10/10/10 350.org Here Comes the Sun Rally for a Green New Deal in Rhinebeck-- don't miss it!...

Hi all...

You're all cordially invited to join musicians Finn Shanahan, SalTed Bones (Sal Miccio, Ted Orr, Joe Bones), and Ann Perry-- along with Hudson Valley Clean Energy and EarthKind Solar-- and Roberta Schiff of the Mid-Hudson Vegetarian Society-- Sun. Oct. 10th at 2 pm at Rhinebeck Town Hall (80 E. Market St. there) for our third annual 350.org (Here Comes the Sun) Rally for a Green New Deal!...

Recall-- last Oct. 24th we mobilized 150 folks from all over to come out to join Pete Seeger for our Second Annual 350.org Rally for a Green New Deal as part of the International Day of Action on Climate Change at Holy Light Pentecostal Church in Poughkeepise-- joining Ned Sullivan of Scenic Hudson, William Schlesinger of the Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies, Eban Goodstein of the Bard Center for Environmental Policy, and Allison Morrill Chartrychan of Cornell Cooperative Extension's Environmental Program, and many more; we gathered 200 on Mid-Hudson Bridge for this in 2008 too...
[see: http://www.350.org/about/blogs/350-rally-green-new-deal ]

[I had Bill McKibben of http://www.350.org call into my WVKR 91.3 FM show about all this; over the past two years Rhinebeck High School Environmental Club Advisor Amy Christie and Rhinebeck's Jeff, Ethan, Isabel Romano and Raphael Notin have been involved working with me on this as well; need u!]

So far plans 10/10/10 Here Comes the Sun (3rd annual 350.org Rally for a Green New Deal) include:

-- a countywide Here Comes the Sun song contest for kids of all ages

-- a countywide Here Comes the Sun art contest for kids of all ages (including pinwheels/wind turbines)

-- a countywide Here Comes the Sun essay contest for kids of all ages (

-- plenty of live music being performed, vegetarian food, booths/exhibits on green energy solutions

[...and whatever other bright ideas you and others might have for this...]

Feedback, input, ideas, suggestions, all, please!...

[musicians especially-- if you can make it to join us for this 10/10/10 let us know]

And-- important-- can YOUR group co-sponsor this 10/10/10 event in Rhinebeck?...let us know!...

Pass it on...

Joel
876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net

p.s. It's still EPA Pollution Prevention Week-- all the more reason for Dutchess to push for http://www.petitiononline.com/pacehere , http://www.petitiononline.com/zeroyes , http://www.PetitionOnline.com/NoDrill -- all a part of our 10/10/10 celebration as well!...(PACE and zero-waste mean serious cuts in carbon emissions while creating many more green jobs-- making drilling into Marcellus shale unneeded!)...

p.p.s. We're even brainstorming/mulling over plans for a community-wide (county-supported) Here Comes the Sun 10/10/10 parade from Rhinebeck Town Hall to the Rhinebeck Rec Park (where rec bldg. actually already has solar panels)......but we can't do this alone....interested?...let's do this!!!!....

p.p.p.s. On a related note-- just over the last month I've gotten Co. Leg.'s Sandy Goldberg, Dan Kuffner, Barbara Jeter-Jackson, and Jim Doxsey on board to co-sponsor my resolution below (scroll down all the way to bottom) for Dutchess County to follow great example of Red Hook: 10 Percent Challenge!...(our 10/10/10 event could also promote this locally and in county)...

[email all 25 of us at countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us for that resolution to be passed in Sept.!]

[recall Aug. 16th Pok. Journal editorial on this; see info here from Sustainable Hudson Valley-- http://www.sustainhv.org/10pct-main (thx, Melissa E.!)...and http://www.10PercentChallenge.org ; thx to efforts from yours truly on this, SHV's Melissa Everett will soon be presenting on this to our County Legislature; sadly, a few weeks ago the current Dutchess Co. Leg. GOP majority killed our efforts to get our resolution on this passed this month]

From http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20100816/OPINION01/8160307/Editorial-3-cheers ...

Editorial: 3 cheers

AUGUST 16, 2010

To the Town of Red Hook's Town Board, voted to be a pilot community in the "10 Percent Challenge" (see http://www.10percentchallenge.org ). The "challenge" will be a community effort over the next year to reduce both personal and business energy use by 10 percent. A new group, Red Hook Together, which includes members from the Red Hook School District, town and village board members, the Chamber of Commerce and Bard College, is working to help make it happen. AmeriCorps volunteers will plan 10 community events. On Oct. 10, (10/10/10), Red Hook will kick off the project and take part in an "international movement for a roll-up-your-sleeves-work-party day"; the town will plant trees, hold a bike swap, have a composting workshop and host a half-marathon.

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From http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/news-and-blogs/news/oilspilltruth/Global-work-party/ ...

Global work party
Let's get to work to stop global warming

Page - August 4, 2010

We're teaming up with 350.org, 10:10, and a global coalition of folks doing something about climate change to create a global day of action: the 10/10/10 Work Party. Help us make October 10th the biggest single day of action against global warming that the world has ever seen.

1000+ Work Parties already planned. Find one in your area and RSVP today or add an action to the map below:

Add an action to the Global Work Party map!

10 Ideas For 10/10/10:

* 1. Organize a clean energy street party: Organize a street party where you invite experts to teach your community about energy efficiency, composting, growing your own food, and other ways to kick-start the energy revolution in your own home. Be really bold, and power any electronics at your party with solar panels or wind turbines.

* 2. Get your community to switch to clean energy: Research the renewable energy providers in your area and make a leaflet about it. Spread that information around your community, and in the run-up to 10/10, ask people, businesses and your town if they'll pledge to switch to clean energy. If the energy providers in your area don't offer green energy, have an event on October 10th to ask them to do so.

* 3. Veg out: Organize a dinner or picnic with friends and family who are not vegetarian and serve only vegetarian food. Get them to commit to go meat-free for one day a week.

* 4. Mass bike riding: Gather hundreds of your friends for a mass bike ride to show how a car-free community could look. Do even better by starting your ride at a BP gas station to protest offshore oil drilling.

* 5. Deliver a message about dirty fuels to Congress: Gather all your friends and deliver the 10 worst pictures from the Gulf oil spill to Congress saying "Your work's not done until we stop offshore drilling." Or have a few people dress up as oil spill "response" workers and ask "are these the only energy jobs you want to create?"

* 6. Tell our leaders to "get to work" for us, not dirty energy companies: Research how much money your candidates for Congress have received from dirty energy companies. Once you know how much they've taken from companies like BP, you can do things like:

* Deliver giant price tags or checks to politicians that say how much dirty energy money they've received.

* Invite candidates to events to sign on to a commitment not to take any more dirty energy money, or to give back what they've taken.

* Organize a rally, invite your member of Congress and ask him or her: "Do you work for the public or do you work for dirty energy?"

* 7. Organize an "Energy Solutions" rally or photo:
* Gather lots of people and go to a dirty energy facility near your home. Hold artistically created wind turbines or solar panels to show the contrast between clean and dirty energy.

* Stage a solar-powered concert or film screening.

* Set up an exhibit area featuring solar-powered lamps, solar cookers, solar-powered charging stations for laptops and mobile phone.

* Make sure you find out if you'll need a permit to do this legally.

* 8. Put solar on it: Well before 10/10/10, ask your local politician whether they will install solar energy and/or hot water systems on their roof on 10/10/10. If they agree, great! If they don't, you could pool community money to buy them one, and deliver it to the office.

* 9. Plant a tree: Plant a tree in front of a dirty energy facility. Better yet, gather 100 people and plant 100 trees, or a thousand! Do your homework first to make sure you find a spot where you can do this legally.

* 10. Show your politicians what we want: Make pinwheels to represent wind turbines and stand with them in front of your member of Congress's office, or organize a solar rally with people holding mirrors (like this one). Paint a sign or banner asking them to "Get to work for an Energy Revolution Now" sign.

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From http://www.350.org ...

The Invitation - 10/10/10

Dear World,

It's been a tough year: in North America, oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico; in Asia some of the highest temperatures ever recorded; in the Arctic, the fastest melting of sea ice ever seen; in Latin America, record rainfalls washing away whole mountainsides.

So we're having a party.

Circle 10/10/10 on your calendar. That's the date. The place is wherever you live. And the point is to do something that will help deal with global warming in your city or community.

We're calling it a Global Work Party, with emphasis on both 'work' and 'party'. In Auckland, New Zealand, they're having a giant bike fix-up day, to get every bicycle in the city back on the road. In the Maldives, they're putting up solar panels on the President's office. In Kampala, Uganda, they're going to plant thousands of trees, and in Bolivia they're installing solar stoves for a massive carbon neutral picnic.

Since we've already worked hard to call, email, petition, and protest to get politicians to move, and they haven't moved fast enough, now it's time to show that we really do have the tools we need to get serious about the climate crisis.
On 10/10/10 we'll show that we the people can do this--but we need bold energy policies from our political leaders to do it on a scale that truly matters. The goal of the day is not to solve the climate crisis one project at a time, but to send a pointed political message: if we can get to work, you can get to work too--on the legislation and the treaties that will make all our work easier in the long run.

You can sign up to host a local event at www.350.org/oct10

Or search for an event to join at www.350.org/map

And don't worry about being alone at this party: there are already 1077 groups in 109 countries around the world scheduled to do something great that day. We'll knit all these groups together with a powerful mosaic of photos, videos, and stories from around the world. You wouldn't want to miss it.

It's been a tough year-but it can be a beautiful day on the 10th Of October if we work together, and party together. And if we do it right, then we'll take a big step towards the kind of political solutions we desperately need.
Onwards!

Bill McKibben and the 350.org team

P.S.-If you feel a little shy, or wonder if you can really make a party work, check out these pictures from last year's Global Day of Action. There were 5200 demonstrations in 181 countries, which means an awful lot of folks like you figured out how to get it done!

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From http://www.putsolaron.it/ ...

Put Solar On It

FAQ

Why the focus on these leaders?

"Put Solar On It" is focusing on world leaders that are:
* Strategic for international climate negotiations.
* High-profile and symbolic.
* Potentially influenced by this kind of campaign.

That said, we've also setup a way for you to send your message to any world leader. Just visit www.PutSolarOn.It home page.

Why is 10/10/10 the date we're asking leaders to install solar panels?

10/10/10 is the "Global Work Party" - a day when communities all over the world will be installing clean energy and celebrating climate solutions. By keeping the focus on 10/10/10, we can make it clear that communities all over the world are getting to work building the clean energy economy-and we need our political leaders to join us in this effort.

Will this give leaders an easy way out, so they can put solar panels up but not have to take a bold stand on clean energy policy?

No-it will be very difficult for any leader to make this a purely symbolic action that is separate from a major policy initiative for clean energy. We're not just asking that they install solar panels on their roof-we demand that leaders "make it possible for everyone in your country to join you in the clean energy future." The last sentence of our call to action may well be the most important: "We need you to act symbolically-and then we need you to act for real."

What should those government clean energy policies look like?

The visibility of solar panels on government buildings is only the symbolic part of what we're demanding of our governments. After they hammer in solar panels, they need to step down off the roof and hammer out bold and comprehensive energy legislation, too. The best legislation depends on the country, and we rely on the expertise of partners in these countries for the best information, but all energy legislation should make sure it benefits people equitably. New energy legislation should include ways of removing the burden of dirty energy on poorer people and assist in lifting them out of energy poverty, providing cheap and accessible renewable power.

Who's behind this campaign?

PutSolarOn.It is coordinated by the same people behind 350.org-but it's a collaboration between many partner organizations. If you'd like to get your organization involved, just email "solar [at] 350.org"

Aren't there already Solar Panels on the White House?

No. Jimmy Carter first installed solar panels on the White House roof in 1979 only to have them removed by Ronald Reagan a few years later. During the Bush administration, the National Park Service quietly installed three different sets of solar panels near the White House, including a set of 167 PV panels on a maintenance building outside the White House grounds, two solar thermal panels on the same maintenance shed, and a set of solar thermal panels on the President's cabana that helps heat water for the White House pool.

Lighting up the tool shed and heating the pool is good, but it's not the type of bold statement we're looking for. President Obama should put a large array of solar panels back on top of the White House, one of the most iconic buildings in the United States, and send a clear message to the nation that it's time to embrace a clean energy future.

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[text here below of resolution drafted by yours truly that should be on our County Legislature's Environmental Committee meeting agenda Sept. 7th-- co-sponsored by Co. Leg.'s Sandy Goldberg, Dan Kuffner, Barbara Jeter-Jackson, and Jim Doxsey]

WHEREAS, the choices of individuals and communities have powerful leverage, in the marketplace and the political realm; in the United Kingdom and Vermont, an intriguing energy-saving campaign is spreading virally with the support of national media, stars, and many engaged citizens; tt goes by the name 10:10-- a campaign to reduce carbon footprint and energy use 10% in the year 2010, and

WHEREAS, sixty-five thousand people and over 2,000 businesses are part of the campaign, which is endorsed and regularly covered in The Guardian; October 10, 2010 is the global launch of 10:10, and

WHEREAS, in the Hudson Valley, we have the makings of a similar campaign, the Ten Percent Challenge; Sustainable Hudson Valley has put this campaign together with a website, incentives and rewards, tools and support; the solar thermal company EarthKind Energy has generously pledged a free solar hot water system for the first community to achieve its 10% carbon reduction goals, and

WHEREAS, the Red Hook's Town Board recently voted to be a pilot community in the "10 Percent Challenge"; the "challenge" is a community effort over the next year to reduce both personal and business energy use by 10 percent; in Vermont the "10 Percent Challenge" has been embraced by IBM, Seventh Generation, Ben and Jerry's, the City of Burlington, and the Towns of Brattleboro, Charlotte, Middlebury, Underhill, and Williston, and

WHEREAS, a new group, Red Hook Together, which includes members from the Red Hook School District, town and village board members, the Chamber of Commerce and Bard College, is working to help make it happen; AmeriCorps volunteers are planning ten community events, and

WHEREAS, on October 10th Red Hook will kick off the project and take part in an "international movement for a roll-up-your-sleeves-work-party day"; the town will plant trees, hold a bike swap, have a composting workshop and host a half-marathon, and

WHEREAS, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the planet has just come through the warmest decade, the warmest 12 months, the warmest six months, and the warmest April, May, and June on record, and

WHEREAS, according to Sustainable Hudson Valley, American households generate 38% of the country's carbon footprint, which is 8% of the world's footprint and larger than that of any other country except China, and therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Dutchess County Legislature officially declares October 10, 2010 "Dutchess County Ten Percent Challenge 350.org Work Party Day", and also enters Dutchess County into the Ten Percent Challenge, based on the good example of the Town of Red Hook, and be it further

RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be sent to our County Executive and our county's Departments of Planning and Development, Public Works, and Central Services.

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[kudos to Red Hook CAC's Brenda Cagle on this-- and Micki Strawinski and Harry Colgan up there too!]

The Red Hook Town Board actually unanimously passed this resolution June 23rd:

"Red Hook Town Board Resolution for Participation in and Commitment to 10% Challenge
Whereas the Town of Red Hook has become an Energy Smart Community and engaged in actions to reduce green house gases;

Whereas energy costs show no sign of failing;

Whereas the majority of Americans want swift action on climate change from government, businesses, and communities;

Whereas valuable local resources such as Central Hudson and NYSERDA are underutilized in helping communities reach real reductions in energy use while saving money;

Whereas Sustainable Hudson Valley has brought together resources in the form of the "10% Challenge" to support outreach, education, action, and results;

Whereas the different community interests and businesses stand to profit in products and services through the purchase of energy-efficient appliances and participation in rebate programs;

Whereas community members are looking to take action and get directly involved in combating climate change and building a clean energy economy;

Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Town of Red Hook will commit to the "10% Challenge" working with Sustainable Hudson Valley and identified local partners to:

1) achieve a 10% community-wide reduction in greenhouse gas emissions through energy-efficiency improvements, renewable energy installations, appliance upgrades, and other measurable actions in homes, businesses, and public institutions; and,

2) generate a base of leadership that includes at least 10% of the community to sustain and support reduction steps.

Commitment to the "10% Challenge" does not constitute a financial commitment, but the Town will make volunteer commitments to assist in energy and cost savings for its residents, institutions, and businesses and improve the quality of life for it's community. The Town of Red Hook Conservation Advisory Council will manage the "10% Challenge" and report monthly to the Town Board on the actions taken and progress achieved."

forum: "The Media and the Truth"-- tonight Rhinebeck Town Hall 5:30 pm-- join us!...

Hi all...

Again-- it's great that The Hudson Valley News continues to print great columns weekly from Jonathan Smith (excellent one last week ripping Miller on behalf of Kogon) and Bill McCabe, while holding Hyde Park GOP/Martino's feet to the fire-- as I've long said....but that's no excuse for not printing any of the many rebuttals I've submitted over the last four months to the four attack letters on me from Muggenburg...they know no bounds, folks-- check pathetic/inane response just below from THVN received a week ago Saturday...

And if you care-- ask them to cut the garbage, print my rebuttal letter, and have the guts to join me at my "The Truth and the Media" forum-- tonight (Tues. Oct. 5th 5:30 pm) at Rhinebeck Town Hall!...(I'm not rollin' over and playin' dead while these bullies grow more and more powerful folks-- I wasn't built like that-- stand with me if you care...

Joel
444-0599/876-2488
http://www.DutchessDemocracy.blogspot.com

p.s. OK-- tiny step in right direction that they printed mini-letter in this week's issue from someone defending me, asking why they've refused to print my rebuttal letters to the editor to Muggenburg's four attacks on me since June-- but that's still not the same as allowing me to defend myself in my own words-- period.

four attack letters from Muggenburg on me since June-- but no rebuttals allowed-- why?...

Hi all...

Literally four times since June letters have been printed in The Hudson Valley News from Karl Muggenburg attacking me-- which of course he has every write to write-- and which of course The Hudson Valley News has every right to publish...(this last one calls me "Marxist" again, natch...lol)...

Just wondering, however, why none of the many rebuttal letters to the editor I've submitted to The Hudson Valley News since June have ever been printed...(!)...('tis true; I'll email 'em to you if you want)...

[I'm a big boy as they say-- can take care of myself, defend myself in print-- but why letters censored?]

I really can't do this alone any more, folks-- so-- ask The Hudson Valley News yourself why on all this...

Send an email to Jim Langan et. al. asking them to be more responsible as a community newspaper:

editorial@thehudsonvalleynews.com, carolinemcarey@thehudsonvalleynews.com, jimlangan@thehudsonvalleynews.com, weekend@thehudsonvalleynews.com, production@thehudsonvalleynews.com, advertising@thehudsonvalleynews.com

Also-- I've invited Langan to join me Tues. Oct. 5th at 5:30 pm for a special forum to deal with this over-the-top out-of-control media bias-- "The Media and the Truth"-- put it on your calendars, come out and join us-- and pass it along to all you know!...(and let's see if Jim actually has the guts to come out and publicly defend the indefensible way he's been managing his "community newspaper")...

[pass it on-- unless you truly enjoy this type of bullying being further enabled and more powerful]

Joel
876-2488
http://www.DutchessDemocracy.blogspot.com

[funny, isn't it?...Langan was bragging to me at the Winnakee Land Trust event at the Adriance Farm here in Clinton back in spring about how he once worked for Bobby Kennedy...what do you think RFK would say if he were here today?]

[recall as well The Hudson Valley News' coverage of my re-election campaign last fall-- blatantly lying about how supposedly I wanted to give "loans to criminals to get out of jail", "calling Dealy a liar"-- straight B.S...recall my blog posts on all this last October-- http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2009/10/why-cant-hudson-valley-news-print-truth.html ;
http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2009/10/part-ii-why-cant-hudson-valley-news.html ]

[...and yes-- again-- great that Langan et. al. doing spot-on job holding Martino/GOP feet to fire in Hyde Park (and I've even sent them a note of appreciation on this)-- and great that Langan et. al. printing great columns from Jonathan Smith (great one for Alyssa K. this week!) and Bill McCabe...but...don't kill me folks...that's no excuse for this other garbage from THVN]

#########################################

[here below-- letter to editor I've submitted for THVN to run asap-- let's see if they actually print it!]

To: editorial@thehudsonvalleynews.com, carolinemcarey@thehudsonvalleynews.com, jimlangan@thehudsonvalleynews.com, weekend@thehudsonvalleynews.com, production@thehudsonvalleynews.com, advertising@thehudsonvalleynews.com

Subject: Hudson Valley News folks-- four attack letters printed from Karl Muggenburg since June...

Hi Jim, Caroline, Dana, Chris, Nicole, Mahlon...

Literally four times since June letters have been printed in The Hudson Valley News from Karl Muggenburg attacking me-- which of course he has every write to write-- and which of course you have every right to publish...

I'm just wondering why none of the many rebuttal letters to the editor I've submitted since June have ever been printed...

Please print this one below-- thanks...

Joel Tyner
County Legislator
Clinton/Rhinebeck
876-2488

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Dear Editor:

Come out if you can 10/10/10 for our third annual 350.org Here Comes the Sun Rally for a Green New Deal-- Sunday Oct. 10th 2 pm at Rhinebeck Town Hall (80 East Market Street)-- with music from Rhinebeck's own Finn Shanahan, co-sponsored by Hudson Valley Clean Energy and EarthKind Solar, giant sun puppets from Sinterklaas, food from Rhinebeck's own Roberta Schiff and the Mid-Hudson Vegetarian Society, a countywide song contest, art contest, and essay contest for kids of all ages, live music, and green energy exhibits!

Fact: One billion dollars could be saved on electric bills over the next ten years for Dutchess homeowners and businesses with energy-efficiency retrofits and solar-- along with thousands of new jobs created (while cleaning our air and cutting carbon)-- according to Sustainable Hudson Valley Chair David Dell (sign www.petitiononline.com/pacehere).

Solution: PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) programs for our communities here-- as in Babylon, Boulder, Berkeley, Binghamton, et. al. (PACEnow.org).

Bedford and thirteen other towns in Westchester have formed a PACE Northern Westchester Energy Action Coalition(NWEAC.org); time for us!

Even Wall Street will help fund communities like Bedford and others working together to start PACE programs; NYSERDA and federal monies available as well (LIGreenHomes.com).

Finally, don't miss the public hearing on our county Resource Recovery Agency's proposed Solid Waste Management Plan-- Tues. Oct. 12th at 5:30 pm at Poughkeepsie City Hall at 62 Civic Center Plaza (in the Common Council Chambers).

Clearwater, Sierra Club, NYPIRG, and all of the members of the New York Zero-Waste Coalition are calling for an 85% recycling rate by 2020-- not an 18% recycling rate goal, as the DCRRA calls for.

Fact: Recycling and composting creates ten times as many jobs as incineration and landfilling (ILSR.org).

Joel Tyner
County Legislator
Clinton/Rhinebeck

876-2488

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[recall this email below sent out to my list June 7th-- after Langan blatantly lied in print about what I said; recall-- I actually ended up walking literally 140 miles from NY Stock Exchange on Wall Street in NYC to Albany in twelve days in solidarity with the Better Choice Coalition (made up of NYSUT (teachers union), CSEA, PEF, AFL-CIO, Dutchess Outreach, Sierra Club, 100+ other groups)-- for tiny new taxes on millionaires and Wall Street]

Facts the Hudson Valley News shouldn't ignore-- help get 'em out in the press, folks!...

Hi all...

Help put some courteous pressure on the folks at the Hudson Valley News to do the right thing and print this letter below in this Wednesday's issue; send a letter to editorial@thehudsonvalleynews.com, jimlangan@thehudsonvalleynews.com, and carolinemcarey@thehudsonvalleynews.com today!...

[It's one thing for Langan to attack me as a "socialist" in print as he did just days before last November's election-- and many still recall the Hudson Valley News' blatantly unfair coverage of my re-election campaign last fall as well (inaccurately describing innovative cost-saving ideas like a bail loan fund)-- but it's another thing entirely (and completely unacceptable) for Langan to just blatantly put words in my mouth, as he has this past week (again, I have never described teacher unions as special interests!).]

Pass it on...

[more info: http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2010/06/hold-jim-langan-accountable-for-his.html ]

Joel
444-0599/876-2488
http://www.DutchessDemocracy.blogspot.com

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[letter here below I have already submitted to The Hudson Valley News; need your help to get it printed!]

To the Editor:

First, with all due respect, the fact is that I have never described teachers, unions, or teacher unions, as "special interests", as this newspaper falsely ascribed this statement to me last week.

In fact, the whole point of my recent campaign kickoff press conference is that there is already a huge coalition of organizations like NYSUT that I stand strongly in solidarity with (unlike Cuomo) in calling for a stock transfer tax on Wall Street to help lower our taxes and balance the state budget-- the Better Choice Budget Coalition.

This coalition isn't just NYSUT, but also Dutchess Outreach, NYS Library Association, NYS Coalition Against Domestic Violence, NY Statewide Senior Action Council, NYS Alliance for Retired Americans, Interfaith Alliance of NYS, Interfaith Impact of NYS, Sierra Club, Environmental Advocates, Citizens Environmental Coalition, Citizen Action, NY Children's Action Network, NY Jobs with Justice, NYS AFL-CIO, CSEA, PEF, AFSCME, NYS Community Action Association, NYS Episcopal Public Policy Network, NYS Child Care Coordinating Council, New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, Fiscal Policy Institute, and many more-- see ABetterChoiceforNY.org!

A recent poll found that by literally a 3-to-1 ratio that New Yorkers strongly support such a tax on Wall Street to solve our tax/budget woes-- come join me for all or part of my 140-mile Walk for Main Street Not Wall Street (from Wall Street in NYC to Albany) from June 26th to July 5th (see www.petitiononline.com/stocktax).

Second, Mr. Muggenburg's letter questions the savings possible from recycling/composting the resources generated in our county now treated as waste burned/buried-- but for proof of $15 million worth of resources in Dutchess annually, google Richard Anthony and Associates' "Resource Assessment for Carroll County, Maryland" and their "Zero-Waste Implementation Plan for Hawai'i" as well-- it's all there, and quite applicable here.

The fact is that communities across the U.S. like Austin, Portland, Seattle, Oakland, and many more have saved beaucoup bucks for local taxpayers by moving meaningfully towards a zero-waste system of resource recovery (always cheaper to recycle or compost resources compared to tipping fees at incinerators or landfills).

Finally, it's interesting Muggenburg attacks the notion of a countywide health insurance consortium for Dutchess municipal employees-- he should have come out to the June 1st forum in Red Hook on county issues-- as that night, completely unprompted, even GOP Red Hook Town Supervisor Sue Crane pushed strongly in her comments for Dutchess to do this here (as Tompkins County is on its way to doing-- google it!).

Too bad back in February-- completely ignored by the media-- our County Legislature's GOP majority summarily killed the resolution I had on the February Committee Day agenda (for exactly this type of a countywide health insurance consortium to be set up) from even being allowed to get out of committee that day (I have a feeling Co. Leg. Republicans didn't know one of their own town supervisors would be pushing for it publicly a few months later!).

Get the facts, folks-- at DutchessDemocracy.blogspot.com; call us at 876-2488 to help get the truth out.

Joel Tyner
County Legislator
Clinton/Rhinebeck

push Cuomo to build true winning margin over Paladino-- by standing up for a fair, progressive system of taxation!...

Hi all...

Today's Times front page-- re: Quinnipiac poll yesterday: Cuomo
leading Paladino by only six points (also on front page of all the other papers)...

"Cuomo's Image As Unstoppable Suffers a Blow"
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/23/nyregion/23nygov.html

What can we all do about it?...

We can gently (or not so gently) remind Cuomo of how to re-energize
base-- not by GOP-lite pandering...

...but by actually standing up for what vast majority of us across
NYS want-- more progressive taxation!...

[why almost all of this below generally ignored by media?...think,
folks, think; see: http://www.FAIR.org ...]

Let Andy himself know-- at http://www.AndrewCuomo.com/contact ;
campaign HQ: (212) 209-3314!...

So without further ado-- twelve key facts we need to remind Cuomo to
recharge his base (us)-- now(!):

Fact #1: Middle-class NY'ers pay 11% of our income in state and local
taxes; millionaires pay only 8%.
[see: http://www.itepnet.org/wp2009/ny_whopays_factsheet.pdf ]

Fact #2: Millionaires used to pay 15 1/2% NY income tax rate in 70's
under Rockefeller; now pay 8.97%. [see:
http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/taxhistory2.htm ]

Fact #3: By 4-to-1 ratio New Yorkers support tiny tax on
millionaires. [Hart Research Associates 6/10]
[see:
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=940073&category=state
]

Fact #4: Different recent Quinnipiac poll found overwhelming support
even in GOP for millionaire tax.
[
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2010/08/16/100816ta_talk_surowiecki
-- 8/16/10 New Yorker]

Fact #5: By a 3-to-1 ratio New Yorkers support re-implementing stock
transfer tax on Wall Street.
[Global Research Associates 2003]
[see: http://www.petitiononline.com/stocktax ]

Fact #6: All of the following members of the Better Choice Budget
Coalition stand in strong support for a new tiny millionaires tax and
at least partial re-implementation of a stock transfer tax on Wall
Street-- NYS AFL-CIO, NYSUT, CSEA, PEF, AFSCME, NY Jobs with Justice,
Dutchess Outreach, NYS Coalition Against Domestic Violence, NY
Statewide Senior Action Council, NYS Alliance for Retired Americans,
Interfaith Alliance of NYS, Interfaith Impact of NYS, Sierra Club,
Environmental Advocates, Citizen Action, NYS Community Action
Association, and many more-- see http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org .

[...see http://www.DutchessDems.com -- Salute to Labor comin' up--
let's truly stand up for labor, folks!...]

Fact #7: Most NYers support tax on Wall Street banks and investment
firms based on size of bonuses
[Hart Research Associates June 2010]
[see:
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=940073&category=state
]

Fact #8: Wall Street (firms on NY Stock Exchange) made $61 billion in
profits in '09-- 3x previous record.
[see: http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20100328/FREE/303289966 ]

Fact #9: Reuters reported recently that "Wall Street bonuses likely
will rise this year."
[see: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/08/12/busines ]

Fact #10: 98% of small business owners make less than $250,000/year
according to Wall Street Journal.
[see: http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/taxes/Tax_Plan_Facts_FINAL.pdf ]

Fact #11: "American voters say 64-30 percent that reducing
unemployment is more important than reducing the federal budget
deficit, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
Even Republicans say 58-38 percent that reducing unemployment is more
important." [7/22 press release]
[see:
http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1284.xml?ReleaseID=1479&What=&strArea=;&strTime=0
]

Fact #12: 60% of Americans support "additional government spending to
create jobs and stimulate the economy." [Gallup June 2010]
[see: http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4103 ]

Again-- remind Andy C.-- at http://www.AndrewCuomo.com/contact ;
campaign HQ: (212) 209-3314!...

[remind Andy today-- FDR didn't get us out of Depression with budget
cuts, layoffs, and union-busting; why I walked 140 miles from NY
Stock Exchange on Wall Street to Albany in twelve days in June/July;
Andy has been GOP-lite: for property tax cap, capping state spending,
freezing state employees salaries]

Kudos to http://www.DidiforSenate.com and
http://www.Alyssa4Assembly.com for standin' up for these; both Didi
and Alyssa came out to our Apr. 15th Tax Day Rally for Main Street
Not Wall Street on all this...

[...don't forget: even WSJ sez 70% of economy driven by consumer
demand-- us-- not the wealthy!...]

Ask your incumbent state legislators at (877) 255-9417 to start
standing up for us more on these too...

[pass it on]

Joel
876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net

p.s. If you care about full/fair funding for our schools, parks,
libraries, hospitals, towns, villages, cities-- and full funding for
our county's nonprofits/services-- organized push for state
budget/tax sanity crucial!...
[save Dutchess-- see http://www.PetitionOnline.com/SaveDuCo ;
http://www.petitiononline.com/stopcuts ]

ten reasons to start new public access TV show and newspaper...

Hi all...

If you can, please come out today (Sunday) 3 pm to meet us at the Rhinecliff dock (by the Amtrak train station down by the river)-- with Frances Sandiford to re-launch our public access TV show on PANDA (Public Access Northern Dutchess Alliance)!...

[you may recall that from 1995 to 2004 I literally made over 500 different weekly shows; many folks have suggested I rev that process all back up again-- so am doing so!...but could use your help; even if you can't be there today, please let me know if you're interested in helping out on future shows!]

Here are twelve reasons why I'm re-starting a public access TV show locally-- twelve oft-censored truths that almost never get out on local TV or radio stations or newspapers (yes-- even more reason why I need your help to get our local progressive newspaper project off the ground as well; let me know if you're interested in that too!):

1. The truth about how millionaires here in NYS actually pay less %
in state and local taxes than we do
[see: http://www.itepnet.org/wp2009/ny_whopays_factsheet.pdf ;
http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org ]

2. The truth about how the minimum wage should be at least $10/hour
to match value it had under Nixon
[see: http://www.LetJusticeRoll.org ;
http://www.OneNationWorkingTogether.org ; http://www.AFLCIO.org ]

3. The truth about Co. Leg. issues from inside-- resolutions Dems
passed not implemented by Steinhaus
[see: http://www.PoJoWatch.blogspot.com ;
http://www.DutchessDemocracy.blogspot.com ]

4. The truth about how $1B could be saved on electric bills in
Dutchess in 10 yr.'s with energy efficiency
[
http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2009/03/our-bright-idea-growin-brighter-and.html
; PACEnow]

5. The truth about how contaminated our county's groundwater has been
from MTBE all over Dutchess
[see: http://www.RealMajorityProject.blogspot.com ]

6. The truth about our county's wasteful RRA (even in '99 S. Lynch &
I exposed this in Taconic Papers)
[see/sign http://www.petitiononline.com/zeroyes ;
http://www.cectoxic.org/ZeroWastePlatform2010.html ]

7. The truth about how ten times more jobs are created through
recycling compared to incineration
[see: http://www.ilsr.org/recycling/recyclingmeansbusiness.html ]

8. The truth about millions of our county tax dollars involved
annually in legalized kickbacks-- since 90's
[see/sign http://www.petitiononline.com/cleangov ]

9. The truth about how even optical scan voting machines are just as
hackable as touchscreen machines
[see http://www.ElectionTransparencyCoalition.org (recall Ciampoli
quote on WAMC today re: this)]

10. The truth about studies proving immigrants paying far more in
taxes than what they get in services
[see: http://www.aclu.org/immigrants.../immigration-myths-and-facts ]

11. The truth about how smart reforms in our criminal justice system
could save tax dollars and lives
[see: http://www.thenation.com/article/end-war-crime?page=full ;
http://www.Vera.org ]

12. The truth about our country's foreign policy (even in '01, '02,
'03 I opposed war in Afghanistan/Iraq)
[see: http://www.DutchessPeace.org ; http://www.NationalPriorities.org ]

[pass it on]

Joel
444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net

all-star forum re: PACE in Clinton Weds.-- for green jobs, savings on electric bills, cleaner air, cutting carbon emissions!...

Hi all...

Regardless of whether you're from the Town of Clinton or anywhere else in the Hudson Valley-- you folks need to come out this Weds. (Sept. 22nd) 7 pm to a very special forum I've put together-- "Green Energy Solution: A PACE Program for Clinton" at Clinton Town Hall (1215 Centre Rd 12572)-- with top experts from across the state to speak!...

[PACE = Property Assessed Clean Energy; see http://www.PACENow.org ]

Here's what the panel looks like so far-- Ron Kamen (fellow Town of Clinton resident), President of http://www.NYSEIA.org , and Senior Vice President of Business Development & Public Policy for http://www.EarthKindSolar.com -- also David Gabrielson of the Bedford Town Board and the Northern Westchester Energy Action Coalition ( http://www.NWEAC.org ); David Byrne, Project Manager for Hudson Valley Clean Energy ( http://www.HVCE.com ), Joseph Malcarne of http://www.Malcarne.com , and Stuart Findlay of http://www.CaryInstitute.org -- and Lucy Johnson of Vassar College's Sustainabilty Committee(!)...

[over the last two years I've pulled Findlay, Johnson, and Malcarne in to be involved in getting the Independent Dutchess Energy Alliance off the ground; see http://www.CambridgeEnergyAlliance.org for great example for Dutchess County from Cambridge, MA; two resolutions from yours truly passed with wide bipartisan margins in our County Legislature in 2008 and 2009 to create the Independent Dutchess Energy Alliance]

It's more timely than ever for us to push for PACE-like program locally-- people like Kamen and Gabrielson have emphasized and re-emphasized that Wall Street bond types are much more interested in helping towns start PACE-like programs like http://www.LIGreenHomes.com (Babylon) if little towns like Clinton first get motivated, then band together in aggregation with other small towns-- like 13 towns have banded together in Westchester w/Town of Bedford (foundation money is become more available too!)...

Eight facts that prove exactly how effective PACE programs can be creating green jobs locally (while helping Dutchess taxpayers save millions on electric bills, cleaning air quality and cutting carbon emissions):

[PACE = Property Assessed Clean Energy = Sustainable Energy Loan fund proposal]

Fact #1: Poughkeepsie's own David Dell, Chair of Sustainable Hudson Valley, has crunched the numbers and found literally one billion dollars in savings on electric bills possible over the next decade for Dutchess County homeowners and businesses alone if we actually succeeded in getting energy-efficiency retrofits into the hands of all who need them-- not to mention tons of jobs as well.
[you may recall-- SHV's David Dell is also a member of the Independent Dutchess Energy Alliance:
http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2009/03/our-bright-idea-growin-brighter-and.html ]

Fact #2: "Sonoma County has loaned out $30 million for energy improvements to more than 1,000 homes and businesses since the program began a year and a half ago"-- creating 347 jobs so far(!).
[July 28th NPR piece-- "Outlook Dims for Popular Energy-Efficiency Loans" by John McChesney
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128700648 Sonoma Co.-- population 472,000]

Fact #3: The Town of Babylon's Long Island Green Homes program by the end of August completed energy-efficiency retrofits in 120 homes (with 96 more waiting in queue); also solar lending. According to the Town of Babylon's Sustainability Officer and Energy Program Director Dorian Dale, "participating contractors have increased their employee rolls by 26% since the program began"-- and the Long Island Green Homes program is projected to create literally 6600 new green-collar jobs for the Town of Babylon-- with the average homeowner reducing their energy costs by $1160 a year(!).
[ http://www.townofbabylon.com/whatsnew.cfm?id=252 http://www.LIGreenHomes.com ; pop. 211,000]

Fact #4: Overwhelming majorities in our own County Legislature over the past few years (with strong GOP support no less) passed two resolutions in support of an Independent Dutchess Energy Alliance.
[based on http://www.CambridgeEnergyAlliance.org -- very similar to PACE program]

Fact #5: According to Town Boardmember David Gabrielson, the Town of Bedford is planning to make available $50 million over the next five years to loan 5000 homeowners enough funding for energy-efficiency and solar retrofits. [Bedford: population 18,000]
[see http://www.NWEAC.org ; Gabrielson made this statement on my WVKR 91.3 FM show yesterday]

Fact #6: "The Berkeley FIRST program has enabled 13 homeowners to install solar power systems, using money from bonds issued by the City." [Berkeley-- population 100,000]
[from "Solar Financing Program Invented in Berkeley, Now National, Is in Trouble" (July 19, 2010)
http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2010-07-13/article/35831?headline=Solar-Financing-Program-Invented-in-Berkeley-Now-National-is-In-Trouble

Fact #7: "Two combined land and sea surface temperature records from NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies and the U.S. National Climatic Data Center both calculate that the first six months of 2010 were the hottest on record; four of the six months also individually showed record highs."
[from "Global Warming Pushes 2010 Temperatures to Record Highs" by Juliette Jowit
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/07/29 ]

Fact #8: From http://www.ALANY.org -- for second year in a row now Dutchess County air quality has been rated an "F"-- and over 39,000 Dutchess Co. residents with asthma, bronchitis, or emphysema (the point being this-- the more energy-efficiency and solar/geothermal installed locally through PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) programs-- the less we all have to rely on polluting sources like the coal-burning power-plant complex at Newburgh's Danskammer/Roseton plant-- or Indian Point-- or hydrofracking and jeopardizing our groundwater-- or drilling for oil too).

Recall this, too, from National Association of Counties News (each Co. Leg. receives in our mailbox):

"Energy-Efficiency Loan Program Set 'PACE' for Counties" by Charles Taylor [June 21, 2010]
http://lists.naco.org/CountyNewsTemplate.cfm?template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=33973 ....this one truly is a must-read, folks-- re: "Model Program" determined by NACO folks...

[this article from NACO News points out that there are many different ways to fund PACE projects!...see: http://www.SonomaCountyEnergy.org ; http://www.RenewSantaFe.org ; http://www.BeClimateSmart.com ]

Recall, too-- it's not just towns, cities, and villages here in NYS and across the country that are getting off the dime to kick off their own PACE programs-- but counties too!...

Don't forget-- the Albany County Legislature unanimously passed a resolution this February to start a PACE-like program there (a Sustainable Energy Loan Fund, the Tompkins County Legislature unanimously passed a resolution this April to start a PACE-like program there (a Sustainable Energy Loan Fund), the GOP-led Nassau County Legislature passed a resolution this March to start a PACE-like Green Energy Loan Fund there, and most of the Sullivan County Legislature is also committed to helping Dick Riseling start a PACE-like SWEEP program there as well...

[note, too-- Elizabeth Staubach in the Albany County Executive's office has confirmed with me that Albany County is indeed working towards direction of starting to implement county-wide PACE program as in Babylon.]

[see: http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/legis/LD/12/03-23-10PJS01.html ;
http://www.albanycounty.com/legislature/resolutions/2010/20100208/10-046.pdf ;
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=899947&category=region ;
http://www.sc-democrat.com/news/0006June/18/news.htm ;
http://www.tompco.net/legislature/highlights/20100420.pdf ;
http://www.tompkins-co.org/legislature/TCCOG/Resolutions/PACE.pdf ;
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/what-are-mangano-s-plans-for-nassau-1.1631313 ;
http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2010/03/albany-co-leg-unanimous-for-green-loan.html ;
http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2010/03/join-lucy-johnson-of-independent.html ]

And here in Dutchess, Co. Leg.'s Dan Kuffner, Barbara Jeter-Jackson, Alison MacAvery, and Jim Doxsey have all agreed to co-sponsor the resolution below (scroll down) drafted by yours truly for our County Legislature to do the same here...(and have for months)...

But not ONE GOP member of our County Legislature has made commitment to co-sponsor this with us...

So-- send a letter today to all 25 of us on this-- at countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us!...

Also true (tho largely ignored by local newspapers)-- at the August full board meeting of our County Legislature, I got the entire Co. Leg. Dem caucus (Goldberg, Kuffner, Jeter-Jackson, MacAvery, White-- plus Cons. Jim Doxsey) to agree to sign on unanimously to letter from yours truly urging Congress (especially Sen. Schumer and Rep. Scott Murphy) to join Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Barbara Boxer, along with Representatives John Hall, Maurice Hinchey, and over forty other members of Congress, to co-sponsor legislation to protect PACE programs from the July 2010 statement from the Federal Housing Finance Agency-- "The PACE Assessment Protection Act of 2010" (H.R. 5766/S. 3642)...

Thanks again to Hank Gross of MidHudsonNews.com for again covering what no local newspaper did on this:

"Dutchess Legislature Dems Ask President to Retain PACE Program"
http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2010/August/12/PACE_DC_Dems-12Aug10.html

[again-- see http://www.PACEnow.org for much more on this; call Congress at (866) 338-1015 too!...(both Schumer & Murphy are now obviously running hard for re-election; they need our support)]

Pass it on...

Joel
444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net

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From National Association of Counties News (which each Co. Leg. receives in our mailbox).

"Energy-Efficiency Loan Program Set 'PACE' for Counties" by Charles Taylor [June 21, 2010]
http://lists.naco.org/CountyNewsTemplate.cfm?template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=33973

[this article from NACO News points out that there are many different ways to fund PACE projects; see:
http://www.SonomaCountyEnergy.org http://www.RenewSantaFe.org http://www.BeClimateSmart.com ]

Santa Fe County's program, Renew Santa Fe, has raised $10 million in private funding to begin as a pilot, according to Duncan Sill, the county's economic development director, who is in charge of the effort. That should be enough to fund 40-50 projects when the program ramps up later this year, he said.
Residential and commercial properties will be eligible for the loans. The county also intends to eventually sell "micro-bonds" in the $20,000 to $30,000 range, the proceeds from which will be used to make loans. Under most programs of this type, loans are capped at those amounts, or 10 percent of the home's value, whichever is lower.

St. Lucie County, Fla.'s nascent Solar Energy and Loan Fund (SELF) program takes a slightly different approach than Santa Fe's. Rather than selling bonds, it is creating a nonprofit "green" Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). The county has $20 million in commitments from the banking community.

"We're able to avoid the bonding process by partnering with the financial institutions, and then they put the financial capital in for the loan funds," said Doug Coward, vice chairman of the Board of County Commissioners. The St. Lucie program will focus in three areas: energy conservation, energy efficiency upgrades and rooftop solar. The first two are a no-brainer, according to Coward: "It doesn't make a lot of sense to put solar photovoltaic on the roof if that new electricity is going out the window."

Programs like these put energy efficiency improvements within reach for lower income residents and the working poor, he added. A CDFI requires that 60 percent of the program's energy improvements be in low- and middle-income communities.

In addition, the SELF program will be able to offer lower interest rates than traditional PACE programs, whose interest payments can range from 8 percent to 10 percent, Coward said. Using the CDFI approach, the county's program will be able to offer interest rates of 4 percent to 5 percent.

St. Lucie County and the Santa Fe County are also using monies provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which encourages such programs. Earlier this month, St. Lucie County was one of 20 jurisdictions nationwide awarded competitive grants from the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency Block Grant Program (EECBG), receiving $2.9 million for its SELF program. Santa Fe County is using state energy program funds that were distributed by formula.

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Here is actual letter I got Goldberg, Kuffner, Jeter-Jackson, MacAvery, White, and Doxsey to sign last month, directed to Congress:

[Tuesday I faxed the signed letter to all 12 different fax numbers for Sen. Schumer and Rep. Murphy]

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and forty-nine members of the House of Representatives wrote a letter to President Obama July 19th stating the following-- 'We are writing to express our strong support for the continuation of the innovative financing mechanism known as Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program; this innovative program will create jobs and make thousands of homes more energy-efficient.

The PACE program allows residential property owners, who may not have large amounts of capital on hand, to afford the up-front costs of a number of cost-effective improvements to their home. We request that the Federal Housing Finance Agency immediately publish revised guidelines that would allow PACE financing programs to continue while ensuring that both taxpayer and private mortgage investments are protected. Many Americans, states, and municipalities are counting on this program to be restored.'

Poughkeepsie's David Dell, Chair of Sustainable Hudson Valley, has determined that literally one billion dollars in savings on electric bills is possible over the next decade for Dutchess County homeowners and businesses if we succeeded in getting energy-efficiency retrofits into the hands of all who need them.

The towns of Babylon and Bedford, and the counties of Albany, Nassau, and Tompkins have taken meaningful steps towards setting up PACE programs. National Public Radio also recently reported that 'Sonoma County in California has loaned out $30 million for energy improvements to more than 1,000 homes and businesses since the program began a year and a half ago'-- creating jobs so far in just eighteen months.

Additionally, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Barbara Boxer, along with Representatives John Hall, Maurice Hinchey, and over forty other members of Congress are co-sponsoring actual legislation to protect PACE programs from the July 2010 statement from the Federal Housing Finance Agency-- 'The PACE Assessment Protection Act of 2010' (H.R. 5766/S. 3642).

We, the undersigned seven members of the Dutchess County Legislature, strongly urge Congress to pass H.R. 5766/S. 3642 without further delay-- and for President Obama to sign it into law."

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From http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2010/August/12/PACE_DC_Dems-12Aug10.html ...

Dutchess Legislature Dems ask President to retain PACE program

POUGHKEEPSIE - The six Democrats and one Conservative on the Dutchess County Legislature have signed a letter to President Obama, Senator Charles Schumer and Congressman Scott Murphy asking them to support retention of the Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program.

The program allows residential property owners who cannot afford upfront costs of making energy efficient improvements to their homes to perform them.
Dutchess County Legislator Joel Tyner is the impetus behind the local push to keep the legislation intact.

"Unfortunately the what happened on roughly July 7, the Federal Housing Finance Agency decided they wanted to kill PACE programs and this is really not a tolerable situation," he said.

So, Tyner and fellow Democrats Sandra Goldberg, Daniel Kuffner, Barbara Jeter-Jackson, Alison MacAvery and Steve White, along with Conservative James Doxsey, signed the letter.

They asked for Schumer and Murphy to co-sponsor the resolution to protect PACE programs along with Congressman John Hall and Maurice Hinchey and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, all of whom have already supported the effort.

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One more time for good measure-- here's the whole article from the beginning....

From the National Association of Counties News (which every Dutchess Co. Leg. receives in mailbox):

Vol. 42, No. 12 June 21, 2010

Energy-efficiency loan programs set 'PACE' for counties
By Charles Taylor
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
http://lists.naco.org/CountyNewsTemplate.cfm?template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=33973

Visit the following websites for information about programs in Sonoma County (www.sonomacountyenergy.org), Santa Fe County (www.renewsantafe.org) and Boulder County (www.beclimatesmart.com).

Santa Fe County is serving as a laboratory for the rest of New Mexico as the first jurisdiction in the state to establish a clean-energy loan program, repayable through the borrower's property taxes.

It's one of a growing number of counties nationwide with a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE), or similar, program. Boulder County, Colo., Sonoma County, Calif. and Montgomery County, Md. are among the others.

With PACE programs, property owners can borrow money from newly created "municipal financing districts" to pay for energy retrofits - efficiency measures or renewable energy projects, such as solar panels. The financing districts may sell bonds to raise the money to lend. Loans are repaid through a voluntary property tax assessment that stays with the property not the borrower. The loans typically can be repaid over a period of up to 20 years.

Santa Fe County's program, Renew Santa Fe, has raised $10 million in private funding to begin as a pilot, according to Duncan Sill, the county's economic development director, who is in charge of the effort. That should be enough to fund 40-50 projects when the program ramps up later this year, he said.

Residential and commercial properties will be eligible for the loans. The county also intends to eventually sell "micro-bonds" in the $20,000 to $30,000 range, the proceeds from which will be used to make loans. Under most programs of this type, loans are capped at those amounts, or 10 percent of the home's value, whichever is lower.

St. Lucie County, Fla.'s nascent Solar Energy and Loan Fund (SELF) program takes a slightly different approach than Santa Fe's. Rather than selling bonds, it is creating a nonprofit "green" Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). The county has $20 million in commitments from the banking community.

"We're able to avoid the bonding process by partnering with the financial institutions, and then they put the financial capital in for the loan funds," said Doug Coward, vice chairman of the Board of County Commissioners. The St. Lucie program will focus in three areas: energy conservation, energy efficiency upgrades and rooftop solar. The first two are a no-brainer, according to Coward: "It doesn't make a lot of sense to put solar photovoltaic on the roof if that new electricity is going out the window."

Programs like these put energy efficiency improvements within reach for lower income residents and the working poor, he added. A CDFI requires that 60 percent of the program's energy improvements be in low- and middle-income communities.

In addition, the SELF program will be able to offer lower interest rates than traditional PACE programs, whose interest payments can range from 8 percent to 10 percent, Coward said. Using the CDFI approach, the county's program will be able to offer interest rates of 4 percent to 5 percent.

St. Lucie County and the Santa Fe County are also using monies provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which encourages such programs. Earlier this month, St. Lucie County was one of 20 jurisdictions nationwide awarded competitive grants from the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency Block Grant Program (EECBG), receiving $2.9 million for its SELF program. Santa Fe County is using state energy program funds that were distributed by formula.

While many counties are just starting PACE programs, developments are underway that could have a chilling effect. Last month, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued what officials of Sonoma County's Energy Improvement Program (SCEIP) termed "new, confusing instructions" to mortgage lenders on how to treat properties with assessments under PACE-type programs.

At issue is the "seniority" of liens created by PACE program loans. SCEIP said Fannie and Freddie take the position that "energy assessments could be considered by the lender to be 'loans' instead of 'assessments.' This may lead some lenders to conclude the assessment should be paid off before the property transfers or is refinanced," according to SCEIP's website. The county disagrees with that view and is working with the government-backed mortgage lenders to clarify their position.

Will Toor, a Boulder County, Colo. commissioner, said, "Everybody who is running programs right now is trying to come to an understanding of the implications of the Fannie and Freddie actions. It does not necessarily stop PACE financing, but it's thrown some uncertainty into the residential PACE market."

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[again-- why aren't Schumer and Murphy signed on?...(see names of Gillibrand, Hall, Hinchey below!)]

From http://thomas.loc.gov ...

S.3642
Title: PACE Assessment Protection Act of 2010
Sponsor: Sen Boxer, Barbara [CA] (introduced 7/22/2010) Cosponsors (5)
Related Bills: H.R.5766
Latest Major Action: 7/22/2010 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
COSPONSORS(5):

* Sen Begich, Mark [AK] - 7/22/2010
* Sen Bennet, Michael F. [CO] - 7/27/2010
* Sen Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [NY] - 7/22/2010
* Sen Merkley, Jeff [OR] - 7/22/2010
* Sen Udall, Mark [CO] - 8/2/2010

H.R.5766
Title: To ensure that the underwriting standards of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac facilitate the use of property assessed clean energy programs to finance the installation of renewable energy and energy efficiency improvements.
Sponsor: Rep Thompson, Mike [CA-1] (introduced 7/15/2010) Cosponsors (48)
Related Bills: S.3642
Latest Major Action: 7/15/2010 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
COSPONSORS(48):
* Rep Berkley, Shelley [NV-1] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Berman, Howard L. [CA-28] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Bishop, Timothy H. [NY-1] - 7/19/2010
* Rep Blumenauer, Earl [OR-3] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Capps, Lois [CA-23] - 7/19/2010
* Rep Carnahan, Russ [MO-3] - 7/22/2010
* Rep Davis, Susan A. [CA-53] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Ellison, Keith [MN-5] - 7/22/2010
* Rep Eshoo, Anna G. [CA-14] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Farr, Sam [CA-17] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Filner, Bob [CA-51] - 7/19/2010
* Rep Garamendi, John [CA-10] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Giffords, Gabrielle [AZ-8] - 7/22/2010
* Rep Grijalva, Raul M. [AZ-7] - 7/19/2010
* Rep Hall, John J. [NY-19] - 7/22/2010
* Rep Heinrich, Martin [NM-1] - 8/10/2010
* Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. [NY-22] - 7/22/2010
* Rep Hirono, Mazie K. [HI-2] - 8/10/2010
* Rep Honda, Michael M. [CA-15] - 7/19/2010
* Rep Inglis, Bob [SC-4] - 8/10/2010
* Rep Israel, Steve [NY-2] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Lee, Barbara [CA-9] - 7/19/2010
* Rep Levin, Sander M. [MI-12] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Lipinski, Daniel [IL-3] - 7/27/2010
* Rep Lofgren, Zoe [CA-16] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Lowey, Nita M. [NY-18] - 7/30/2010
* Rep Matsui, Doris O. [CA-5] - 7/15/2010
* Rep McDermott, Jim [WA-7] - 7/15/2010
* Rep McNerney, Jerry [CA-11] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Miller, George [CA-7] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Neal, Richard E. [MA-2] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Pingree, Chellie [ME-1] - 8/10/2010
* Rep Polis, Jared [CO-2] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Rangel, Charles B. [NY-15] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Roybal-Allard, Lucille [CA-34] - 7/30/2010
* Rep Sanchez, Loretta [CA-47] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Sarbanes, John P. [MD-3] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Schiff, Adam B. [CA-29] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Schwartz, Allyson Y. [PA-13] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Sherman, Brad [CA-27] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Speier, Jackie [CA-12] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Stark, Fortney Pete [CA-13] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Tierney, John F. [MA-6] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Van Hollen, Chris [MD-8] - 7/22/2010
* Rep Watson, Diane E. [CA-33] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Waxman, Henry A. [CA-30] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Woolsey, Lynn C. [CA-6] - 7/15/2010
* Rep Yarmuth, John A. [KY-3] - 7/15/2010

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From http://www.tompco.net/legislature/highlights/20100420.pdf ...

Highlights of the April 20, 2010 meeting of the Tompkins County Legislature

Sustainable Energy Financing Programs:

The Legislature by unanimous vote, asked the State to adopt pending legislation to "amend, strengthen, and correct technical deficiencies" within enabling legislation authorizing Sustainable Energy Financing Programs, which would allow the use of bonds and other sources of public and private financing to establish and implement such programs. The Tompkins County legislature last year supported the enabling legislation to establish such "green loan" programs for property owners for energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements, but indicates that broader sources of funding are needed than are permitted in the current legislation.

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[text here below of resolution #2010228 from me, Kuffner, Jeter-Jackson, MacAvery, and Doxsey-- that I was forced to pull from the agenda this summer when it was clear GOP still going to kill it (text here below is modeled word for word after resolution that passed Albany County Legislature unanimously in February(; again-- email all 25 of us at countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us to get GOP off dime on this!]

WHEREAS, by Chapter 497 of the laws of 2009, the State of New York authorized an amendment of the General Municipal Law by creating Article 5-L to allow municipalities to create Sustainable Energy Loan Programs to promote the deployment of renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvement measures at residential and commercial properties, and

WHEREAS, the establishment of a Sustainable Energy Loan Program in Dutchess County would serve to assist in achieving statewide energy efficiency and renewable energy goals, reducing greenhouse emissions and mitigating the effect of global climate change and advance a clean energy economy, and

WHEREAS, a Sustainable Energy Loan Program would also bolster the economy of Dutchess County by saving county residents monies which they would otherwise spend on energy costs and by creating jobs for Dutchess County residents, and

WHEREAS, a Dutchess County Sustainable Energy Loan Program may create an opportunity for the County and State to obtain American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ("ARRA") and/or other funding to support the program, and therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Dutchess County Legislature hereby authorizes the Dutchess County Sustainable Energy Loan Program and requests that the Dutchess County Executive undertake all necessary steps to implement the Dutchess County Sustainable Energy Loan Program as authorized by Article 5-L of the General Municipal Law, and, be it further

RESOLVED, that the Clerk of the Dutchess County Legislature is directed to forward certified copies of this resolution to the appropriate County Officials.

help Rhinebeck's Tracy Krawitt stay in her house!...

Hi all...

A few times over the years I've met with Tracy Krawitt of Vanderburgh Cove in Rhinebeck (her situation has been covered by national and local media for at least the past six years now; see articles just below her letter below)...

Recently she indicated to me that the Town of Rhinebeck apparently has offered Tracy literally just one dollar for her property(!)...and that the White-Plains-based law firm of Knuckles, Komosinski, and Elliott has also seemingly been harassing her about monthly mortgage payments-- even though she has been making her monthly mortgage payments on time for many months now...

A few days ago I called Knuckles, Komosinski, and Elliott; they have yet to get back to me; earlier today I also sent them the letter below (to lossmitigation@kkselaw.com)-- and also through their website ( http://www.KKELawFirm.com )...

Please find the time early this week to do the same (call and email them) on Tracy's behalf:

Knuckles, Komosinski, & Elliott, LLP
565 Taxter Road, Suite 590
Elmsford, NY 10523
Tel: (914) 345-3020
Fax: (914) 366-0080

Thanks!

Joel
876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net

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Knuckles, Komosinski, & Elliott, LLP
565 Taxter Road, Suite 590
Elmsford, NY 10523

Mr. Knuckles, Mr. Komosinski, and Mr. Elliott:

I am a county legislator in my fourth term in office representing the people of Rhinebeck and Clinton, including Tracy Krawitt.

I have met with Tracy Krawitt and I am concerned that your law firm may be improperly harassing her, as she has made her monthly payments for many months consecutively now. Please allow her to stay on her property with her mother and keep on paying her mortgage. Thank you.

Joel Tyner
County Legislator
Clinton/Rhinebeck
324 Browns Pond Road
Staatsburg, NY 12580
(845) 876-2488

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From "Tracy Krawitt"
Date: Sep 16, 2010 10:46 AM
September 13, 2010

Dear Joel Tyner,

I am writing this letter in hopes that you will be able to help me in my time of need. My name is Tracy Krawitt, I own Spacey Tracy’s Pickles and I live in Vanderburgh Cove in Rhinebeck, NY. My mother, Terry Krawitt, has full blown Alzheimer's syndrome and completely depends on me. I am a single woman trying to maintain my home and my business on my own.

My story goes as follows. My mother and I took a home equity loan after our home was paid. The house was first assessed at $548,000.00. We secured the home equity to make improvements on the property. While clearing the land, I came across a large sewage collection basin and had to stop all construction on the property. The economy took a dive and I found myself trying to pay for my mother to have full time care. I was working 24/7 and paying out of pocket for my mother’s aides. During this time I investigated what was on my property. I found out there was a collection tank which was leaking raw sewage from 23 neighboring homes throughout the development.

Decker Surveying came to the house and told me the tank was owned by the Town of Rhinebeck. The tank is located 20 feet off of the easement, which puts it on my property. Clauser Engineering did water and soil testing, and the test came back so contaminated that I cannot go ten feet from the stream.

During the time the engineers were testing, payments to my mortgage was late. The mortgage company raised my payments from $2000.00 a month to $4000.00 a month which made it impossible to pay my mortgage. In order for me to get my mortgage to its original payment I had to take on power of attorney of my mother’s estate, take on her debt and file for bankruptcy. The mortgage company had to reinstate my original payment, which I have had no problem paying.

The Town of Rhinebeck has dropped the assessment on my home from $548,000.00 to $162,000.00. This is a drop of almost $400,000.00. My contaminated home and property is almost worthless. To top it off, I pay $4,000.00 for septic dues to the Town of Rhinebeck a year. This septic is poisoning my mother, myself and my animals.

I have gone to the Town of Rhinebeck countless times. Had more news media and press and not one thing has been done to help with this issue. Tom Traudt, Town Supervisor, shook my hand on TV and said he would personally come down to take a look at my property. He has never once made contact. Dan Staley, also town board, came on my property, looked at this tank and said, “there is definitely something wrong, this tank should not be in the middle of your lawn, and Tracy, you should be compensated for the five years of having to live like this”. I received a letter two days later, from the Town of Rhinebeck offering me $1.00 for easement rights for my property.

For those of you who want more information on this topic, google “Tracy Krawitt Sewage”.

Thank you,

Tracy Krawitt
21 Cove Rd.
Rhinebeck, NY 12572
(845)876-8083

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From http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2009/08/18/news/doc4a8a087bbf39f871446125.txt ...

Vanderburgh Cove sewer springs leak

Published: Tuesday, August 18, 2009

By WILLIAM J. KEMBLE
Correspondent

RHINEBECK — Problems with the Vanderburgh Cove Sewer District continue to mount for residents who are frustrated that a new leak has not been fixed and is expected to add costs for repairs to the aging system.

The problems were outlined during telephone interviews Monday, when resident Tracy Krawitt said a broken plastic line found last week has resulted in a steady flow of untreated wastewater going into a stream that leads into the Hudson River.

“There is sewage leaking everywhere straight out onto the ground no more than 10 feet from the stream,” she said.

“They (the town) sent people down to do some pumping,” Krawitt said. “They came out to try and clean it out and snake it. But it hasn’t been fixed because they are suppose to come down here and do more work.”

Krawitt, whose private lawsuit against the town in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York is scheduled to begin Monday, contends her property has been damaged by previous town efforts to address problems with the district’s sewage collection system and that an illegally built retention pond on her Cove Road property continues to overflow into streams that flow into the Hudson River.

The new problem was found in preparation for the lawsuit when Krawitt’s consultants followed an odor near her property.

“You can smell it 20 feet before you get to it and that’s what made them look for it,” she said.

“This pipe is not even underground,” Krawitt said. “It’s just cracked straight up and blowing complete septic out. ... It was leaking out to the point where it had spread everywhere and was this huge puddle.”

Town Supervisor Tom Traudt said on Monday engineers have reviewed the problem but information about stopping the leak was not immediately available.

The Town Board on Aug. 10 voted 3-1 to review a proposal by Canadian-based company Renwage, which has promoted an “engineered wetlands” system estimated at $500,000. Councilman Dan Staley was absent from the vote and Traudt cast the opposing vote.

“I don’t believe we should stop anything,” Traudt said. “We should stay the course of action that we’re on because this has been going on for too long. It seems like every time there is a change of ideas it stops the progress of improving the problem.”

Built in the 1960s, the Vanderburgh Cove sewer system was privately operated initially, handling the sewage of a development of 40 homes, of which 10 are in Hyde Park and 30 are in Rhinebeck. The town of Rhinebeck took control of the system in the 1990s, about a decade after the system’s owner abandoned it.

Officials have estimated it will take another $967,000 to correct system violations cited by the state Department of Environmental. The system does not separate stormwater from wastewater. As a temporary measure the board in July also agreed to increase the amount of system pumping with a new filter unit for six months while it waits for two new filters to be bid and installed.

Another $815,000 is expected to be needed for treatment system upgrades, with bid specifications for the project expected to be approved within a month.

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From http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20231011&BRD=1702&PAG=461&dept_id=69079&rfi=6 ...

Sewer district stinks, resident says
By: Mitchell Trinka
01/01/2009
email this storyEmail to a friendprinter friendlyPrinter-friendly
RHINEBECK - On hot days, the smell of human waste permeates the backyard of Rhinebeck resident and local business owner Tracy Krawitt. Rainy days are the best, she says, mixing the smell of sewage with waste that floats to the top of her lawn.

These issues are all part of problems she and other residents have been having with the Vanderburgh Sewer District, which serves more than 40 homes in the town and 10 in Hyde Park.

According to Krawitt the issues began in 2004, when two bathrooms in her home were wiped out by raw sewage explosions, but things have not been improved since then.

"I've got the greenest grass in town," said Krawitt, "but every time it rains all we smell is s----."

On June 16, 2004, the problems began for those in the sewer district. For Krawitt, whose home sits downhill of the surrounding homes, the issue was unexpected. She came home to relax, but instead came into her home and smelt the sewage smell she has now grown accustomed to.

"Poop was dripping everywhere," said Krawitt. "I had close to $40,000 in damage to my house."

Krawitt fought to get the town to pay for the damages, which she says were caused by pressure testing in the district pipes. She even invited Tappy Phillips from ABC's "7 On Your Side" series. Krawitt said Phillips was disgusted to see the state of the home.

"She saw I'm the house that's sitting on a volcano, and no one will help," said Krawitt.

According to Krawitt, not much has changed in the last four years, including the lingering odor.

"The town is treating me no different than what is on my property," said Krawitt. "I don't feel like this is my home anymore."

Krawitt said she wouldn't be so mad if she and other homeowners benefiting form the sewer district didn't have to pay between $3,000 and $4,000 on top of their regular tax bill each year.

"The district is a wreck," said Krawitt, "and we don't know where any of our money has went."

Now, she says, the town has a tentative plan to build a new $1.7 million sewer system.

According to town board liaison to the sewer district, Supervisor Tom Traudt, the issue has been something numerous administrations attempted to tackle.

Councilman Dan Staley agreed, pointing out that residents have sued the town over the issue and lost. He said the legal aspects involved have stopped the board from moving ahead on the needed improvements.

"This has been going on for a long time. We know there's something going on down there and it's a bad situation, but we're in negotiations," said Staley. "We are doing our best but our hands are tied."

Staley said before anything can be done, a settlement has to be reached between the town and attorneys hired by sewer district homeowners. He added that it is a unique situation because it has been handed down from administration to administration over the last few years, but no one has been able to come up with a resolution.

"Now it's on our heads and we're working as fast as we can," said Staley, "and we're hearing from the attorneys we are close to a settlement."

Traudt, although unable to speak on specifics, agreed with Staley, noting he has been in executive sessions with lawyers from both sides to try and create a resolution everyone can be happy with. He said he has high hopes a deal will be struck soon.

"I'm still trying to come to a compromise. We're working diligently to solve the issue," said Traudt. "The town board is very united in moving forward."

For the town, that means going to bond for the proposed improvements. For homeowners benefiting from the improvements, it will mean a higher tax bill because they will be paying for the $1.7 million bond over 30 years.

For Krawitt, the improvements are too little too late. Normally, properties are only allowed to have 200 parts fecal matter per million, but two tests have yielded results of more than 8,000 and 27,000. She said her land is ruined because of the fecal matter. She said scientists at Smith Laboratory in Hyde Park even told her to keep children from playing in the backyard and to stop growing any edible plants. This hit Krawitt where she really felt it, in her herb garden.

She said she began growing mint and other herbs for her pickle and jelly business, but now she has to get the plants from local farmers.

"Because of (the sewage), I had to mow my mint field down two years ago," said Krawitt. "I can't grow anything down here if I wanted. Otherwise I might as well be eating my own crap."

She said the issue hasn't only affected her mentally, but financially. She said a great deal of tax dollars is spent to send people in multiple times a week to pump out sewage. She said this solution isn't just costly, but has enabled further degradation of the system, sending pollutants into an abutting stream that dumps into the Hudson River. She said animals use the stream, adding no one is there to protect them from the fecal matter floating downstream.

"I have tried with the town. I really thought they were going to do something (for the homeowners)," said Krawiit. "But what about what they've done to the ecosystem?"

Staley said he understands the issue is complex, but noted the town will continue to consider what is happening in the district. He said he knows people are frustrated, they just need to bear with the board as it tries to resolve the long-standing issue.

Krawitt said she invites anyone interested to call her to set up a time to view her property, saying she is done holding punches. For more information on the issue, contact Krawitt at 876-8083.

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From http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,132953,00.html ...

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Sprayed Sewage Spurs Suit

A lawsuit filed by a resident against Rhinebeck, N.Y., could put the town in deep doo-doo. After all, that's where she's been.

Tracy Krawitt came home June 16 to find the interior of her house covered in raw sewage, reports the Poughkeepsie Journal.

The town had hired a company to do a high-pressure cleaning of the municipal sewage system, with the result that lime-green gunk sprayed out of Krawitt's toilets and onto the floors and walls.

"She's been damaged," Krawitt's attorney told the newspaper. "She had an explosion of sewage at her home and she's had the water and soil around her property contaminated."

Krawitt, who claimed to have spent about $40,000 in repairs and cleaning, said the town had been unresponsive to her complaints.

"They've treated me no better than the stuff that was on my walls," she observed.

speak up to save $ thru zero-waste-- at DCRRA public hearing Oct. 12th 5:30 pm @ Poughkeepsie City Hall!...

Hi all...

Start spreadin' the news-- we need y'all to come out Tues. Oct. 12th 5:30 pm to speak up for a new, dynamic, cost-saving, green-jobs, clean-air, carbon-cutting approach to resource recovery for our county now and for the next few decades-- at the Dutchess County Resource Recovery Agency's public hearing (to hear comment from you all!)...in the Common Council chambers on the third floor of Poughkeepsie City Hall (at 62 Civic Center Plaza)!...

And don't forget-- go to DCRRA.org NOW to weigh in with pro-zero-waste comments re: proposed 20-year Solid Waste Management Plan for Dutchess-- as Oct. 15th is the drop-dead deadline!...(scroll down a bit to see analysis from yours truly re: proposed DCRRA plan)]

Thanks again tons to Co. Leg.'s Jim Doxsey and Steve White, Environmental Management Council member Maribel Pregnall, Beacon Conservation Advisory Council Chair Tom Baldino, Cablevision, and all who came out last Wednesday evening (Sept. 15th) to Vassar to hear Neil Seldman (President of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and nationally known zero-waste expert) and food-waste/composting expert Shabazz Jackson of Greenway Environmental Services speak...

[re: Neil-- see "Waste to Wealth" at http://www.ILSR.org ; and http://www.GreenwayNY.com re: Shabazz]

[cost us $300 to bring Neil here: still need help; pls send $ asap to us at 324 Browns Pond Road Staatsburg, NY 12580!]

Fact: Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Sierra Club, NYPIRG, EANY, and Citizens Environmental Coalition (all members of the New Yorkers for Zero Waste coalition) support a 85% recycling rate by 2020-- not prolonging wasteful and polluting incineration. The New Yorkers for Zero Waste coalition also knows that "recycling saves 4-5 times the energy an incinerator recovers"-- and that Dutchess County know incinerates and landfills $15 million worth of materials we could make money from instead through recycling and composting (see http://www.CECToxic.org ; join 76 other Dutchess folks signed on to http://www.petitiononline.com/zeroyes ; also see "Zero Waste Dutchess" on Facebook; many too)...

Unfortunately, both the DCRRA and Comptroller Coughlan ignore potential cost-savings from recycling.

[...and unfortunately too-- just about all of the local media is ignoring this crucial aspect re: RRA issue...]

Here are the fifteen points ILSR Pres. Neil Seldman has shared with us recently on WVKR/WHVW:

[go to http://www.DCRRA.org to weigh in now; email countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us on this too!]

1. Dutchess County as an economic development strategy needs to divert valuable materials in the wastestream to industry and agricultureas; there are many companies who want to locate in areas where materials are source-separated and treated as resources instead of garbage; unfortunately Dutchess County now cuts itself off from this economic activity, as too many of its leaders have not seriously considered the alternative to incinerating and landfilling 90 percent of its resources-- garbage.

2. Recycling and composting towards the goal of zero-waste creates literally ten times more jobs than incineration or landfilling; my colleague Brenda Platt here at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance proved this in her comprehensive study of over 114 recycling companies interviewed from all over the country.
[see: http://www.ilsr.org/recycling/recyclingmeansbusiness.html ]

3. Dutchess County needs to find 40 acres for ten counties to locate an eco-industrial resource recovery park to recycle/compost the Clean Dozen set out by Dr. Dan Knapp of Berkeley's Urban Ore-- paper, wood, ceramics, soils, metals, glass, polymers, textiles, chemicals, and various items for reuse-- while helping local, successful food-waste composting operations like Shabazz Jackson expand with different sites across the county [note from JT (me)-- I've actually reached out to DCEDC/DCIDA folks on this].

4. Atlanta recently started an industrial park market development zone through its Division of Sustainability; California has many such Resource Recovery Parks that could be models for Dutchess.

5. Alameda County has a Waste Reduction and Recycling Authority truly focused on recycling instead of incineration or landfilling; Dutchess County would do well to seriously consider such an option.
[see: http://www.stopwaste.org/home/index.asp?page=516 ;
http://recycling/recordsetters/index.html ; http://www.ilsr.org/pubs/pubswtow.html ]

6. Another example-- Peninsula Composting manages a 300,000 ton/year facility in Wilmington, DE that accepts food waste from supermarkets that are only too glad to send it there-- as it costs them 20% less to send their food waste there compared to local landfills.

7. Peninsula Composting also manages recycling operation in Nantucket-- with a 92% diversion rate.

8. San Francisco has a 72% recycling rate; Los Angeles has a 64% recycling rate; King County (Washington) has a 62% recycling rate [and, as Paul Connett pointed out in a talk at Vassar this Earth Day, there are communities in Italy that have gotten up to a 70% recycling rate in literally just 18 months]-- there's no reason why Dutchess couldn't do this as well; where there's a will there's a way.

9. While I was in your area last year I visited the Coeymans Marine Industrial Terminal about an hour north of you in the Capital District-- which recycles glass barged up there from NYC that had previously been considered almost worthless and turns it into a product that sells at $100 a ton.

10. HDPE (plastic #2) could stay in county (plastic from milk jugs and juice jugs) to make other products.
Some communities have banned yard debris and food waste from being sent to incinerator or landfills-- there's no reason why Dutchess County couldn't do this.

11. Toronto is now saving tax dollars on waste disposal costs by collecting garbage only once every other week instead of weekly-- because they're collected food waste weekly; they have dual-stream trucks that collects garbage and food waste one week, and garbage and recyclables the next week.
[and-- check out http://www.Cool2012.com -- dozens of communities in U.S. with food-waste collection]

12. Food waste and yard waste typically are almost half of the wastestream across the country. Los Angeles and San Francisco are creating high-quality topsoil and black soil from composted food waste-- and selling it to farmers in their region. Some communities feed food waste into anaerobic digesters to create methane gas or compressed natural gas to sell back to the grid or provide fuel for their police or bus fleet.

13. Repairables and reusables make up only 5% of the wastestream-- but comprise half of the potential value of the wastestream. Adding value creates wealth and jobs-- at St. Vincent DePaul repair and reuse centers, 350 workers in six different companies making $12/hour with medical and dental benefits fix refrigerators, appliances, computers, furniture-- there's no reason why Dutchess couldn't facilitate this locally as well.

14. Kristen Brown communities often see a 45% increase in wastestream diversion through PAYT.
[sadly, DCRRA plan for "user fee" based on property class ignores PAYT (pay-as-you-throw) concept;
see http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/tools/payt/ for more on the many benefits of pay-as-you-throw]

15. Noted conservative Edmund Burke stated hundreds of years ago that elected officials are supposed to do now for their constituents what they would want to have done ten years hence."

Again-- see http://www.DCRRA.org -- though largely ignored by the local media, the public comment period has actually already begun for our county's new draft Solid Waste Management Plan(!)...

[unfortunately, the DLSWMP echoes almost completely recent "Working Group" report...and RRA in '09]

Analysis here of summary of draft SWMP:

Page 2's fourth paragraph refers to how they're suggesting that "the second part of the strategy is to substantially increase recycling from the current level of 10,000 - 12,000 tons per year (tpy) [only through the Agency MRF] to approximately 45,000 tpy"-- but on page 1 they point out that "currently it is estimated that approximately 250,000 tons per year of municipal solid waste is generated in the County, not including construction and demolition debris, sludges and other special wastes"...

Do the math-- 45,000 is less than one-fifth of 250,000-- meaning their goal is to move Dutchess from a 4% recycling rate (10,000 out of 250,000) to less than a 20% recycling rate (45,000 out of 250,000)...(!).

Contrast that with the 85%-recycling-rate-by-2020 goal that Clearwater, NYPIRG, Sierra Club, Environmental Advocates of New York, Citizens Environmental Coalition, et. al. set earlier this year as endorsers of the New Yorkers for Zero Waste Platform 2010 statement.
[see: http://www.cectoxic.org/ZeroWastePlatform2010.html ]

Also from that New Yorkers for Zero Waste Platform 2010 statement-- "Recycling saves 4-5 times the energy an incinerator recovers.1 Incineration is not renewable energy. Incinerators emit more carbon dioxide than coal burning plants per MWh. Incinerators must have burnable materials and therefore compete with recycling. Incinerators emit toxic air emissions and produce toxic incinerator ash that needs landfilling."
[again-- see: http://www.cectoxic.org/ZeroWastePlatform2010.html ]

[fact-- more communities across U.S. targeting much higher recycling rates; 70% in 18 months possible:
[see: http://www.no-burn.org/why-incineration-is-a-very-bad-idea-in-the-twenty-first-century P. Connett]

Pages 2, 4, and 7 of the Draft Local Solid Waste Management Plan (DLSWMP) contain a (big surprise-- not)...strong push for flow control-- which, unless efficiencies proposed by Steve Lynch are embraced, could well just be further needless subsidizing of waste @ DCRRA (recall-- yesterday he reminded us that two to three million dollars could easily be saved annually @ DCRRA just by doing industry-standard things like "benchmarking"-- comparing line by line various DCRRA expenses with other RRA's/incinerator operations-- and making sure that truly competitive procurement processes are followed @ DCRRA...

Page 4 of the DLSWMP is mostly devoted to (again-- no big surprise) their pushing for a "user fee"-- "assessed as a user charge for properties that generate solid waste...graduated in amount by property classification"........(just like Steinhaus, GOP, DCRRA have all been pushing for since last year)...

Page 5 includes blatant hypocrisy-- in that the DLSWMP is giving lip service to "Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT)"-- when the very user fee proposal they're pushing makes this almost impossible for the properties that user fee is levied on. Recall-- it wouldn't matter if one house was recycling 90% and the house next to it of same size was recycling only 10%-- their proposal for user fee only takes into consideration size of property-- this is the exact opposite of the principle involved in pay-as-you-throw systems.
[EPA is pushing strongly for PAYT: http://www.epa.gov/wastes/conserve/tools/payt/tools/success.htm ]

Page 5 (again just as Calogero has pushed for in the past-- and as the legislative "Working Group" is pushing) contains a push for "the development of beneficial uses for ash"...

But on that note-- again-- recall-- Clearwater, NYPIRG, Sierra Club, Environmental Advocates of New York, Citizens Environmental Coalition, and all of the endorsers of the New Yorkers for Zero Waste Platform 2010 statement describe in no uncertain terms incinerator ash as "toxic"-- "Incinerators emit toxic air emissions and produce toxic incinerator ash that needs landfilling."
[see: http://www.cectoxic.org/ZeroWastePlatform2010.html ]

Page 6 includes a push from the DLSWMP "to extend the operating life of the RRF [incinerator] over the next 25 to 30 years" and "to increase the current level of energy recovery from solid waste now underway in the County"..."to upgrade the RRF fans"..."to upgrade the existing [incinerator] turbine"..."to secure a new contract for the RRF [incinerator]"...and-- get this-- "expanding the RRF [incinerator] capacity"...

Page 7, believe it or not, includes a push for "development of a local ash landfill"...(!)......('nuff said)...

Again, unfortunately the DLSWMP, DCRRA, and Legislative Working Group both ignore these six facts:

Fact #1: Dutchess County now incinerates or sends to landfills $15 million worth of materials and resources that could be recycled, including plant debris, food waste, paper, wood, ceramics, soils, metals, glass, polymers, textiles, chemicals, and various items for reuse (Richard Anthony Associates).
[see: http://ccgovernment.carr.org/ccg/pubworks/sw-future/docs/resource-assessment.pdf MD like NYS!]

Fact #2: 500 new jobs could be created right here in Dutchess County if those materials were recycled instead of burned or buried, according to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and Richard Anthony.
[see: http://www.ilsr.org/recycling/recyclingmeansbusiness.html ]

Fact #3: The cost of disposing of the Dutchess County Incinerator's 50,000 tons of toxic ash annually has doubled in recent years to three million dollars a year, according to Dutchess County Resource Recovery Agency Board Chair William Conners in a statement he made in Co. Leg. chambers in 2010.
[see: http://www.no-burn.org/why-incineration-is-a-very-bad-idea-in-the-twenty-first-century P. Connett]

Fact #4: The city of Springfield, Mass. has saved $75,000 in just the first half of this year alone by expanding recycling to one-third of the city; it expects to save $450,000 a year through greatly expanded recycling.
["Springfield Municipal Recycling Initiative To Expand" WAMC's Paul Tuthill July 23rd]
http://www.facebook.com/l/5e086TnJIxHhsEjo9ZH7biGHeXA;www.publicbroadcasting.net/wamc/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1679516/news/Municipal.Recycling.Initative.To.Expand ]

Fact #5: The Poughkeepsie Journal reported March 7th that emissions from our county incinerator of particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, and nitrogen oxide have all increased over the last decade-- along with the fact that, on an annual basis, our county incinerator also creates 50,000 tons of toxic ash-- and spews 29 pounds of heavy metals (mercury/arsenic/lead/cadmium), 37 tons of sulfur dioxide, 22 tons of hydrogen chloride/hydrogen fluoride, and 3700 tons of carbon dioxide.
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20100307/NEWS01/3070350/Burn-plants-seem-cleaner-but-facts-debated

Fact #6: The Poughkeepsie Journal reported March 7th that "the Dutchess County Resource Recovery Agency recycles only 4 percent of Dutchess' 250,000 tons of garbage; little is done to encourage recycling in the county; when waste recycled by private haulers is included, the county recycling rate is only 11 percent, about half the state rate, agency figures show; an estimated 30,000 tons of paper alone go to the trash heap yearly."
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20100307/NEWS01/3070352/Critics-rip-agency-as-recycling-falters

So again-- fwd along to everyone you know news of DCRRA public hearing re: proposed SWMP-- Tues. Oct. 12th 5:30 pm at Poughkeepsie City Hall-- and go to DCRRA.org now (before Oct. 15th deadline) to weigh in with public comment re: SWMP!...

[pass it on]

Joel
876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
PoJoWatch.blogspot.com

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[here-- Tyner/Goldberg/Jeter-Jackson/Doxsey resolution that GOP refuse to embrace thus far, sadly]

WHEREAS, Dutchess County now incinerates or sends to landfills $15 million worth of materials and resources that could be recycled, including plant debris, food waste, paper, wood, ceramics, soils, metals, glass, polymers, textiles, chemicals, and various items for reuse, according to Richard Anthony Associates, and 500 new jobs could be created right here in Dutchess County if those materials were recycled instead of burned or buried, according to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, and

WHEREAS, the cost of disposing of the Dutchess County Incinerator's 50,000 tons of toxic ash annually has doubled in recent years to three million dollars a year, according to Dutchess County Resource Recovery Agency Board Chair William Conners, and

WHEREAS, the Poughkeepsie Journal reported May 7th that "if Dutchess County does not submit a new solid waste management plan to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation by Aug. 1, the Dutchess County Resource Recovery Agency might lose its operating permit next year," and

WHEREAS, the Poughkeepsie Journal reported May 10th last year that the Dutchess County incinerator "costs 46 percent more to operate than 13 other plants in New York and Connecticut and has debts stretching years beyond all of them," and

WHEREAS, although the Dutchess County Incinerator produces power from burning trash, the income does not come close to covering costs, and neither do the tipping fees that are among the highest in the region; in recent years, Dutchess County taxpayers have seen the county's subsidy to the Resource Recovery Agency go from $2 million to $6.3 million, with more increases expected, and

WHEREAS, the Poughkeepsie Journal reported March 7th that emissions from our county incinerator of particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, and nitrogen oxide have all increased over the last decade-- along with the fact that, on an annual basis, our county incinerator also creates 50,000 tons of toxic ash-- and spews 29 pounds of heavy metals (mercury/arsenic/lead/cadmium), 37 tons of sulfur dioxide, 22 tons of hydrogen chloride/hydrogen fluoride, and 3700 tons of carbon dioxide
WHEREAS, the Poughkeepsie Journal reported March 7th that "the Dutchess County Resource Recovery Agency recycles only 4 percent of Dutchess' 250,000 tons of garbage; little is done to encourage recycling in the county; when waste recycled by private haulers is included, the county recycling rate is only 11 percent, about half the state rate, agency figures show; an estimated 30,000 tons of paper alone go to the trash heap yearly," and

WHEREAS, the Daily Freeman reported April 28th that "Ulster County residents recycled more than 64,000 tons of materials in 2009, nearly doubling the amount diverted from the waste stream in 2005; the increase in recycling, combined with a dropoff in the amount of nonrecyclable garbage produced in the past two years, has pushed the county closer to the state goal of recycling 42 percent of the waste stream," and

WHEREAS, communities across the country like Austin, Portland, Seattle, Oakland, and many more have proven that a zero-waste approach to resource recovery can save tax dollars, create more jobs, clean up air quality, with lower carbon emissions, compared to incineration or landfilling, and

WHEREAS, the United States has lost half the carbon in its soils and half of what is buried in landfills is organics (yard trimmings, food scraps and food soiled paper); landfills are the single largest source of human-created methane gas and contribute significantly to climate change; we need to get organics out of landfills and back to the soil, and
WHEREAS, Royal Carting is starting a food-waste curbside collection demonstration project with 177 homes in Beacon; the towns of Hamilton and Wenham in Massachusetts started curbside collection of food waste this year and are saving tax dollars; here in Dutchess County Vassar and Marist colleges compost their food waste, along with many restaurants in Tompkins County, and the communities of Portland, Seattle, Boulder, Cambridge, Wegman's Supermarket and Wal-Mart in Onondaga County, NY, Central Vermont Solid Waste Management District, San Francisco, CA, Morgan Hill, CA, Dublin, CA, Alameda County, CA, Pleasanton, CA, Hutchinson, MN, Hennepin County, MN, San Leandro, CA, Union City, CA, Swift County, MN, King County, WA, Bowdoinham, ME, San Jose, CA, Newark, CA, Orange County, NC, Berkeley, CA, Western Lake Superior Sanitary District, MN, Livermore, CA, Mackinaw Island, MI, and
WHEREAS, it has repeatedly been proven across the country in these communities that food-waste curbside collection is a win-win for homeowners, businesses, and waste haulers; all end up saving money as tipping fees at compost facilities are lower than tipping fees at incinerators or landfills, and if food waste is collected regularly, trash doesn't have to be collected so often, and therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Dutchess County Legislature urges the Dutchess County Solid Waste Commissioner and the Dutchess County Resource Recovery Agency to work together to incorporate the following in its Solid Waste Management Plan for Dutchess County submitted to the NYSDEC: to set a recycling goal for Dutchess County of 70% by 2015 and 90% by 2020, and to work with the Dutchess County Association of Supervisors and Mayors, Dutchess County Economic Development Corporation, and Dutchess County Industrial Development Agency to site an eco-industrial resource recovery park and food-waste composting facilities to process source-separated organic materials, and to ensure recycling containers are placed wherever there are trash containers, and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Dutchess County Legislature requests that licensed waste haulers in Dutchess County collect food waste with lower rates for clean, source-separated materials, and reuse, recycle or compost at least 50% of all materials and bulky items collected by them in Dutchess County, and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Dutchess County Legislature urges the Dutchess County Solid Waste Commissioner and the Dutchess County Resource Recovery Agency to phase out as quickly as possible incineration or landfilling of easily recyclable materials; no compostable organics should be burned at the Dutchess County Incinerator or sent to landfills, and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Dutchess County Legislature urges the Dutchess County Solid Waste Commissioner and the Dutchess County Resource Recovery Agency to work together to make sure that all Dutchess County all residents, businesses and institutions source-separate reusables, recyclables and compostables (including discarded food, and food contaminated paper), and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Dutchess County Legislature urges the Dutchess County Director of Central Services to purchase only products with reusability, recyclability and compostability, and requests thatthe Dutchess County Department of Public Works specify in all of its contracts for major construction (e.g., roads, parks, public buildings) the use of reused, recycled and compost products; all packaging for products sold in stores in Dutchess County should be reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2020, and be if further

RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Dutchess County Executive, Dutchess County Solid Waste Commissioner, Dutchess County Resource Recovery Agency, Dutchess County Director of Central Services, Dutchess County Department of Public Works, and all other county departments.