A change coming?
-
- February
- 27
A day after Al Gore’s movie about global warming, “An Inconvenient Truth,” won an Oscar for best documentary, something happened yesterday that may prove even more significant in future thinking about how we can save the planet from ourselves. (Gore’s shown here with Davis Guggenheim, the film’s director.)
A multi-billion-dollar buyout of TXU Corp included concessions to the environmental community that basically were wrung out of the deal makers. The coal-burning Texas electricity generator agreed to drop plans for eight of 11 proposed new coal-burning power plants and to make other green concessions.
Those include plans to invest heavily in renewable energy and conservation. TXU says it plans to become the nation’s largest user of wind power.
Maybe the business world is starting to get the idea of protecting rather than merely using up our natural resources.
An ad in Sierra magazine recently asked if people were planning for their retirement, with two guys on a putting green enjoying their golden years – dressed in yellow containment suit with oxygen masks.
In essence, they have enough money to play golf all day, but where will the clean air come from?
With power plants – nuclear and coal-burning – on both sides of the Hudson River in our area, it’s a trend we should all keep an eye on.
Check out a story on the TXU deal on our Web site – Lohud.com – written by David Koenig of the Associated Press.
Or a column by Bill Barnhart of the Chicago Tribune who puts things into perspective.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, February 27th, 2007 at 11:14 am by Greg Clary.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Print
| 
Email
Journal News staff writer Greg Clary writes Earth Watch, reporting on environmental issues in the lower Hudson region. Clary has been a reporter, editor and columnist at the Journal News since 1988 and has covered police and courts, transportation, municipal government, development and the environment in the Lower Hudson Valley, among other topics. 
Laura Incalcaterra covers the environment, open space and zoning and planning issues for The Journal News. A Boston College graduate, Laura grew up in Rockland, attended East Ramapo schools and has worked for The Journal News since 1993. Laura has written features and covered North Rockland, crime, government and a host of other issues.
Mike Risinit covers Patterson and Kent in Putnam County, as well as environmental topics touching on the Hudson River and the Great Swamp. Risinit has been a reporter at The Journal News since 1998.
Ok, great. I agree.
Now just where are those low head hydro units going, and those windfarms?
Why the hullaballoo about shutting down existing infrastructure, and DEAD SILENCE about the new replacement infrastructure? (If its not built, the kluge that people come up with will have a HUGE carbon footprint. 100,000 Honda generators across the Lohud Valley)
Do yerself a fava, n just think on this!