So Mary, how do your personal preferences for car pooling and buying food items in bulk to reduce product packaging, as described in your post, translate to how you intend to govern if you are elected?
Auto emissions are not a County problem-- Political emissions are.
Still not a word about Metrograft, about taxing working people to support rich developers, about cutting record Property taxes, about building a new County Home and adding millions to the COUNTY tax burden. Car pooling is commendable. It is not relevant to this year's campaign. If you think Mike V is any better check out his website. More nothing and fluff.
Joe Suhrada please reconsider your decision and run for County Legislator. We need your common sense and clarity back at the County level.
I appreciate the interaction from Mary. However, car emissions, car pooling and global warming are not the pressing issues in Schenectady county. Neither is/was DTW or banning plastic in baby bottles. I put environmental issues in this same 'non pressing issues' in the same category. And as far as watching Al Gore's movie, I wouldn't spend the money to hear the hype. I'm still waiting for the forecasted ice age/global warming the tree huggers predicted 40 years ago!
I believe I have stated my concerns in my previous posts.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Hey Brad, welcome to this dialog!! I would be delighted to meet you in person!
Good afternoon to everyone else too!
My reference to An Inconvenient Truth was to make us all think. The information was presented in a non-jargon, non-scientific manner and not like a science digest. It's simple to understand. The viewer can draw their own conclusions and do their own research and investigation on its claims.
We all bear an individual responsibility to the environment and each other. It's not about politics, it's about preserving quality of life. Community involvement and environmental awareness are actions we can all do. No age or economic limitations. Do what you can to make a difference.
I believe in small government. I'm not in favor of excessive regulation and government mandates. Regulation and mandates equal costs to businesses and residents in the form of user fees and taxes. In Schenectady County, we need to hold the line on property taxes. In order to do that sadly there needs to be a balance of political power. Angelo tried last budget year. Ironic that with this weekend's celebration of our Country's independence we are still fighting for freedom from overtaxation.
Something of interest to you on the topic of home heating fuel, there is currently a bill S5818/A8562 that is stalled like everything else in Albany that will require insurer's to remove the pollution exclusion on homeowner policies. Check it out, it's a much needed piece of legislation. Cleanups are very costly and responsible homeowner's should be covered for this type of environmental release by their homeowner insurance policy. Call your state legislator and tell them you want it pushed through. Highly unlikely to get adopted this session, so get ready to push for it in the next. It took several years to get the potable water supply bill finally passed to amended the antiquated law.
Packaging?? Take a simple item like Domino brown sugar. Pretty yellow box, inside is a plastic bag. It makes it easy to stack on shelves and store in the pantry. However, the box serves what real purpose? Price Chopper sells brown sugar in a plastic bag. No box. When you are shopping, I simply ask you to think about purchases. Which one has the least environmental impact in a landfill?
There was a good Cap and Trap Op-ed article in the NY Times yesterday. Check it out!
I'm jumping off my soap box now or was that my platform, sheesh! Please keep chatting to me! We may not agree, but we have the freedom to disagree politely.
THE REPUBS WANT TO RUIN THE WATER AND THE AIR AND HURT THE KIDS SO BEWARE THAT A WOMAN COMES ALONG WHO SAYS SHE IS FOR THE KIDS AND THE FAMILIES AND THEN LIES THAT SHE WANTS THE AIR CLEAN BUT WE ALL KNOW THAT IF YOU ARE A REPUB THEN YOU ARE NEVER FOR THR AIR AND WATER AND CLEAN THINGS LIKE THAT BUT ARE FOR THE BIGGEST OF BUSINESS AND RICH AND THEN ALSO YOU GO AGAINST THE WORKERS AND UNIONS TO. SO WE ARE NOT GETTING FOOLED SO EASY AND FORGET THE WOMENS VOTE OR THE VOTE FROM THE FAMILIES WITH THE KIDS.
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
Something of interest to you on the topic of home heating fuel, there is currently a bill S5818/A8562 that is stalled like everything else in Albany that will require insurer's to remove the pollution exclusion on homeowner policies. Check it out, it's a much needed piece of legislation. Cleanups are very costly and responsible homeowner's should be covered for this type of environmental release by their homeowner insurance policy. Call your state legislator and tell them you want it pushed through. Highly unlikely to get adopted this session, so get ready to push for it in the next. It took several years to get the potable water supply bill finally passed to amended the antiquated law.
just another way for 'fees' to be collected into the social wallet.....we really dont have to insure anything now, do we?
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Summary - A08562 Back | New York State Bill Search | Assembly Home See Text
A08562 Summary:
BILL NO A08562
SAME AS Same as S 5818
SPONSOR Weisenberg
COSPNSR
MLTSPNSR
Amd S190, Nav L
Requires homeowners' insurance policies to insure against direct and indirect damages relating to a discharge of petroleum; provides that insurers shall provide notice in all homeowners' policies relating to responsibility and coverage of petroleum spills. A08562 Actions:
BILL NO A08562
05/28/2009 referred to environmental conservation 06/09/2009 reported referred to codes A08562 Votes:
A08562 Memo:
BILL NUMBER:A8562
TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the navigation law, in relation to claims against insurers for petroleum spills
PURPOSE: Protects homeowners from the onerous costs related to the remediation of petroleum dischantes on residential property. Unless the insurer prevails on the affirmative defense, the standard homeowner's insurance policy should cover the claim.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1 amends section 190 of the Navigation Law to add the following:
(a) requires all homeowners' policies of insurance to cover the cleanup and removal costs and all direct and indirect damages relating to a discharge of petroleum;
(b) establishes an affirmative defense against a claim for coverage of the costs and damages relating to a discharge of petroleum if the insured had actual knowledge of a condition which a reasonable person would have understood to pose an imminent risk of a discharge of petro- leum and that the insured failed to take reasonable steps to prevent the discharge;
(c) requires insurers to provide notice in every homeowner's policy. newly issued or renewed which insures against damage to property that states in part "You have a responsibility to prevent a discharge from your petroleum tanks and associated pipelines": and
(d) establishes that nothing in this section shall be construed to limit any pre-existing right in which the insured may have had compensation from the insurer for cleanup and removal costs and all direct and indi- rect damages relating to the discharge of petroleum.
Section 2 provides for an effective date of the first of January next succeeding= the date on which it shall have become a law.
BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION: A petroleum discharge or spill is a seri- ous threat to the environment. Spills that occur on residential proper- ties can cost anywhere from several thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars to clean up. Many of these spills involve petroleum storage systems whose tanks or lines have leaked allowing oil to seep into the soil and impact groundwater which is a typical source of drink- ing water. Remediation may include soil excavation. tank removal and replacement (if the tank was the source). and groundwater monitoring= or treatment. The homeowner is strictly liable for the discharge or spill and the subsequent clean-up costs. Insurance companies have routinely included absolute pollution exclusions in all homeowner policies and denied coverage of these costs. This legislation requires these costs to be covered in homeowner policies. These cases. though the often consti- tute a severe financial burden to individual homeowners and are a threat
to the environment are limited and should not impose a burden on insur- ance companies.
Therefore, the Comptroller urges passage of this legislation.
Thanks for posting the actual text of the bill JoAnn! To answer your question, the terms of the policy would be up to the individual and their insurance company. I deifintely would want my insurance company to cover a release from a failure of my fuel oil tank and I routinely take preventive steps to insure that it doesn't happen.
Let me just share a very quick story. For those that do not have fuel tanks obviously this doesn't apply. But those of you who do, should be asking for the passage of this bill.
A few years ago we did a public outreach and education piece at the NYS Fair in Syracuse. The exhibit featured an oil tank that on the outside didn't look to be in that back of shape. On the inside, however, was a different story. Much like a doctor cannot see cancer on the inside of your body without invasive testing, an experienced fuel oil service person cannot see what is going on in the tank.
This particular release (spill) cost the homeowner $24,000. The size of the hole in the tank was no larger than a pin. The tank was outside in a garage and the homeowner didn't discover the slow leak until much environmental damage was done.
In the rural community where your own well or your neighbor's well can be impacted the costs can be much more.
Because of the pollution exclusion, the insurance company did not pay for the cleanup cost, I don't have that kind of money laying around and I don't imagine many people do. This was a small cleanup in comparison to most.
Hopefully, my message will be helpful to some folks in our community.
Four issues: Taxes, spending, waste, debt. Boils down to one: Taxes.
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
Four issues: Taxes, spending, waste, debt. Boils down to one: Taxes.
Thank you! Honestly and respectively, I personally could give two hoots about our environment right now. There are clearly enough tree huggers out there to take care of it.
Taxes, spending, waste and debt is and should be the only thing on the front burner during this election.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Logged
Auto emissions are not a County problem-- Political emissions are. 
