'Regarding Tusten’s solar array, anaerobic digester' and more

Letters to the editor May 20 to 26

Posted 5/19/21

Letters to the editor May 20 to 26

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'Regarding Tusten’s solar array, anaerobic digester' and more

Letters to the editor May 20 to 26

Posted

Regarding Tusten’s solar array, anaerobic digester

I write seeking clarification of the statement reporting the Town of Tusten being “the first community that is home to an anaerobic digester powered by municipal solar.”

My understanding is that the solar array at the town highway department is not owned by the Town of Tusten. The electricity produced by the array is purchased by the town through a power purchase agreement (PPA) and the array was specifically sized to offset the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of Tusten municipal buildings and operations (except for street lighting). The town was able to reduce its carbon footprint of municipal operations by agreeing to purchase the “green” electricity and have that purchase be applied to its buildings and operations and was able to use this reduction in GHG emissions as an action that helped gain certification as a Climate Smart Community.

The anaerobic digester was not on that distribution of purchased power from the solar array. To claim that the digester is powered by the municipal solar array seems to me to be misleading. If the purchased power has been reassigned to the digester, that would be true. However, that would cancel out the credit for the town reducing its GHG emissions for municipal operations, which is the original intent of the PPA associated with the solar array.

Just to clarify, I am not being dismissive of the efforts to bring the digester to Tusten, merely seeking clarity of how this statement is justified.

Stephen Stuart
Narrowsburg, NY

We the people deserve better

Americans nationwide need to let their voices be heard. As long as the filibuster remains, nothing will get done in Congress.

The filibuster was created to undermine our voice as voters and slow progress on critical issues. It’s time to put an end to this Jim Crow relic and make sure our government is working for us.

Here is what’s happening:

The filibuster is a loophole, historically used to block civil rights legislation.

The original Senate rules did not include the filibuster rule.

The modern-day filibuster took root during the Jim Crow era when racist southern Senators used it to delay the passage of important civil rights legislation.

Now, the filibuster means that 60 out of 100 U.S. senators have to vote on almost all legislation.

The filibuster blocks deliberation and progress on important issues facing the American people

There are Senators who came to Washington to get things done for us, their constituents, and these rules prevent any possibility of change.

Senators no longer hold the floor, talking until they drop. It’s now a stealth tool of obstruction. Any Senator can signal an objection, and suddenly the Senate has to clear a 60-vote threshold.

Every issue you may care about will likely be held hostage by the filibuster. If we reform Senate rules, we have a real chance at strengthening voting rights, campaign finance reform, immigration reform, gun safety, raising the minimum wage, action on climate change, and police accountability and racial justice.

If you are fed up too, demand that our Senators end the filibuster and do the job that we, their constituents, sent them to Washington to do: legislate.

We the people deserve better. Let’s stand together and be heard loud and clear.

Eugenie Von Poppe
Honesdale, PA

Thanks to Peck’s-Eldred and the Town of Highland

The Eldred Congregational Church would like to extend its heartfelt thanks to both the Town of Highland and Peck’s Market in Eldred for their continued support of our little food pantry in front of the Eldred Congregational Church on Proctor Road. The town board, and particularly newly appointed town clerk Sue Hoffman, continue the efforts of recently retired Clerk Doreen Hanson to include the little food pantry by sharing the grant monies the town has received in its efforts to help residents who are experiencing food insecurity. And the manager and staff at Peck’s is ready and willing to quickly fulfill any order for nutritious and fun food!

The congregation of the Eldred Congregational Church thanks all who have contributed to the success of this outreach effort and encourages those experiencing need to partake of the pantry’s stock.

Susan Wade
Highland Lake, NY

Why I joined Friends of the Milford Aquifer

Over 60 years ago, Nobel Prize-winner biochemist Albert Szent-Györgi called water the “mother of life.” Renowned biophysicist Dr. Mae-Wan Ho regarded water as “a living rainbow,” noting its importance in structuring “quantum coherence” within all forms of life. Quite simply, the water inside it largely determines every organism’s quality of life.

Please consider then the issue at hand with the planned development at Exit 46 of Interstate 84, west of Milford. This intersection lies in the heart of the Sawkill Watershed; it supplies Milford Springs below it and is the aquifer for our community.

I am a member of the newly formed citizens’ group, Friends of the Milford Aquifer (FMA), and here are the concerns that drew me to this organization:

Health and safety: We need to preserve the purity and integrity of our water supply for ourselves and future generations. As the Lakota Sioux people remind us, Mní wičhóni, or “Water is life.”

Legal: Why issue such a large variance (over eight times the current zoned limit on one parcel) if there are health, safety, environmental and community quality of life issues at stake?

Environmental: Sawkill Watershed supports wildlife and biodiverse ecologies of which we are a part.

Quality of life: How will such development influence traffic patterns, i.e., trucks and traffic on Route 6 in and out of Milford and other intangibles of quality of life in Milford?

Economic: What will be the long-term economic impact of potential contamination of our water supply or loss of tourism or housing due to health, safety or quality of life changes?

Friends, water runs downhill. It bears many nutrients such as deep earth minerals. However, it also picks up waste products and pollutants along its path. These pollutants are difficult and costly to remove. Often, removing them requires filtering out biologically active nutrients as well.

It is thus in the interest of our community to limit over-development of this environmentally sensitive intersection (Exit 46) for the long-term health and welfare of our community.

Friends of the Milford Aquifer (FMA) advocates only for responsible and sustainable land usage, in cooperation with other state and local organizations and regulatory bodies.

For more information, please email fma54vdb@gmail.com or egragert@gmail.com or visit www.bit.ly/33MyA8h.

David Richard
Milford, PA

Tusten, solar array, filibuster, Jim Crow, Peck's market, Town of Highland, Milford aquifer

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