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In The News This Week Feb.29, 2008 |
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 NY Report Opens Window To Wind, Turbine Foe Says CHERRY VALLEY Revolts against wind power, from Cherry Valley to Cohocton, seem to have had no impact whatsoever on the blue-ribbon panel that developed recommendations for New York State’s energy future. If anything, Lt. Gov. David Paterson’s Renewable Energy Task Force report may actually pave the way for Albany to overrule “home rule” limitations on turbines in the interest of expediting wind-farm developments. “Facilitate permitting” is one of the goals in the Wind Power Development section of the Paterson panel’s report, released Monday, Feb. 25. “State agencies must strive to minimize, to the extent possible, the regulatory risk that affects the pace, scope and scale of wind-energy development by enunciating long-term goals and eliminating regulatory impediments,” that section reads. It exhorts state agencies to ensure they “reinforce the goal of economic and environmentally sound wind-energy development.” It encourages the re-adoption of Article X, which expired in 2003; that state law takes decisions on power-plant siting away from localities, putting it in the hands of the state. And it urges that wind farms be covered in the revised Article X. “They keep paying homage to local control, but the suggestion is this local input is going to be advisory,” said Andy Minnig, one of the leaders of the Advocates for Cherry Valley, which, through encouraging adoption of local regulations, becalmed Reunion Power’s 24-turbine project on the town’s East Hill. “That scares the hell out of me,” he said. “They can say: We listened closely to you guys, but you’re wrong.” Wind power has remained an article of faith with such organizations as the Natural Resources Defense Council, but Minnig laid that to “the depth of ignorance” about the unrealistic expectations for wind and the impacts when 400-foot-tall turbines are erected in populated areas. In an interview, Minnig kept referring back to “the simple arithmetic” that shows wind power doesn’t add up. The Maple Ridge Wind Farm on Tug Hill, for instance, has 191 turbines on 21,000 acres and a “maximum exploitation of site” of 300 megawatts, Minnig said. That is, the wind would have to blow constantly at the optimum rate to achieve that output. Wind-power advocates such as Carol Murphy of Alliance for Clean Energy New York, who served on Paterson’s panel, are pushing for 7,000 megawatts of wind energy, which would require a half-million optimum acres like Tug Hill. (A half-million acres is about 800 square miles; Otsego County totals 1,000 square miles.) “Most sites upstate are not like that,” said Minnig. Tug Hill is a flat plateau, turbines can be spaced regularly. On ridges like East Hill, those efficiencies aren’t possible, he said. While the panel includes people like Murphy, it also includes people like Paul Tonko, the new head of the NYSERDA, the New York State Energy Research Development Agency. While an assemblyman, Tonko was caught in the middle of a wind-farm debate near Gloversville, part of his Schenectady-based district. “I think that legislators are far more aware of the subtleties in the argument then they sometimes let on,” said Minnig. “The outcome may be determined by the amount of arm-twisting the governor can exercise.” Governor Spitzer got a little more arm-twisting power this week when Assemblyman Darrell Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, narrowly defeated Assemblyman Will Barclay, R-Pulaski, in a special election, splitting the state Senate 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats for the first time in decades. Aubertine at one point was considering putting 50-100 turbines on his farm on the St. Lawrence River.  Capozza Says He Saw Progress  COOPERSTOWN First Lt. Dan Capozza has two photos. One shows the “fault line” – a commercial street in Rusafa, the Baghdad neighborhood he and his platoon patrolled – deserted, all the stores closed, buildings on either side pockmarked with bullet holes. The other, taken 10 months later, shows a block party, American flags, Iraqi flags flying, the neighbors celebrating. The contrast “blew my mind,” said Capozza, Delta Company, First Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, of the famed 82nd Airborne Division. The son of Frank and Ann Capozza returned to his hometown – and a waiting plate of his mother’s spaghetti – at 2 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26., from a year-long deployment in Iraq. Dan’s sister, Capt. Allison (Capozza) Flannigan, is still in Iraq and will be for another year, serving with the 626th Brigade Support Battalion at Baghdad International Airport. When Dan addressed the Cooperstown Rotary Club later that day, he said he couldn’t speak for the whole Iraq Theater, but he reported he did see substantial progress in the Baghdad hotspot he and his men were responsible for. Dan, a CCS 2001 grad and Troop 1254 Eagle Scout, trained at West Point, was among the first troops sent to Iraq in early 2007, part of Gen. David Petraeus’ celebrated Surge. He was assigned to a neighborhood between the volatile Baghdad slum, Sadr City, and the “Green Zone,” the U.S. military and diplomatic headquarters. The area featured the city’s one pocket of Sunnis, “heavily armed,” in a sea of Shiites, and gunfire regularly punctuated the ambience – “Hatfield and McCoy style” – each side claiming the other shot first. None of Capozza’s men were killed during the deployment, although five were injured, two seriously enough to be discharged for medical reasons. Still, at one point the Sunnis fired on the Americans, with “a very large firefight resulting.” That gave Capozza’s commanding officer, Lt. Col. Carl Alex – “a genius,” in his subordinate’s view – an opening. Colonel Alex approached the Sunni leaders: “It was pretty bad for us. It was probably worse for you. You probably don’t want to do that again. “From that point on,” said the first lieutenant, “violence in our area dropped down to about nothing.” Colonel Alex, in a model that has been duplicated elsewhere since, convinced the Sunnis to disarm in exchange for the protection of U.S. troops, then was able to convince the surrounding Shiites to do the same. “With the help of their local leaders” – Sunnis, who has been protecting the ethnic Sunni al Queda – “we were able to hunt down and drive out most of the al Queda in the area,” said the soldier. In Capozza’s view, 90 percent of Iraqis are glad the Americans are in place – not because there aren’t better options, but there are no better options right now. Another 9 percent want the Americans out. “The other 1 percent is the guys you hear about on the news,” he said. In the months that followed the easing of tensions, Capozza’s unit was involved in developing – “we spent millions of dollars” – al Fadhil, a community park, alongside the Tigris River. Walled, it included streets, shops, restaurants, beaches, and a small post for the Iraqi army. Everyone was searched going in; but “once you were in you were safe” to fish, picnic, or just relax with the family. “That we were able to give them that meant a lot to the community,” said Dan. “And it meant a lot to us.” In the next few days, he will be removing the celebrated 82nd Airborne’s awards from his tunic; on his next assignment, he will be an infantry instructor at Fort Benning. ‘Legends of Baseball’ Calls Foul  COOPERSTOWN An outspoken critic of plans to raise Doubleday Field rental from $400 to $1,000 won that battle, but may have lost the war. Tom Lach, president of Legends of Baseball, Columbus, Ohio, has organized amateur baseball tournaments in Cooperstown for the past 15 years. The other day, he opened an envelope from the Village of Cooperstown to discover he has been cut back from 55 games a season to 35, a 36-percent reduction. Lach, calling from Columbus, said he believes he is being punished for being outspoken, blaming Trustee Jeff Katz, Doubleday Field committee chairman, by name. After Lach and others attended several village meetings, the rent was only raised from $400 to $600 per game. But village officials were quick to deny any targeting. “He’s not any more out of luck than anyone else,” said Katz. “He was not singled out any more than anyone else.” Every year, he said, requests to rent Doubleday Field are processed first come, first serve. Trustee Paul Kuhn, another member of the committee, echoed Katz. In the past, Deputy Village Clerk Deanna Ashurst has handled those requests, but Village Clerk Teri Barown did it this year for the first time. “The scheduling is done the way it’s done every year,” said Barown. “We take them in the order them come into the office.” In the past, said Lach, he has submitted three separate applications, since he brings tournaments to town on three separate weeks. This year, he said, he was told to submit one application and to rank the dates in order of his preference, first, second and third. That may have caused his rankings to drop. But he may be out of luck. “We don’t have any policies on appeals,” Katz said. Food Bank Now Needs Drivers The community has responded to the Cooperstown Food Bank’s dire shortages, and that’s created a new challenge: How to get the food here from Oneonta. The most recent 18-wheeler brought 4.5 tons to Southside Mall, “the largest ever” shipment, said Fred St. John, food bank volunteer. It took six pickups to bring the 400 cartons the 22 miles to the food bank at First Presbyterian Church, Pioneer and Church. Enough food is coming in to supply 150 families a month, a record. The challenge now, St. John said, is to find enough volunteer drivers to man that vehicular caravan. To volunteer, call Ellen St. John at 547-9653 or Audrey Murray at 547-8089. Each volunteer is asked for one two-hour shift a week. Due to the shortage, volunteers are working two and three shifts.  Hi, I wanted to draw your attention to this important petition that The Freeman's Journal is sponsoring: "Save Hall of Fame Game" http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/savehofgame/ The National Baseball Hall of Fame announced Tuesday, Jan. 29, that Major League Baseball has unilaterally cancelled The Hall of Fame game, a revered 70-year tradition. Please help the Cooperstown sports' community in petitioning MLB Commissioner Bud Selig to change his mind. And, please, forward the petition to anyone you know who may be sympathetic to the cause. 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