Letter from Wayne Mellor Otsego Board of Reps Made Right Decision Sustainable Otsego fully supports the Otsego County Board of Representatives’ unanimous vote to oppose three propositions in the proposed 2024 state budget, which would change Real Property Tax Law 575-b, part N. The first local, utility-scale, solar project was proposed for the Town of Laurens in 2019. In response, Sustainable Otsego’s position was that our communities and Otsego County need to benefit from the loss of our land to…
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Supporters, opponents weigh the costs and benefits of New York’s climate plan New York’s state Legislature and Governor Cuomo approved the sweeping ‘Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act’ (CLCPA) in 2019, setting in motion an aggressive climate change agenda mandating 100 percent zero-emissions electricity by 2040 through a Climate Action Council charged with developing a ‘scoping plan’ of recommendations to meet those and other targets. Critics say that plan – up for public comment through June 10, 2022 – is…
The Present State of Rural Economies Glimmerglass Film Days this year featured a documentary entitled “Storm Lake” that chronicled the operating of The Storm Lake Times, a small local newspaper in Iowa farm country much like The Freeman’s Journal/Hometown Oneonta. The community of Storm Lake endured profound changes in the last two decades as the local farm economy declined and was replaced by a very large Tyson pork processing plant that now employs 2,500 mostly migrant workers. The town’s population…
Other voices, other views by Wayne Mellor Public banks and our local economy Adrian Kuzminski’s recent article on the benefits of local business ownership and how a simple regulation can effectively hold off big business consolidation gives us another opportunity to better understand the current state of rural economies like ours. The consolidation and productivity increases in the dairy industry have nearly wiped out the small business farm economy in our region. That economy supported myriad small businesses such as…
LETTER from WAYNE MELLOR With renewable energy, details are key New York state passed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act in 2019. The law will propel New York towards a climate change friendly economy that will rely much less on burning fossil fuels for energy by 2050. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan is ambitious. It calls for an 85% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040, and 70% renewable energy by 2030. In 2020, New…