| 
Good Wednesday Morning,
Three days ago the National Weather Service warned of impending doom in the form of a "rain event" which would pass through our region over the next two days. Two days ago they said, "oops, we're sorry, we made a mistake." This morning they've posted a Flash Flood Warning from today at noon through tomorrow night, promising between 3" and 4" of rain with some locations recording upwards of 6". Setting aside, for just a moment, the value of weather predictions, and assuming we do get all this rain, this is a good time to go outside and analyze how the stormwater collects and/or runs off your property and that of others around you.
When it rains, all that water comes down our many mountains and hills, flowing into our creeks and streams and eventually enters our lakes. It's what all that storm water picks up along the way that is a concern to us. As it washes off our roads, homes and backyards, stormwater picks up silt and sand, salt in the winter, the chemicals we use on our lawns and gardens, oil and gasoline from our cars and leachate from failed and poorly operating septic systems, and eventually ends up in the water in which we play and sometimes the water we drink. These "non"-point sources of pollutants are what we are trying to clean up today.
So, over the next couple of days, if you see places on your roads where silt is building up from the storm, where the rain is causing erosion coming off a driveway or a property or if you see silt laden water coming from a construction site or parking lot, call your town's Stormwater Management Committee and let them know exactly where the problem is. Don't fret: you're not "telling on" anyone. Rather, you're helping all of us clean up our environment.
 As I'm reading the NY Journal News this morning I've noticed that there's no mention of John Degnan's campaign kick-off event yesterday. The Degnan campaign's new office in Mahopac was packed to overflowing with the most diverse political and socio-economic group I've ever seen gathered for an event in Putnam County. Mr. Degnan's campaign brought together some of my long-time political enemies as well as long-time political friends and it sure did make for some awkward greetings!
I'm sure his campaign sent out press releases in time for the JN to assign a reporter and even I received one several days ago and reported it in NTM. So, I don't know what it is with the Journal News. Maybe they're just too busy covering Westchester and Rockland? Maybe there was an article in the print edition?
The Annual 4H Fair is on tap for this weekend at the Putnam County Park off Gipsy Trail Road in Kent. The Fair runs from Friday at noon until Sunday evening at 5PM. I'll be there on Friday afternoon, Saturday morning and on Sunday afternoon manning the Town of Kent's Stormwater Management Committee's tent. Stop in and say hello and pick up some of our literature. Also at the fair are the usual gamut of funny-looking bunnies and chickens and cows and goats and vegetables and entertainment runs throughout. It's always a good time.
Verizon Sucks. There! I've said it. No, not the guys who work the lines, the men and women who drive around in trucks and keep the system running. Those guys have their hands full. But if you've ever had a problem with your phone or your DSL line, as I do, getting adequate help and support is a journey not unlike Bing Crosby and Bob Hope on their way to Mandalay or Zanzibar, but without the singing, dancing and off-color jokes. "We're off on the phone to Morocco..."
First you go through a maze of auto-responses which requires either speaking to a robot or pressing buttons on your phone and by the time you actually get through to a human you've already made and eaten dinner. Then you realize the person you're speaking to is in India and regardless of the problem, it's inside your home and is the result of something you've done. An appointment will be made to have someone come out, an appointment somewhere between 9AM and 5PM, they can't say when exactly, but if you're not home they'll have to reschedule. "Is there another number we can reach you at?"
The DSL problem here is this: almost always starting on a Friday night or a weekend morning, my DSL connect becomes unreliable. It's here. It's gone. It's back again. Then in a few days it stabilizes, sometimes for weeks before it kicks in again. This latest round began last weekend - on schedule - and each time I call support I have to climb under the table, disconnect the line and reconnect the line. I need to, at the operator's insistence, shake a chicken over my head and sing "O, Canada!" in French while counting to 14 in Hebrew. Achad, shtayim, sholosh, arbah...
It's unimportant to them that with the DSL modem connected directly to the wall and with nothing else attached, the service still comes and goes. It's still a problem inside the house, in my machine, and something I've done.
Last night something different happened. The woman in Bangalore put me on hold for 14 minutes then came back and said, "We'll fix it from here. There's no need for a technician to come to your home." I'm wondering if what she was really saying was, "The Homeland Security tap was messed up and caused a short in the system. We've notified them and they'll fix it."
It was hard enough getting DSL on Miller Hill Road in the first place (and we'll never have cable or FIOS out here in the hinterlands,) and it required all my skills as an activist to get that achieved, a story best left for another time. But I can't, no matter how hard I try, get this problem resolved since Verizon insists there's nothing wrong. How they could know that - from India - is beyond me but they're the phone company. They're a monopoly, after all, and in our system, monopolies are sacred, infallible and more perfect than God himself. Just ask Verizon.
"I apologize for the inconvenience. Is there anything else I can help you with today?"
And now, assuming I can keep the DSL live long enough to press the SEND button, here is the news:
- Study Reveals Air Pollution is Causing Widespread and Serious Impacts to Ecosystems
- Legislators Begin Learning Process on Establishing Public Health Center
- Busting the 'We Need More Commercial Development to Decrease Our Taxes' Myth
- Voluntary Simplicity Discussion Group Hosted by Glynwood Center
- FTC to Set Green Marketing Standards
- BP Builds First LEED Certified Gas Station
- M.T.A. Plan to Raise Fares Angers Officials and Riders
- In California Neighbors’ Dispute, Officials Find It’s Time to Speak for the Trees
Study Reveals Air Pollution is Causing Widespread and Serious Impacts to Ecosystems MILLBROOK, NY — July 21, 2008 — If you are living in the eastern United States, the environment around you is being harmed by air pollution. From Adirondack forests and Shenandoah streams to Appalachian wetlands and the Chesapeake Bay, a new report by the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies and The Nature Conservancy has found that air pollution is degrading every major ecosystem type in the northeastern and mid-Atlantic United States.
The report, Threats From Above: Air Pollution Impacts on Ecosystems and Biological Diversity in the Eastern United States, is the first to analyze the large-scale effects that four air pollutants are having across a broad range of habitat types (see inset). The majority of recent studies focus on one individual pollutant. Over 32 experts contributed to the effort; the prognosis is not good.
"Everywhere we looked, we found evidence of air pollution harming natural resources," comments Dr. Gary M. Lovett, an ecologist at the Cary Institute and the lead author of the report. "Decisive action is needed if we plan on preserving functioning ecosystems for future generations."
Read More
Legislators Begin Learning Process on Establishing Public Health Center County Executive asked for his backing on potential project
by Margaret Sternberg
Putnam County continued to take its first, tentative steps toward the establishing of a public health center, meant to provide health care to those under or uninsured, at the July 8, 2008 meeting of the Legislature's Health Committee.
Dr. Paul Kaye, Chief Medical Officer of Hudson River Healthcare appeared before the Committee primarily to educate its members on a public health center's establishment and financing, and while ensuring that County residents' health care needs were met remained the true issue for legislators, even in this nascent stage, financing of the center received the most intense scrutiny. Responding to one question, Dr. Kaye said that "like any not-for-profit, we live close to the [financial] margins, but it's now 32 years, and we're still here." Dr. Kaye went on to note that the Center has had a slight surplus the last two years, adding that they were in a "pretty good financial state."
The Center is financed by grants and the federal government, each supplying approximately 25 percent of funding, with patient revenues making up about 50 percent.
Read More
Busting the 'We Need More Commercial Development to Decrease Our Taxes' Myth Dear Editor:
What most people do not understand is that all new development costs the taxpayer more in services than what the town receives in revenue.
The former Governor of New Jersey stated: "For years, all over New Jersey we thought if we built one more road, one more mall, one more housing development, our problems would be solved. The truth is - that is the problem.
There is no single greater threat to our way of life in New Jersey than the unrestrained, uncontrolled development that has jeopardized our water supplies, made our schools more crowded, our roads congested, and our open space disappear.
And the irony is that the very promise that this development would lower our property taxes has turned out to be false.
Read More
Voluntary Simplicity Discussion Group Hosted by Glynwood Center This fall, from September 16 through November 4, Glynwood will provide meeting space Tuesday nights from 7:30 until 9pm for local residents studying the Northwest Earth Institute's curriculum on Voluntary Simplicity. This curriculum examines the view that all people can improve their quality of life while reducing expenses and environmental impact. Participants will be encouraged to explore their values, attitudes, and actions through discussion with other people. NWEI programs promote dialogue among equals - with no teacher - and assume that we gain our greatest insights through self-discovery.
Read More
FTC to Set Green Marketing Standards The Federal Trade Commission has been conducting public workshops and grilling green building advocates in preparation for releasing 2009 green marketing guidelines. As environmental priorities have emerged as a public priority, green marketing has been used to sell most products, including those making spurious claims regarding how green they really are. Green advocates hope that FTC rules will provide tough guidance, national standards and a means to fight fraudulent green claims in green building and beyond.
“Greenwashing,” as false green marketing is called, has been applied to everything from SUVs to carpeting. The problem with greenwashing is that consumers believe that higher prices are justified because they are not only purchasing the product, but also its “green attributes”, or the value of its environmental benefits. Greenwashing also hurts the ability of products that are actually green to compete with cheaper imitations.
This could become an especially important issue if carbon markets ever expand to regulate individuals. In that scenario, individuals must account for their carbon output just like big companies soon will. For example if you or I would have a certain carbon limit we’d either have to meet or buy permits to augment. In that case, consumers would be relying on purchasing products that are actually environmentally sound for legal compliance rather than just feel-good or environmental or health concern, as the case may more typically be now.
Read More
BP Builds First LEED Certified Gas Station One of BP’s LA locations includes a green gas station called Helios House. The only gas station in the country to meet LEED USGB standards, it features an array of standard green building techniques.
Helios House looks very much like a space ship, with its structure made from heat-reflecting, geodesically-cut steel. It is topped by solar panels that also reflect light, a green roof that grows cacti, and bamboo paneled bathroom stalls (nice!). The metalwork is made of recycled aluminum, motion-sensitive lighting, a rainwater collection system, and a team of enthusiastic youths that BP has trained to brief customers on green living techniques.
Read More
M.T.A. Plan to Raise Fares Angers Officials and Riders By RAY RIVERA
A proposal by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to increase transit fares and tolls in 2009 drew sharp criticism from an array of powerful officials on Tuesday, as the mayor, City Council speaker and Assembly speaker said they would oppose it, and the governor pledged “to do everything I can to prevent it.”
The authority is also preparing to ask the city and state to contribute $300 million in additional aid to help close a projected budget shortfall of nearly $900 million. The authority says it would need to raise fares and tolls even with that additional aid; without it, the increase could be higher.
The increases, which will be part of a budget proposal presented to the authority’s board on Wednesday, seeks to increase revenue from fares and tolls by 8 percent. If approved, the higher fares and tolls would take effect next July; the authority last raised tolls and fares in March. This would be only the second time in the history of the subway that fares were raised in consecutive years; the last time was in 1980 and 1981. The proposal angered riders already frustrated by more frequent subway delays and breakdowns, interviews on Tuesday indicated, and riders’ sour mood seemed to be keenly felt by officials in City Hall and Albany.
“I don’t think it’s wise to impose a fare hike this soon on commuters right after we did the last hike,” Gov. David A. Paterson said during a news conference in Hudson, N.Y. “This just cannot become the new way that the M.T.A. solves problems: Every time there is an issue, pass along the increase. Let’s explore other options.”
Read More
In California Neighbors’ Dispute, Officials Find It’s Time to Speak for the Trees By FELICITY BARRINGER
SAN FRANCISCO — Neither State Senator Joe Simitian of California nor the state’s governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, bears much resemblance to Dr. Seuss’s Lorax. But on Tuesday, like that fictional defender of the environment, they spoke for the trees.
More than six months after two Santa Clara residents were convicted under a state nuisance law for letting their redwoods cast shade on a neighbor’s solar panels, the governor signed into law a bill that gives trees the right to grow as they please — as long as they predate any solar panels they might be shading.
Read More
| |
