Here’s my latest liherald.com editorial, on a subject that is truly near and dear to my heart….
At the turn of the 20th century, environmental protection meant preserving wilderness so future generations might know nature as the great environmentalists Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir knew it — bountiful and largely pristine.
Some 120 years later, saving wild tracts of land remains a central focus of the burgeoning environmental movement, but there’s an added mission: preparing for the eventuality of climate change, the slow heating of the earth over time.
New York state took a major step forward recently when Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Legislature included a $3 billion proposal, called the Restore Mother Nature Bond Act, in the state budget. Bravo to State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a Democrat from Long Beach, and Assemblyman Steve Englebright, a Democrat from Setauket, for working to push through this measure as chairmen of the Environmental Conservation committees in their respective chambers.
State residents will vote on the bond act in the November general election. We’re throwing our hat in the ring early on this one: We encourage people to approve this measure.
In addition to protecting forested lands, particularly those that help preserve our drinking water supply, the bond act would allocate at least $1 billion for projects to help protect Long Island and New York City from future flooding caused by global warming.
To read the full editorial, click here.
