Good Morning Gina,
I have a mixed bag for you this
morning, starting with that mouthful of a title.
Honestly, some days it is hard for
me to find fresh ways to present urgent messages in hearable, human ways.
I believe in your values and can
imagine the competing -- conflicting -- pressures that are part of your daily
life.
I believe that you show up for work
to do the best job anyone can of navigating through those pressures toward the
betterment of our environment. Too many people who I respect testify to
your commitment.
So my self-appointed role is to be
one of those little "pings" attempting to assist your navigation.
Let's start with business and
wrap up with a great feel-good sketch?
The Albany Times Union is running a special series
entitled "Toxic Risks." It is very thorough and educational.
A link is right here.
The reporting focuses on these case
studies, and uses them as a lens into the effectiveness of various governmental
agency and legislative efforts to protect the environment:
• Taxpayers spend millions to clean
up and monitor polluted land and water, but hundreds of sites statewide remain
contaminated. Thousands more await evaluation.
• The Superfund program is on
"life support." More than 80,000 chemicals used in commerce have
little or no studies on human health.
• Residents of a tiny Hudson Valley
hamlet have lost hope about remedies for their toxic water as officials shift
resources to Hoosick Falls.
• GE's Schenectady plant is still
contaminated... 29 years after it was declared a Superfund site
• Gloversville tanneries leave
questions about health issues from noxious fumes.
• Cancer worries concern some who
grew up near "The Varnish Works" in Schenectady.
• A homeowner in Valley Falls
bought his house in 1978 with little thought what a commercial laundry left
behind.
• Al Tech, riddled with PCBs and
heavy-metal contamination in Colonie, is about a mile from million-dollar homes.
• High levels of lead from old
wrecking company pollute area near Albany's Westland Hills Park.
• Glenville residents fight for
clean water 10 years after spill was discovered.
It offers a depressing record of
good intentions gone awry as well as the absence of good intent.
The series could lead one to a sense of defeat
or cynicism, which would be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
There was a good quote from
columnist Michael Gerson yesterday:
"Cynicism is more dangerous to democracy than outrage. Cynicism
pretends to a kind of sophisticated, insider knowledge of institutional
corruption."
We must
coach ourselves to believe in the power of our best instincts and intentions --
and the good work and progress such as we've seen in the Hudson PCB project is
good -- but we need more. We the people need more to counter any sense of
institutional corruption, as well as for our health, and the health of our ecosystem.
May I say "your at-bat Gina,
smack one outta the park for us!"?
Drum-roll: the feel-good.
Yesterday was a vile, stinking hot
and humid day. Beth promised to take us (me and the dogs) down to the
river to cool off).
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1, 2, 3: Rescue Dog Makes It!
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You may remember my Monday message about the beaver swimming over
to our deck? Well, it began to look like a replay....
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Hope you have a good weekend too!
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