"The idea that cities are leading on climate change is applauded over and over and over. There’s just one problem. It's not actually happening. Retrofit programs for buildings and homes aren't delivering results. Power distribution remains rooted in century-old thinking and technology. And those cities that claim to be on track to go "100 percent renewable"? Not even close."
"The truth is that cities have done little to contribute to recent declines in carbon pollution. Renewable portfolio standards have spurred tons of new renewable generation, but states adopt those, not cities. Transportation-related CO2 is down in many cities, but that's largely the result of improved national fuel-efficiency standards. And urban areas did nothing to create cheap natural gas, which, by displacing coal, has been the leading driver of reduced emissions."
Climate change is a serious problem but I reject undermining environmental laws, 📚threatening endangered species and paving over farm land, wildlife habitat and destroying our public lands to address mitigate it. 🌲🌳 Protecting the environment from badly thought out renewable and fossil energy projects is important.
I oppose solar farms on farm land and forests but I support solar panels on existing roof tops such as homes and business. If it’s already developed, there is no harm on strapping a slab of silicon on the roof.🏠 Wind turbines on farms make a lot of sense as they provide additional revenue to farms and are less disturbing to wildlife. Wind turbines take up some land and cast shadows but their impact is relatively small.🚜🐮 Obviously they are not appropriate in areas with good quality muck soils.
I reject the attacks by activist Eleanore Stein and certain politicians on our environmental laws and local control.⚖🏘 While it’s important we continue to invest in increasing our supply of renewable energy, it should not come as a cost to our quality of life or to the environment.🌇
Climate change is a serious threat to our environment and quality of life but so are renewable energy projects if it’s not installed in an environmentally sensitive manner. 🏭🏭🏭 Some in the environmental community will claim that the ends of unmitigated climate change will justify the means but they are wrong and must be repudiated firmly.😡
"Epidemiologists at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health say they've identified the largest cluster of advanced black lung disease ever reported, a cluster that was first uncovered by NPR 14 months ago. In a research letter published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, NIOSH confirms 416 cases of progressive massive fibrosis or complicated black lung in three clinics in central Appalachia from 2013 to 2017. "This is the largest cluster of progressive massive fibrosis ever reported in the scientific literature," says Scott Laney, a NIOSH epidemiologist involved in the study. "We've gone from having nearly eradicated PMF in the mid-1990s to the highest concentration of cases that anyone has ever seen," he said.
The last state oil and gas lease sale was in 2006 for a handful of state forests in Central New York and the Southern Tier. The auction brought in $8.98 million into the state, not including royalties for successfully drilled wells.
"In 2014, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation administered 79 leases on 44,464 acres of state land in Allegany, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung, Erie, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, and Steuben Counties. There were 237 wells located on and/or unitized with state land associated with 65 of these leases paying production royalties."
"The 44,464 leased acres are unchanged from 2013."
"Revenues from oil and gas leases on state lands totaled $361,568 in 2014, a decrease of $41,072 from 2013. The decrease in leasing revenues paid to the state is attributed primarily to the drop in oil and natural gas prices during 2014. The average price of oil decreased from $98.45/bbl in 2013 to $94.75/bbl in 2014, while the average wellhead price of natural gas decreased from $3.52/mcf in 2013 to $3.34/mcf in 2014."
"Although nearly 59,000 acres of state land have been leased since 1999, only 37 (0.06%) of these acres have been disturbed by well drilling, access road and pipeline construction."
