Walk through the Pine Bush Preserve on a cold night

Out for a hike in the Albany Pine Bush Preserve on this most frigid of evenings. I figured I would go there after going to JC Penny to buy some more dress shirts for work.

I was happy that they had the Oxford shirts I like but my oh my is the mall experience between the traffic and lines at the cashier is a miserable experience. I find it hard to believe people go to the maul for recreational purposes.

The wind is howling around at the preserve. The dunes do help to block some of the wind though. Heard the whistle of a bird and saw some kind of bird fly by.

I really enjoy walking in the preserve around dusk.

The Mueller Report Is Done, But Investigations Related To Trump Will Go On – NPR

The Mueller Report Is Done, But Investigations Related To Trump Will Go On – NPR

"Robert Mueller may have completed his report, but other investigations into President Trump are expected to carry on for months."

"There are, broadly, two kinds: those being undertaken from within the executive branch and those being run by members of Congress β€” mostly Democrats in control of major committees in the House."

My Letter to My County Legislature on the Proposed Bag Ban

One of the most important things a citizen can do besides voting, is to write their legislator, and let them know their thoughts on issues of the days. I recently wrote my county legislator, Vicky Plottsky about the proposed bag ban that is likely to be taken up in the next few week sin the county legislature.

Dear Ms. Victoria Plotsky:

I am writing you to urge you to vote no on the proposed Albany County Local Law “D”, The Eliminate Single-Use Plastic Bag Use in Albany County Act”.

I believe this law is not only unnecessary, it’s misleading in it’s purpose and bad public policy. This law would not only ban plastic bags, but also charge a new tax on environmentally-superior paper bags.

Plastic bags are convenient for consumers like myself, but generate minimal waste compared most other packaging consumer goods come in today. Moreover, all big-box retailers in the state of New York are required to take back plastic bags from consumers. Even when plastic bags aren’t recycled, they have a wide variety of uses in their reuse — like boot liners, keeping one’s lunch from leaking onto their backpack, or even trash can liners.

That said, I have no objection with banning plastic bags in favor of paper bags. Indeed, this is a public policy that should be explored further by county government. An increase in the use of paper bags would have significant environmental benefits.

The use of paper bags support local farms and forest owners. They will encourage more people to plant timber species, helping to sequester carbon dioxide out of the air and reduce climate change. Paper bags can be conveniently recycled with most mixed-paper recycling programs, and used for composting.

Paper bags rot relatively quickly, they provide few of the litter concerns that plastics cause. They are non-toxic. They don’t block up waterways, they don’t get stuck in trees. The environmental benefits to paper bags are only positive — they should be encouraged, not discouraged.

Taxing paper bags is a new tax on local families. Rather then taxing them, we should be promoting them — so we can have healthy forests that provide habitat for wildlife, recreation for citizens, and increased for the opportunities for the public to hunt and trap. Managed forests are healthier, have larger wildlife populations and increase carbon sequestration. A healthy pulp and paper industry, creates jobs and is good for our region’s economy.

Therefore, I believe you should vote no on the proposed Local Law “D”.

Sincerely,

Andy Arthur