So Now We’re On The Vangaurd...
Just as so much of the rest of the nation’s gone all weird and boorish, talking about socialism, communism, as well as how we’re not ready for mass distribution of a new British film about the life of Darwin because his views about evolution are just too darned controversial, the Catskills seem to have stepped into the vanguard of what will surely be our next partisan bugaboo… climate change and how to deal with it.
It turns out that despite continuing protests against the facts of global warming elsewhere, our very own Catskill Watershed Corporation, founded out of our region’s grassroots protest movement against Big Government regulations on the part of New York City, is currently taking registrations and finalizing plans for the upcoming Ninth Annual Catskills Local Government Day to be held Thursday, Oct. 15 at Belleayre Mountain Ski Center. .. on the theme of “Climate Change Made Local.” The event, as advertised, will feature presentations on the science of climate change along with discussions of its potential impacts on municipal and community infrastructure and on the economy of New York and the Catskills. And the audience? Local town officials, of all parties… drawn together by a realization that changing flood patterns, shifts in stormwater activity, and other phenomenon need addressing quick.
Remember how, just a few years back, there were some in these hills still scoffing about the state’s requirement that the Belleayre Resort environmental review and other key developmental matters in the region, from the Schoharie Dam repairs to the decision to straighten Route 28A to the City’s decision to reopen a spillway for the Ashokan Reservoir? Now the very CWC board is helping promote a workshop for town board members, highway department heads and other municipal officials that will focus on examining the vulnerability of community infrastructure – from buildings and parks to sewer plants, water systems and street lights, plus a seminar entitled “Green Means Business” that will look at how businesses can save money using sustainable practices, and the potential for jobs in the renewable energy field. The day’s featured lunchtime speaker, Mimi Katzenbach, will explain the Transition Movement by which communities work towards locally-based energy, economic and social systems as “a strategy for meeting a future of weather extremes, fossil fuel depletion and other challenges.”
This is the sort of story national cable news should be picking up on… both in terms of the distance we’ve managed to come to now be on the same page discussing these issues, as well as looking forward into what seems to be an increasingly progressive future… at least in terms of the worries being batted about in Washington these days on similar subjects.
On a similar footing, we are also enthused by the growing efforts by the Central Catskills Collaborative in finally moving the entire Route 28 corridor towards submission of a Scenic Byway nomination to the state, with commendable openness and involvement by all in the seven affected communities from Hurley to Delhi. Given the increasing tourism and funding successes being generated by the Shawangunk Mountains Scenic Byway along SR 44/55 farther south in the county, which the state just expanded by almost 6 miles, as well as the growing state and county sense of commitment to rail trails and development of the New York City reservoir system’s tunnels for electrical generation, we’re starting to get the sense that the region’s longterm future may be in much better shape than any of us thought.
Why’s that, you ask?
Hey, we’re in a time when those at the vanguard of major changes, be they the digital age or new energy, are bound to get funding help, strong publicity, and the sorts of added attention that draws new inflow into the region, as well as increased opportunities for those willing to retrain themselves in the new ways… which fortunately, our local schools and colleges are also leaping into leading positions for.
Early birds and worms, you could also say. Whatever... It all adds up to interesting times, as well as a fascinating new backdrop by which to view the upcoming elections, which we will start covering in our October issues.
PS