New Yorkers need conservation funding reforms
Manhattan: New Yorkers need conservation. Our parks and forests provide shade on hot days, reduce air pollution and support mental wellbeing and healthier outcomes for communities. Even in our metropolis, conserved areas — parks, forests, wetlands, riverbanks, beaches and bays — offer essential habitats for wildlife.
Trust for Public Land (TPL) has helped protect more than 124,000 acres in New York over the past 40 years, but in the last six, that number dropped to just 553 acres. Bureaucratic delays and shifting priorities have drastically slowed conservation efforts. Such a decline is reflected across the state, which once protected an average 70,000 acres annually; it now preserves fewer than 5,000 — despite voters approving a $4.2 billion environmental bond act in 2022. With climate change having a greater impact on communities and nature disappearing at an alarming rate, New York’s conservation efforts must regain momentum. Land trusts like ours can’t afford to hold properties indefinitely while the state’s acquisition process drags on. Conservation projects are stalling — but the state budget presents a key opportunity to change this.
Gov. Hochul and the state Senate and Assembly have proposed measures to increase conservation funding and modernize the state’s slow acquisition process. Their plan includes $500 million for the Environmental Protection Fund, with $60 million for land conservation. Key policy changes would cut bureaucratic bottlenecks by allowing title insurance in conservation land transactions, empowering the Department of Environmental Conservation to acquire conservation easements directly, and eliminating some taxes on land conservation projects by nonprofit organizations. These common-sense reforms will save taxpayers money while ensuring cleaner air and water and more green space. Tamar Renaud, New York State director, TPL
See you in court
Manhattan: April is Earth Month, and finally, someone is standing up to our governor’s foot-dragging on climate. For six years, our Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) has been directing us to reduce our polluting emission by 40% by 2030 (just five years off!). And our governor’s Department of Environmental Conservation has not even published final rules informing major polluters of how much their excessive emissions will cost them — or when! That’s why four conscientious organizations, including the Sierra Club, have sued the governor and her “conservation” department to act. The DEC and governor both need that good kick. Thomas A. Caffrey
An ‘ouch’ of prevention
Manhattan: A study published in the journal Nature using real-world data from the U.K. found that individuals who received the shingles vaccine were 20% less likely to develop dementia over the next seven years compared to the ones who did not receive the vaccine. Alan Lehrer
Malicious meddling
New Bedford, Mass.: Rumors surrounding the 9/11 attacks have been discredited while the U.S. government has admitted to having a direct hand in destabilizing Middle Eastern countries like Iran. This is while the U.S. military has been spending millions of dollars to arm and train paramilitary groups in Middle Eastern countries like Iraq and Afghanistan. These are not conspiracy theories but historical fact. Given the U.S. military’s illegal involvement in the Middle East during the Iran-Contra scandal, how many supplies, including arms and munitions, were left unaccounted for? Did Osama Bin Laden’s camouflage jacket come from the U.S. military? Were the Kalashnikovs used by him and Al Qaeda relics of Russia’s Afghanistan invasion or due to illegal arms smuggling during Iran-Contra? Given the U.S.’s active participation in Israel’s total war and possible attempted genocide against the Palestinian people, getting truthful answers to difficult questions like these is more important than ever. Justin Lavine
Trade traitors
Williamsburg, Va.: Why has Israel been placing tariffs on American goods when America provides aid and weapons to Israel? This is no way to treat a friend that has continued to support Israel in its wars with terrorists and the Arab states. President Trump talks about being taken advantage of, yet he has allowed Israel to impose tariffs on American goods while America imposed no tariffs on goods produced in Israel. I no longer have respect for Israel. It should be ashamed of itself and immediately apologize to the American people. John Lemandri
Who prospers?
Brooklyn: In all the talk of expected price increases due to increased/retaliatory tariffs and, among other things, making tax cuts for the wealthy permanent, there’s one thing never mentioned: Where are the increases in salaries of everyday workers? Will Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustment increases match increases in everyday expenses? I only read and hear that we must be willing to bear the burdens of these changes, but with price increases and cuts to supplemental programs that Americans already rely on to help make ends meet, there’s no mention of increasing incomes now or in the future of this assumed-to-be-increased prosperity for our country. The only people who will get more out of all this are the ones who already have much more than the average American, and that’s not “great” at all. Wanda Peakes
History of bankruptcy
Manhattan: Dear President Trump, please stop treating the American economy like it is one of your businesses. I do not wish to see my 401(k) and IRA join your too-numerous-to-mention-here bankruptcies and other failed ventures. W.T. Bredin
This is not that
Bayside: Voicer Tom Ascher’s letter was an inaccurate summary of layoffs during prior administrations, and I suspect inaccurate in the numbers listed. There is no hypocrisy and no comparison between prior administrations and this one. Prior layoffs were not decided by a non-governmental employee displaying a chainsaw with talk of sending government functions to the wood chipper. They were accomplished by reorganization of functions, attrition, buyouts and early retirement offers. No elimination of jobs and worldwide responsibilities due to “just because” or DEI paranoia. The eliminations were calculated so that government could function smoothly and so employees were not dehumanized. I know. I was an IRS appeals officer who, at the end of 2004, accepted an early retirement package. Andrea Harris
Organize labor
Castlebar, Ireland: The only defense the average citizen in a modern industrial country has against bad government is the trade union movement. Sadly, the movement in America is benign, yet they take members’ subscriptions every week. They have a duty to protect their members and society as a whole. What the lunatic Elon Musk is doing to workers in America is a disgrace. Slimming government is commendable to a degree, but the way he’s going about it is wrong. He’s callously sacking people who served the country for 10 or more years, causing thousands of honest, decent workers to go hungry, especially those with large families. The way to slim government is through natural wastage. People are retiring all the time. With proper planning, their tasks could be redistributed throughout the rest of the workforce. If Musk continues, the trade union movement should consider a general strike. John Fair
Non-practicing Catholic
Belvidere, N.J.: Bravo to Voicer Wendy Packus. To put it another way, Andrew Cuomo is a rabid abortion fanatic while Trump advocates for religious pro-lifers to have legal protection in the public realm as a defense against abortion politics. In January 2019, when then-Gov. Cuomo signed the ultra-abortion Reproductive Health Act into law, he received criticism from Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, among other Catholics bishops. The “Catholic” Cuomo’s response was: “I have my own Catholic beliefs.” If he has a “Catechism of the Catholic Church,” the last time he opened it for study was most likely as a child. Cuomo is no more Catholic than a New Testament gentile. Dan Arthur Pryor
Award overdue
Utica, N.Y.: Martin Sheen began his acting career in 1959 as a struggling actor in New York. He moved into a stellar film career. Now 84, Sheen has never won an Oscar. They call him an actor’s actor. When Oscar season rolls around every year, I am disappointed and puzzled when Sheen is overlooked for an honorary Oscar. He should be honored for his long career and body of work. Kathleen Ball
Predatory diet
Linden, N.J.: When animals eat us, we’re only getting what we deserve because we eat animals. Christ said, “Do unto others what you would have done unto you.” He didn’t say “other people,” he just said “others.” So, I feel that “others” includes animals. Even Ghandi said, “The lower animals are our brethren.” Ron Jackowski
