's Clean Cities program. Please feel free to visit our web site www.cleancities-geneseeregion.com. The local coalition has the objective of reduction of dependency on imported petroleum and improving local air quality through the expansion of the number of clean running alternative fueled vehicles and the supporting infrastructure. If you so desire, your names will be added to our general mail list and you will be notified by email monthly of meetings and changes to the web site. For example, a future coalition meeting will concentrate on the development of an ethanol (E-85) infrastructure in this area to refuel the many bi-fuel, gasoline/ethanol, vehicles that are in operation in this region. We expect to have speakers from both New York Corn Growers Association and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Please advise by reply if you want your name added to our mail list. I will need your name, address, telephone, fax, and email information."
02/01/02 -- This story should give you pause: Planet Ark : Men carrying pollutant have more boys - US study GIRLS WILL BE BOYS Environmental toxins are disrupting human biology at the most basic level: reproduction. That was the conclusion of researchers at Michigan State University, who found that men with higher levels of exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were more like to father boys than girls. PCBs are known to cause sex-related defects in animals (although the researchers were quick to explain that boys are not, technically speaking, sex-related defects) and are also linked to cancer and infertility. The study examined men who had high levels of PCBs in their blood due to eating fish caught in the heavily contaminated Great Lakes. Interestingly, PCB levels in mothers did not seem to affect the gender of the child.
02/01/02 -- From the Rochester Regional Group of the Sierra Club: Ancient Trees of Western New York - A Talk by Bruce Kershner: Western NY Old Growth Forest Survey -- Thursday, March 21, 7 pm - First Unitarian Church, 220 Winton Rd. South. Award winning environmentalist and forest ecologist Bruce Kershner, who has been documenting old growth tracts throughout Western NY, has published several local books on the subject and has an impressive slide show documenting his findings. He will give Sierra Club members (public Invited) an illustrated talk abut these survivors of the ancient forests. His pictures include shots taken last summer of the Hemlock forest old growth trees. Recently the Democrat & Chronicle headlines announced " Ecologist Find Old Forest at Hemlock." The story by Corydon Ireland reported that "Buffalo ecologists" [at the request of the Sierra Club] claim that about 415 acres of woods on the southwest shore of Hemlock Lake are untouched, ancient old growth forest." Further, the area which is tucked into the ravines and hanging on the edge of very steep slopes, contains some oaks and hemlocks over 300 years old, as well as some groves of hemlocks where the youngest trees are 165 years old.
02/01/02 -- Environmental Forum Coming: Mark your Calendar now. The 4th Annual Sierra Club Environmental Forum will be on Thursday, April 18. Rochester Mayor William A. Johnson, Jr. will be the keynote speaker at the annual gather of the regional environmental community sponsored by the Sierra Club and the Choices & Environment Task Force of the First Unitarian Church. He will be speaking on the cost of sprawl to the environment, the economy, and t4h people of the region. His is expected to emphasize the environmental justice ramifications of sprawl as applied to the poor. Last year approximately 23 groups had booths and displays at the Forum. This year we expect many more, so mark your calendar now and plan to come to the First Unitarian Church, Thursday, April 18th. Displays and booths open a t 6:30 PM. The program begins at 7:30 PM.
01/23/02 -- This important message
from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): The Environmental
Protection Agency just released its "Draft Recommendations for Implementing
the EPA Public Involvement Policy." EPA appreciates your interest in EPA's
public involvement efforts and invites your comments
on the draft Implementation document through March
17, 2002. Please see
http://www.epa.gov/stakeholders
for the draft document and instructions on submitting comments. This
Implementation document describes a set of internal actions that will help
ensure that EPA's Public Involvement Policy is carried out
across the Agency. The thrust of the recommendations -- information
sharing, training, and evaluation -- is to share the best public
involvement methods used across EPA, promote their routine use, and develop a
means of measuring the results. The goal is for excellent public involvement
to become an integral part of EPA's culture, thus improving the Agency's
decisions. EPA is currently revising its draft Public Involvement Policy (http://www.epa.gov/stakeholders/policy.htm),
and plans to release the Final Policy, responses to comments, and the revised
Implementation document this Spring. For more
information, please call Patricia Bonner at
202-260-0599. To request a mailed copy of the draft Implementation document,
call Loretta Schumacher at 202-260-3096 or e-mail a request to
stakeholders@epa.gov
Bob Carlitz
Information Renaissance
01/22/02 --Want to learn about and keep up with the news about PCB's in Hudson River? Go to Poughkeepsie Journal "PCB's and the Hudson River"
01/22/02 --Learn about Superfund Toxic Dumps and do something about them: --from Citizens' Environmental Coalition: Superfund Toxic Dumps - CEC and a coalition of community groups have organized a statewide campaign to pressure policymakers to refinance Superfund and maintain a cleanup policy protective of children and drinking water.
01/22/02 -- What is the Governor's record on our environment and what is he going to do this year? Read for yourself, Governor Pataki's NYS 2002-03 Executive Budget: Protecting Our Natural Resources
01/18/02 -- Always prone to hyperbole, newspapers often so overemphasize their points that it bears little resemblance to reality. Case in point is today's D&C headlines: Union Street in Chili bristles with projects - Last year, when a soccer complex and a Thruway exit were proposed in Chili, the projects' opponents won the battle to keep them from being built on Union Street. But developers may have won the war. (Friday, January 18, 2002) - DemocratandChronicle.com None of the development going on in Chili even approaches the monumental slide into sprawl a New York State Thruway exit at Chili would have caused. Besides, each project listed in the article will have to be judged on their own merits--not like opening up a major wash of overdevelopment. Anyway, it was hearting to read in this article that the NoExit group was major factor in defeating the proposed exit at Chili: "Last year's plans to build a 125-acre soccer complex and a Thruway exit were scuttled in large part because of resident protests over the traffic impact along historic two-lane Union Street, which is dotted with what are believed to be nearly two dozen historic properties." At the time when it was defeated, only reports that the boondoggle was "financially unfeasible" were to be heard. Now the story is framed as if the NoExit group won that battle, but their ineffectualness at present is that the community won't get behind them with a large petition. Well, all this only makes sense if you see concerned citizens as knee-jerk anti-development. They are not. Concerned citizens, such as those who banned together successfully to stop the proposed NYS Thruway exit at Chili, are interested in wise development where their community and environment are not sacrificed to the rapacity of mindless development.
