COLUMN THE VIEW FROM FLY CREEK Do We Give More Than We Take, And Does It Matter? By ADRIAN KUZMINSKI • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com In my last column, I discussed “Sustainable Living” – one of the three principles of Sustainable Otsego. Today I want to consider the second principle, “Economic Independence.” I’ll take up the last principle, “Home Rule,” in a later column. The phrase “economic independence” is bandied about these days by politicians and pundits alike. But what would…
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THE VIEW FROM FLY CREEK Only Grassroot Activists Can Save Our Planet By ADRIAN KUZMINSKI • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com Sustainable Otsego has been both a social network and political action committee since its founding in 2007. Over that time, it has advanced three principles around which local life could be organized: Sustainable Living. Economic Independence, and Home Rule. Today let me address Sustainable Living; I’ll take up the other two in later columns. Sustainable Living turns out to be a…
COLUMN How to Waste $400 Million By ADRIAN KUZMINSKI • Special to wwww.AllOTSEGO.com At the January 2019 Otsego County Energy Summit in Cooperstown, sponsored by the Otsego County Chamber of Commerce, a NYSEG representative surprised many present by announcing that the utility was planning to rebuild and expand the DeRuyter pipeline, which brings natural gas to Oneonta. In a subsequent report, filed with the Public Service Commission on March 15, NYSEG states, with regard to the DeRuyter pipeline, that it…
The View From Fly Creek If Facts Can’t Defuse Deniers, What Can? ‘What is Truth?” Pontius Pilate famously asked. Lately, it seems a bigger question than ever. If, like me, you surf between conservative and liberal websites, Fox News and CNN/MSNBC, talk radio and PBS, Sean Hannity and Alan Chartock, you know that you’re getting radically different, irreconcilable versions of the truth on virtually any subject. It’s scary. The other day, driving down Fly Creek valley, it was Glenn Beck…
COLUMN A Guaranteed National Income? By ADRIAN KUZMINSKI • The View From Fly Creek You might have heard of Andrew Yang. He’s running for president as a Democrat. A long shot, for sure, but he’s already generated considerable interest and support. Last month, he announced that he had received contributions from over 65,000 donors in over 20 states, enough to qualify him for the first round of debates by the Democratic candidates. Yang, from a Taiwanese immigrant family, was born…
from ADRIAN KUZMINSKI Don’t ‘Abolish’ Otsego Now, But Consider Broader Council To the Editor: I am privileged to be a columnist for this newspaper. Readers ought to be aware, however, that editors, not authors, choose the titles for op-eds, letters, and columns. My last column was misleadingly titled “Abolish Otsego Now.” That suggests shutting down Otsego Now, and everything it does. I advocated instead that its functions be included in a much broader Economic Development Council. The Editor also paired…
Elephant In The Room Undergirds Discourse Dismiss Smokescreen Hype About Dubious New Jobs In last week’s editorial in this newspaper, Oneonta Mayor Herzig is quoted as saying: “We should not let those who are economically secure, by comparison, tell those who need jobs they can’t have them.” The mayor was reacting to the March 5 hearing he moderated at the Foothills in Oneonta, where a long series of speakers pushed back almost unanimously against the gas-expansion project proposed by the…
Something Like ‘Green New Deal’ Essential, But Impact On Personal Freedom Worrisome The Big Idea of the Green New Deal, now widely supported among Democrats, is to deal aggressively at once with the twin crises of climate justice and social justice. The Green New Deal (GND) seeks to combine the progressive goals raised by Bernie Sanders in the 2016 election (single-payer healthcare, free college tuition, taxing the rich, and breaking up big banks) with a wholesale public infrastructure program for…
WE IGNORE THEM AT OUR PERIL What Ails Yellow-Vested Nous Amis Ails Us Last November the so-called ‘Yellow Vest’ movement exploded across France. A new gasoline tax imposed by the Macron government sent waves of protesters into the streets. Coming out in large numbers, they donned as their symbol the yellow safety vests the French government requires all motorists to keep in their vehicles in case of emergency. The protesters called for a repeal of the gas tax. Initial…
Energywise, We Can Have It All: Natural Gas Now, Renewables Later The Otsego County Chamber board and president deserve a heartfelt “thank you” for having the vision and courage to host the “Energy Summit.” Speakers from New York and Pennsylvania talked about fossil fuels and renewables including biomass, ethanol, electric cars, wind, solar and geo-thermal. At the end of the day, it was clear that, although promising for the future, renewables are not currently capable of replacing or offsetting our…
