Dear Friends,

I’ve been alerted by the Nassau County Department of Health that last night’s planned ground spraying to prevent the spread of the West Nile Virus will be continuing TONIGHT, from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. in sections of Port Washington, Sands Point, Plandome, Plandome Manor, Plandome Heights, Manhasset, Munsey Park and Flower Hill. Additionally, aerial spraying will be occurring TONIGHT and TOMORROW NIGHT from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. throughout the entire county between Northern Boulevard and the Southern State Parkway. Based on weather conditions, this spraying may continue into next week. A map showing all areas to be sprayed can be found here.

My office has been advised that county workers and planes will be spraying low concentrations of the chemical resmethrin in order to control mosquitoes that may be carrying the West Nile virus. Resmethrin is a pesticide that can be found in other commonly used pesticide products.

These steps are being taken amid an unusually high number of mosquito pools that have recently tested positive for West Nile in Nassau County.

While the sprayings are taking place, county officials are recommending that:

Individuals, especially pregnant women and children, should remain indoors during the spraying and for approximately 30 minutes afterwards.
Windows and doors should be kept shut, window fans turned off, and air conditioners be set to re-circulate if they are able.
Children’s toys be kept indoors.
Any direct exposure to skin, eyes or clothes be immediately rinsed off with water. Consult your healthcare provider with any additional concerns.
Garden fruits and vegetables that may be consumed within the next few days be picked and washed thoroughly.
Pets, as well as their food, water dishes and toys be kept indoors.
Fish ponds be covered.
Since the effects dissipate within a few hours, it is not necessary to wash off outdoor furniture or playground equipment.

If you have any further questions, Nassau County has set up an information hotline that will be active until midnight tonight. Call 1-888-844-8657, or go to www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/health.

Sincerely,
Craig Johnson

Read the article on the proposal:

More Points of View on LIPA’s New South Shore Wind “Farm” Proposal

Beverly Visconti
I knew it as soon as I heard the new plan was to locate the turbines 13-17 miles south of Long Island. A hard bottom on the ocean floor is needed on which to build the structures. 13-17 miles south of Long Island is exactly where Cholera Banks is located, exactly where ASIG had planned to build the now-defunct Safe Harbor LNG Island.

Cholera Banks is the only rugged, rock hard-bottom surface area in this region of the ocean, which is mostly made up of sand and silt. And that’s why marine life has developed there so profusely.

And now, of course, the LI Commercial Fishing Association is starting its fight, as it should. We can’t agree to sacrifice the vast marine life that thrives in that area or the fishermen whose livelihoods depend on Cholera Banks, just like the Louisiana fishermen depend on the Gulf.

Wind turbines are a wonderful idea, in keeping with our need to invest in green energy sources. As much as I hate to say this, perhaps 3 miles south of Jones Beach would be the better choice. Preserving the view does not stand up as a good enough reason to oppose the plan as preserving sea life.

Phil Heckler
Yes We Can! Long Island did not support the LNG Island for several reasons, one of which was the impact on Long Island’s fishing grounds. However I do not think that individual windmills with small footprints can be compared to the Impact of the 60 acre LNG island. In fact windmills in other countries have been found to attract abundant sea life.
In addition the LNG Island offered no benefits to Long Island or the environment. That is not the case for windmills. They are a necessary step to stop climate change and help provide energy independence and green jobs. Thus I do not think we should take a knee jerk opposition this windmill project.

Neil Yeoman
For a variety of reasons, which we all know all too well, LIPA must be supported in its effort to substitute wind for fossil fuels as a source of energy for Long Island. Yes We Can! Long Island and every other responsible organization and individual, must support whatever makes the best long term technological and economic sense.
The public needs to be educated about the realities of the world; they must understand that there will never be perfect solutions to any of the world’s problems; and they must permit, indeed, encourage those responsible for Long Island’s energy future to do their imperfect best for the people they serve.
The current project is a response to the needs of the community and the successful opposition to the closer in project mounted by people who claim to have been environmentalists but were anything but.
Stopping that first wind project was an environmental tragedy, a virtual crime perpetrated against the people of Long Island and the people of the world. LIPA must do what is best, and we all must support them. That may be an expanded version of the closer in project or some combination of the two projects. We must no longer allow people and groups who are insensitive to reality and accountable to nobody to continue to interfere with what needs to be done in the best interests of the community.

More opinions from Yes We Can! Long Island activists will be posted as they are submitted.

This entry comes by popular request. A lot of people have been asking what they can do to use less oil, and reduce demand for the sticky stuff ruining beaches everywhere. Here’s my top ten, feel free to add to it in comments:

1. Carpool, cycle or use public transport to go to work.

2. Choose, when possible, products packaged without plastic and recycle or re-use containers.

3. Buy organic fruits and vegetables (fertilisers and pesticides are based on oil more often than not).

4. Buy beauty products (shampoo, soap, make-up) based on natural ingredients, not oil.

5. Choose when possible locally produced products (less transport involved).

6. Buy clothes made out of organic cotton or hemp – not from oil derivatives.

7. Use non-disposable items in picnics and summer festivals.

8. Quit bottled water.

9. Fly less.

10. Demand that your government encourage renewable energy instead of subsidizing oil.

Richard Kessel, president and chief executive officer of the New York Power Authority, said the turbines, up to 400 feet high, would be so far off the coast they would be all but impossible to see from land with the naked eye. A 40-turbine project proposed off Jones Beach tanked in 2007 after opposition arose, but those proposed turbines would have been 3 1/2 to 5 miles off the coast. – Newsday

The true cost of the project is yet to be disclosed and will certainly be scrutinized as much or more than the last proposal.

Clean renewable energy reduces our dependence on foreign oil which reduces cost associated in foreign policy and war fighting. Many American and foreign lives are saved by reducing armed conflict associated with energy policy that is incompatible with other nations policies. Let’s face it, we would not be at odds with Middle Eastern cultures if we did not need their oil so desperately.

Whether or not you believe global warming is a threat, this technology is better for the environment. You don’t have to be a meteorologist to understand that the fewer pollutants we put into the atmosphere the better of as humans we are and the better off the planet is without large quantities of these contaminants. It should be noted that these contaminants which only exist in these quantities because of human production.

The last Long Island coastal wind farm project I remember had its problems with proving a worthwhile return on investment. Without being sure what comprised of the cost and funding I would be willing to bet that we have never factored in the true cost of not building renewable energy sooner and in a more ample supply. While it is not advisable to build at any cost I think that even if this project is in the red it should be built with federal aid. Federal aid could be justified because it is an investment in reducing the cost of foreign policy and war fighting as well as saving American lives lost in foreign conflicts.

This project is a clean energy project that represents the newest in emerging technologies which can be deployed in large expansive areas and produce large amounts of energy. Although wind production can produce large amounts of energy it cannot be our soul source for the obvious reasons one of which is when the wind stops blowing the turbines stop producing.

We are at the early stages of developing a comprehensive renewable energy policy using technologies such as wind, solar, geothermal, tidal and others. A good renewable energy policy will have to strike a balance between the variable applications and true cost of each technology. Only when we can achieve this balance will we re-emerge as a new world energy leader in control of our own foreign policy and environment.

Music by: Duane Eddy, Bright Eyes, Buffalo Springfield and Willy Mason.
Video by: Ben Brodsky

This Saturday’s HANDS ACROSS THE SAND event will be duplicated throughout Long Island, across the entire U.S. and around the WORLD!

This is an important happening! We can influence elected officials by showing UNITY and STRENGTH IN NUMBERS.

WE CAN DO THIS! WE NEED TO DO THIS!!

SATURDAY, June 26, The BOARDWALK at Neptune Blvd., Long Beach. Begin to gather between 11:00 and 11:30AM. We JOIN HANDS at noon.

Share and RSVP using our Facebook event
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=136081013069561

HANDS ACROSS THE SAND is a “national movement to oppose offshore oil drilling and to champion clean energy and renewables.” It is a peaceful protest against intrusion into our waters for the development of fossil-fuel facilities.

Like Yes We Can! Long Island, the Hands Across the Sand event is issue-driven and crosses political affiliations. It is “a movement made up of people of all walks of life. It is not about politics; it is about the protection of our oceans, our coastal economies, marine wildlife, and the fishing industry.”

Keep in mind that like all the proposed off-shore drilling plans, as well as BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf, the Atlantic Sea Island Group’s proposal to construct the “Safe Harbor Energy” LNG Island off the coast of Long Island, 13.5 miles south of Long Beach is another such intrusion into our waters intended for the development and use of more fossil-fuel, instead of renewable energy.
Read more about Yes We Can! LI’s opposition to the LNG Island by clicking here.

Merrick Patch Article on LNG Island

BE THERE!! AND BE COUNTED!!!

There was a time when populists could readily distinguish between corporations and government. When a catastrophic event happened we were able to separate the guys wearing black hats from those wearing white ones. Bai writes, ‘…voters perceive both business and government as part of and interdependent system, and it is hard for them to separate out the culpability of either.’ When you throw the Supreme Court into the mix, it’s virtually impossible to differentiate the good from the bad.’

I’ve been paying a lot of attention throughout the health care debate, more recently as the financial protection package has evolved (devolved!), and over the past fifty or so days of the catastrophe in the Gulf. We no longer live in a capitalist culture. There is (was?) a necessary and productive balance among interests in capitalism. We live increasingly in a corporatist society where any semblance of balance is continuously destroyed by CEO’s, politicians (mostly, but hardly all Republicans), and–worst of all- Justices who are expected in every conceivable way to act fairly in the interests of the people and the Constitution (Gore v. Bush, corporate political spending, –don’t get me started).

Minute by minute reaction to President Obama’s response to the BP affair suggests he is virtually complicit. This is all politics. Eric Kantor faults the president for ‘using’ the destruction of the Gulf as a political move. Is Kantor actually on record that the President of the United States ought not to be seizing an opportunity to push for an energy policy that weans us off our fossil fuel dependent lifestyle?

President Obama has remained attentive, responsible, and thoughtful from the moment the BP explosion and leak occurred. He remains compassionate and committed. So he does not remove his shoe and bang it on the table a la Nikita Khruschev. I do not seek or want a leader whose emotions distort reality so that he/she can create an emotional tie to events.

All legislation–regulatory and otherwise is reactive. Governments are hardly ever proactive. The Bill of Rights was a response to an existing and intolerable set of conditions. The right and necessary reaction at this time is to seize an opportunity for real change to the ways in which we all use and abuse energy sources and to beat the drums for alternative consumable sources. President Obama is, to the extent that a president can be, “in control” of the situation.

It’s just getting harder and harder to differentiate between corporations and government. The president as the central figure is seen to be a mix of black hats and white hats. Mixing black and white results in grey. And greyness is what he is inappropriately being blamed for.

Earlier today, the President took questions from the press at the White House on the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  During his opening remarks, the President updated the American people on the “top kill” procedure that was approved yesterday.  This procedure attempts to plug the well with densely packed mud to reduce or stop the flow of oil.  It’s still too soon to tell if the procedure will work.

The President also clarified the role the Federal Government has played in the response since Day 1:

The American people should know that from the moment this disaster began, the federal government has been in charge of the response effort.  As far as I’m concerned, BP is responsible for this horrific disaster, and we will hold them fully accountable on behalf of the United States as well as the people and communities victimized by this tragedy.  We will demand that they pay every dime they owe for the damage they’ve done and the painful losses that they’ve caused.  And we will continue to take full advantage of the unique technology and expertise they have to help stop this leak.

But make no mistake:  BP is operating at our direction.  Every key decision and action they take must be approved by us in advance.  I’ve designated Admiral Thad Allen – who has nearly four decades of experience responding to such disasters – as the National Incident Commander, and if he orders BP to do something to respond to this disaster, they are legally bound to do it.  So, for example, when they said they would drill one relief well to stem this leak we demanded a backup and ordered them to drill two.  And they are in the process of drilling two.

The President emphasized that the government would do everything in it’s power to stop the leak and clean up the mess and was employing the best and brightest minds from around the country to solve this problem.  In addition to cleaning up the oil, the Administration is also focused on restoring the livelihoods of families who rely on the Gulf to make a living

We’re also doing whatever it takes to help the men and women whose livelihoods have been disrupted and even destroyed by this spill -– everyone from fishermen to restaurant and hotel owners. So far the Small Business Administration has approved loans and allowed many small businesses to defer existing loan payments.  At our insistence, BP is paying economic injury claims, and we’ll make sure that when all is said and done, the victims of this disaster will get the relief that they are owed.  We’re not going to abandon our fellow citizens.  We’ll help them recover and we will help them rebuild.

To ensure that a spill of this magnitude never happens again, President Obama outlined immediate steps the Department of the Interior will take to reform the Minerals Management Service, which is responsible for issuing drilling leases and regulating oil facilities:

Additionally, after reading the report’s recommendations with Secretary Salazar and other members of my administration, we’re going to be ordering the following actions:  First, we will suspend the planned exploration of two locations off the coast of Alaska.  Second, we will cancel the pending lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico and the proposed lease sale off the coast of Virginia.  Third, we will continue the existing moratorium and suspend the issuance of new permits to drill new deepwater wells for six months.  And four, we will suspend action on 33 deepwater exploratory wells currently being drilled in the Gulf of Mexico.

The President also made the broader point that this tragedy should serve as a “wake-up call” for Americans that our dependence on oil is not sustainable.  Focusing our resources on renewable energy will not only protect our environment, but “it will it will create a new, homegrown, American industry that can lead to countless new businesses and new jobs.”

President Obama is scheduled to make his second trip to the Gulf Coast region tomorrow.

One company that is taking that challenge seriously is Calera. Calera has developed a technology that will sequester the carbon from power plant emissions and use it to make green cement. The process has been in testing mode for a couple of years and a full scale pilot will start this year. Will it work? I can’t say. The challenges are significant, especially scaling up the process to handle the enormous quantities of carbon that must be processed and the even larger quantities of sea water (or other saline solutions) that must be pumped to make the process work. IF it works it sounds much more stable than other alternatives such as injecting carbon into the ground, creating huge underground reservoirs of carbon rich gases that some fear could escape in the future or cause unforeseen side effects.

Cement is a major component of concrete, the world’s most widely used man-made material, an integral part of roads, bridges and buildings. But making cement requires heating limestone and other materials to very high temperatures, a process that releases into the atmosphere large amount of carbon dioxide, or CO2, a leading cause of global warming.

Brent Constantz is working to fix that problem with an environmentally-friendly cement that actually captures CO2 and locks it away.

At his California company, Calera, scientists mix air and water to create the cement powder and aggregate pebbles that are the basic ingredients of concrete. But while traditional cement, called Portland cement, adds CO2 to the atmosphere, Calera’s green cement takes the greenhouse gas out of the air – a lot of it. For every unit of carbon that Portland cement adds to the air, Brent Constantz says his green cement removes three units.

To read the rest of the article see Voice of America.