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Subject: As for me - Author: Ned Depew [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 09:29:37 05/06/06 Sat In reply to: Gene 's message, "Dirty air is here now, so they say." on 20:49:57 05/05/06 Fri I've been aware of that connection since I bought my first car in the 1960s. It was a Saab that got over 30 mi/gallon - and gas was only about 25¢/gallon! I tele-commute to some of my jobs and have always planned my travel to conserve fuel. I shop locally wenever possible and avoid Malls and other long-range retail destinations. Like Gwen, if I could afford it I'd have a hybrid car now - but my current Saab does get better than 26MPG - which isn't too bad, and I don't go for "pleasure drives." The government - if they weren't so much in thrall to the Big Oil interests that brought the Bushes to power in the first (and second) place - could be spending billions to develop alternative energy and improved hybrid cars, with an effective government-funded R&D program like the ones they organized to promote space exploration and develop the Hydrogen Bomb. But the Automotive industry is blocking such developments in the interest of selling their profit enhancing gas-guzzlers - as they are blocking the development of good public transportation - and the Oil Companies are spending part of their Billions in profits for the same goal - to keep America and Americans dependent on them. Meanwhile the Bush Administration is giving "incentives" (that's your tax money) to the already wildly profitable Oil Industry! You are absolutely right that motor vehicles burning fossil fuels are the number one cause of air pollution - but they are only one of many, and they don't emit things like dioxins and furans - the potent carcinogens LaFarge will be adding to the mix. As you say the air is already dirty - all the more reason to resist allowing anyone to add to that load of dirt. I hope you'll write to your state Rep and Senator, and to the DEC and protest this bad decision - and urge them to pass energy efficiency programs to encourage and fund alternative energy industries. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[> [> [> Subject: Re: As for me - Author: Gwen [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 23:54:49 05/12/06 Fri Ah, yes, if I could have a hybrid! I would definitely do it! I was quite interested in the alternative fuels brought to light by Mr. O'Hara at that Friends of Hudson lecture but I quickly realized that as much as I might like the idea, I cannot convert my home to solar power! I don't have the money to do it. On a side note, Ned, I heard your letter read at the Stuyvesant Town Board and low and behold...there was some action. Read the RS tomorrow...

[> [> [> [> Subject: Gwen - thanks Author: Ned Depew [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 10:14:04 05/13/06 Sat I'm glad you made the meeting. I had a previous engagement that I couldn't break, but I'm so glad that the Board and the citizens of Stuyvesant see the threat with which we are all (all of us in the County) faced by this wildly bad and irresponsible decision from the DEC. I hope some enterprising reporter from the local media will prevail upon the powers that be to do the in-depth research that will show what a danger LaFarge's tire burning would be and all the clear scientific reasons there are to oppose it by any and all means (nudge, nudge!). And remember that this may include SLC Catskill as well - they already have a decades-old tire-burning permit in place, and if LaFarge goes ahead and saves millions by burning tires can SLC be far behind? Then what would become of Hudson's air? And what will Lehigh/Blue Circle do when they see their competitors gaining a profit edge? If the La Farge precedent is set, we will be in really deep doo-doo. Thanks for helping make Stuyvesant's action more widely known, and for whatever you can do in the future to help with this effort to protect the health of all.

[> [> [> [> [> Subject: Re: Gwen - thanks Author: Gwen [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 12:58:30 05/13/06 Sat Not a problem. As for the nudge...it needs to be done to someone in Catskill. (nudge...) Ravena and SLC-Catskill are on their turf. Not much I or anyone here can do about it. Could push, perhaps, should nothing BE done. Of course, if you do that, there will be, just like SLC, a whirlwind of opposing views that will have to be thrown into the mix. As there are on any issue. I'm glad you posted your letter here though.

[> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: Well, not actually... Author: Ned Depew [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 12:07:06 05/15/06 Mon you write: "As for the nudge...it needs to be done to someone in Catskill. (nudge...) Ravena and SLC-Catskill are on their turf. Not much I or anyone here can do about it. Could push, perhaps, should nothing BE done." But actually the damage will be (and is being) done downwind from the plant, principally in south County in the case of Lehigh and SLC, and north County in the case of Ravena - but given the inconsistancy and swirling, layering nature of winds in the river valley itself, they are all a problem to all of us. Because the wind blows predominatly from the west and north west to the east and southeast, the Greene and southern Albany County locations on the eastern edges of which the plants are located will feel a lot less of the impact than we will over here. This is an issue that the R-S should be covering closely: Is there a health risk for Col Cty residents? Did the DEC do its job of protecting the environment and Public Health? Are the DEC regulations and regulatory processes adequate to protect us? What are our elected Representatives thinking (and more importantly, doing!) about this? Sounds to me like a heck of a story. In fact, hey... what's that?...Yeah, I think I smell a Pulitzer!!! C'mon Gwen---here's your opportunity, I hear it knocking!

[> [> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: Re: Well, not actually... Author: Gwen [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 23:27:56 05/15/06 Mon Ned, Ned...I meant that the LaFarge plant in Ravena is DM territory. I didn't say that the affects wouldn't be farther reaching. Of course I know they would be. When towns and the county are approached about the topic, i can write about it. And I will/do. But, in the interest of making readers realize we are shortstaffed, I rarely if ever have time to be "enterprising." It's too bad, but it is partly a result of circulation numbers. Being in a low bracket as we are, the paper doesn't pay well and doesn't have a properly, depending on how you look at it, staffed newsroom. We have three, I repeat, three reporters in Hudson. That's it. So, while I will definitely listen to anyone who contacts me with story ideas, I cannot promise to write them all. I probably shouldn't be writing this on a public forum...but I do like to hear what the public knows and perhaps take it the next step and cover it. So suggest away. (And I agree that this is an important topic, but unlike SLC, which was LITERALLY in our backyard...this is a bit further removed "physically." So it is less likely to become such a closely and extensively covered topic.)

[> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: No, I knew that, but.... Author: Ned Depew [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 09:00:17 05/16/06 Tue I just meant that there are good resons why the R-S should be covering this issue - including "self-interest." Part of the reason readership of the RS - which is the only County-Wide Daily and should have a large built-in audience - is low and declining is because its ambitions are so modest. Substantive stories and investigative research on the LaFarge permit modification would inform and interest people throughout the county - since it affects all of them - more than local stories that focus solely on Hudson (not that these aren't important too - they are). That would sell papers outside the City Limits as well as within - a good thing for the paper, no? That's what attracts readers, and makes people want to buy the paper - the fact that it is relevant, informative and not afraid to raise and pursue controversial issues. I know the out-of-area publishers have little committment to such "public service," but I wonder if you can't convince the Editor and and local "publisher" that such "investment" - of reporter's time and energy, and news-space in the paper - will pay of well... Maybe I'll pay a visit and make an effot from my end as well...

[> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: Re: No, I knew that, but.... Author: yup [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 22:36:18 05/18/06 Thu Yes, I agree that Hudson is at times overcovered and there is a lot of focus on small-town issues. It would be lovely to branch out and cover issue stories and things that require more indepth reporting. I stand by, however, the need for more support of local newspapers so that there is higher circulation and better working conditions/pay/staff at the local papers to facilitate giving people more indepth information. You can't build "Rome" on the backs of only a few who are willing to do the job for very little because they truly care about informing the public. It just isn't enough in today's day and age. And people wonder why journalists are flocking to PR fields... But yes, do advocate from your end. You never know what will make a difference.