Column by Mike Zagata for December 21, 2018 1. Today, Renewables Can’t Go It Alone We all share a concern about our environment and what forms of energy to use in order to maintain our lifestyle and position in the global economy. Fossil fuels are non-renewable and thus the day will come when they are gone. Energy companies know this and realize that, in order to remain viable, they must look for renewable alternatives. However, there isn’t a magic switch…
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Column by Adrian Kuzminski for December 14, 2018 Public Banks, ‘Greenbacks,’ Might Close Gap Between Rich And Poor I brought up the Green New Deal in my last column as the only political agenda I’ve seen which, whether we agree with it or not, at least tries to measure up to the magnitude of the two biggest problems we face: climate change and economic insecurity. Let’s take a closer look.…
Column by Mike Zagata for December 7, 2018 How Sequoias Were Saved Offers Lesson On Forest Fires Editor’s Note: Among his many credentials, Mike Zagata is currently director of organization development at the New York State Forest Owners Association. The fires burning in California are indeed tragic, but their severity could have been averted. If politicians and environmentalists had bothered to research the ecology of the brushlands and forests in California, they would have discovered that they are fire dominated…
Column by Adrian Kuzminski November 30, 2018. Democrats Can Rebuild Around Climate Change, Economic Justice Now that the Democrats have made a comeback by capturing the House of Representatives, they are faced with how to use their new power. Up to now, they have been obsessed with Trump, and split on how to address the problems of the day. We’ll get to Trump in a moment. But first, let’s look at what the Democrats have to say about the big…
Column by Mike Zagata for November 23, 2018 Knowledge Workers? Great, But Traditional Industries Needed, Too As I began to read an article in last week’s edition, I felt a surge of excitement. The author, an elected official, had just stated that her constituents elected her twice because they understand that protecting our environment and growing our economy are not mutually exclusive policies. That is close to a statement in my recent book, “A Journey Toward Environmental Stewardship.” My excitement,…
Column by Adrian Kuzminski for November 16, 2018 Can Human Ingenuity Save Us From Perils Of Our Successes? It’s a widespread article of faith that “economic growth” is essential to future prosperity. That’s hardly surprising, since the modern world has been brought into being in less than 200 years by an unprecedented wave of economic growth. If we go back 200 years – to 1818 – we see there were no automobiles, no airplanes, no railroads, no antibiotics, no anesthesia,…
Column by Tom Morgan for November 9, 2018 Downstate Controls, Doesn’t Care About Upstate Yawn. Upstate’s recovery from the Great Recession is the weakeast of any U.S. region. According to a recent study. You can examine all the nooks of Upstate’s economy. Most every one is daubed with lackluster. Papered with anemic. Writ large with blah. Yawn. Upstaters grew accustomed to this long ago. Our motto should be “We’re Number One at being Number Fifty!” Most of us know what…
Column by Adrian Kuzminski for November 2, 2018 Gerrymandering Takes Away Our Right To Representation The most remarkable thing I’ve seen in this year’s midterm election campaigns is Chad McEvoy’s op-ed in the New York Times. The headline says it all: “If I win my district, I’ll get rid of it.” That’s the 101st Assembly District, a model of gerrymandering, which snakes in a narrow strip from New Hartford near Utica through part of Otsego county to the Hudson Valley.…
Column by Mike Zagata for November 2, 2018. Is Upstate Downbeat? Blame Slow Recovery According to a newly released report from the Empire Center for Public Policy, “New York’s Uneven Economic Recovery: A Tale of Two States,” those of us who live in Upstate New York escaped the real estate/housing bubble that led to the economic crash in 2008. Why? Because our economy was so bad that we didn’t experience a bubble like the rest of the country. How’s that…
Column by Mike Zagata for October 26, 2018. Science Can Be Political Tool, And Even Worse, Up For Sale I read with interest and admiration the article in last week’s paper about the different kinds of “truth.” Objective truth is the “truth” that is supported by fact. Subjective “truth” is what circumstances point toward or what we want, based on the information we have at our disposal, to believe. The Senate confirmation hearings for judge, now justice, Kavanaugh were used…
