January 9, 2020 Night

Good evening! Partly cloudy and 23 degrees in Delmar, NY. β›… There is a south-southeast breeze at 9 mph. 🍃. Things will start to thaw out at tomorrow around 9 am. 🌡️ Not so cold this evening, the wind has died down.

I was over a Cynthia Pooler apartment for a while trying to figure out how to make the Save the Pine Bush camera work properly 🎥 but we ran into some issues but were going to try to cut some video on Saturday but holding off on the top of the line people until we’ve mastered the camera.

I was a bit concerned about catching the bus home in time from her house but I hurried and made it in time. It’s really not far from the Executive Apartments to the bus stop at Price Chopper 🚏and the street lighting with the new LED lights makes walking 🚶 those streets far less creepy. I actually think that neighborhood has improved somewhat in recent years, I know some of my former co-workers used to live up there.

I had the fish sticks 🐠 and tater tots and green beans tonight that I wanted to have the other night. We were talking about all the fancy places people like to eat out but I just find restaurant food to be so wasteful and unhealthy. 🍴 I’m not much of a cook but I prefer to cook my own out of inexpensive ingredients that I buy in bulk at Walmart. It does get though at times though to come up with new meal ideas. But I’d rather save money 💵 and invest in a better tomorrow.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 22 degrees at 9pm. Eight degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 4th. Maximum wind chill around 13 at 9pm; South wind 9 to 14 mph. In 2019, we had partly cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 24 degrees. The record low of -13 occurred back in 1968.

Tonight will have a Waxing Crescent 🌒 Moon with 99% illuminated. At dusk you’ll see the moon in the east-northeast (72Β°) at an altitude of 16Β° from the horizon, some 235,958 miles away from where you are looking up from the earth. 🚀 The Wolf 🐺 Moon is on Friday, January 10. The darkest hour is at 12:03 am, followed by dawn at 6:54 am, and sun starting to rise at 7:26 am in the east-southeast (120Β°) and last for 3 minutes and 21 seconds. Sunrise is 12 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 8:10 am with sun in the southeast (128Β°) at an altitude of 6Β°. Tonight will have 14 hours and 44 minutes of darkness, a decrease of one minute and 18 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have a chance of rain, mainly after noon. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a high of 47 degrees at 2pm. 17 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 22nd. South wind 10 to 13 mph. Better think about wearing my rain coat. Or maybe not. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had light rain in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 32 degrees. The record high of 55 was set in 2016. 7.3 inches of snow fell back in 1984.❄

In four weeks on February 6 the sun will be setting in the west-southwest (249Β°) at 5:14 pm,🌄 which is 34 minutes and 45 seconds later then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had rain and temperatures between 37 and 25 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 33 and 16 degrees. The record high of 55 degrees was set back in 1991.

Planning to get to sleep shortly. 😴 Then I will get up at 6:30 again. Not that I need to get up that early but it adds a lot more time to my morning, that is if I don’t hit the snooze button too much. ⏰ I like being up early, having a bunch of coffee β˜• and having a few minutes to watch the sun rise and not be so busy. Even on the weekend I might set the alarm as I’m learning how healthy a common sleep schedule can be.

Looking ahead, National Cheese Lovers Day 🧀 is in 2 weeks, Snow Moon 🌕 is a month away, 5:30 PM Sunset 🌆 is in 6 weeks, Worm Moon 🌕 is in 2 months and Flower Moon 🌕 is in 17 weeks.

Branch Light

Regal Cinemas at Crossgates Will Shade the Karner Blues

Regal Cinemas at Crossgates Will Shade the Karner Blues

Regal Cinemas at Crossgates Maul has requested to increase the height of one theater from about 24 feet to approximately 70 feet above grade. The theater will become a “True Imax” according to their application.

Save the Pine Bush sued over the approval of the original theaters in the 1990s. Unfortunately, we lost, and the theaters were built in 1997. The theaters are very close to Butterfly Hill, just the width of a narrow road apart. The theaters cast a shadow on Butterfly Hill, which affects the habitat for the Karner Blue and other butterflies, insects, plants and animals. The graphic included here shows the count of Karner Blues over time, and notes when the original theaters were built. From this graph, one could conclude that the theaters have had a detrimental impact on the Karner Blue.

Julian Bond Sworn in Georgia House of Representatives – Zinn Education Project

Jan. 9, 1967: Julian Bond Sworn in Georgia House of Representatives – Zinn Education Project

On Jan. 9, 1967, Julian Bond was finally sworn in as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives. This was after a two year battle to claim his elected seat.

Following his election in 1965, the Georgia House refused to seat him because of his statements (on behalf of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) in opposition to the Vietnam War. He was re-elected to his “vacant seat” and the House refused again.

I think Trump’s regulatory rolling back of cumulative impact in NEPA will be devastating

I think Trump’s regulatory rolling back of cumulative impact in NEPA will be devastating. 🌎

Some of the things proposed by Trump are bad but this is devastatingly bad for our country. Looking at cumulative impacts of government policy is at the heart of the National Environmental Policy Act, ignoring it basically guts the law. We need to fully understand the impacts of government policies before moving forward, especially with large complicated projects. It’s always better to avoid impacts then try to fix them after the fact. 

NPR

Trump Rule Would Overhaul Landmark Environmental Law : NPR

A key part of the administration's proposal centers on whether agencies must consider the cumulative environmental effects of things like pipelines, which have attracted protests by climate activists across the country.

Under the new limits, federal agencies would only need to consider effects that are "reasonably foreseeable" and have a "close causal relationship" to the project. That could mean simply the impact of building thepipeline.