Cohocton Wind Hearing

Last evening I attended the hearing on the draft environmental impact statement for the Cohocton Wind project at the Cohocton Elementary School. Many speakers called for the town to have a referendum on the project.

The Cohocton DEIS, like the Prattsburgh EIS, (both projects are under the control of the same company and several speakers asked why segmentation of the EIS was allowed) fails to address the economic benefits of the project except in the most cursory way.

The New York State Environmental Quality Review Act requires weighing the economic benefit of a project against its environmental impact. The Cohocton DEIS describes the economic benefit as follows:

" The purpose of the proposed action is to create a wind-powered electrical-generating facility that will provide a significant source of renewable energy to the New York State power grid. . . . These objectives include stimulating economic growth, increasing energy diversity, and promoting a cleaner and healthier environment. The benefits of the proposed action include positive impacts on socioeconomics (e.g., increased payment-in-lieu of tax [PILOT] revenues to local municipalities and lease revenues to participating landowners), air quality (through reduction of emissions from fossil-fuel-burning power plants), and climate (reduction of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming)."

That is it. Three conclusory sentences out of hundreds of pages in the DEIS and appendices.

Iraq War Against Voter Wishes

We are at war in Iraq against the wishes of most voters. This is possible because illegal barriers to voting and ballot access have allowed money to trump democracy in our electoral system.

As Attorney General, I will protect our rights to vote and our rights to free and fair elections. We can't continue to let the short-term economic interests of a few override the long-term life, liberty and happiness of all.

The democratic principles upon which this country was founded require that each person have an equal voice in decision making.

Nominated by Green Party of New York

I have been selected as the nominee for Attorney General by the Green Party of New York at its convention in Albany on May 20, 2006.

I am honored to be a member of the Green Party's Peace Slate consisting of author Malachy McCourt for governor, Green Party co-founder Howie Hawkins for US Senate, labor activist Alison Duncan for Lt. Governor, and former NYC mayoral candidate Julia Willebrand for Comptroller.

Western New York Green Party Convention

This Saturday afternoon I will be in Rochester with other state Green Party candidates attending the Western New York Green Party Convention. We are expecting a good turnout of Greens from across the region. We hope you will join us!

Seven candidates are confirmed to attend the convention, and others are sending video statements. The candidates who will be attending are Lt. Governor candidate Kimberly Wilder, US Senate candidates Steve Greenfield, Howie Hawkins and Sander Hicks, and Attorney General candidates Carl Person and Rachel Treichler. Malachy McCourt, a candidate for governor, Steve Krulick, a candidate for US Senate and Alison Duncan, a candidate for Lt. Governor are sending video statements and other candidates may also.

The statewide nominees of the Green Party of New York will be chosen at the state convention May 20 in Albany. It is great that so many statewide candidates are coming to western New York to meet with Greens in our area before the convention. Many thanks to the Monroe County Green Party for hosting the convention and to our Region 6 national representative, Jason Nabewaniec, for organizing it.

Western New York Green Party Convention
Saturday May 6th, 2006
2:00 to 4:00 pm
Rochester Institute of Technology
Building 1 Room 2000, Rochester
Free and open to the public
Light refreshments will be served

All are invited to go out to dinner with the candidates after the convention.

For information about the candidates, visit the websites listed below:
Malachy McCourt, www.malachyforgovernor.com
Jeff Peress, no website
Alison Duncan, no website
Kimberly Wilder, www.votewilder.org
Steve Greenfield, www.greenfieldforsenate.org
Howie Hawkins, www.syracusegreens.org/hawkins.html
Sander Hicks, www.hicksforsenate.com
Steve Krulick, http://kryo.com/Krulick/index.htm
Carl Person, www.carlperson4NYAG.com
Rachel Treichler, www.voterachel.org
Anne Eagan, no website
Gloria Mattera, www.electgloria.org
Julia Willebrand, no website
Betty Wood, no website
Green Party of New York, www.gpnys.org

Remarks about Immigrant Voting Rights

I spoke briefly about the need for immigrant voting rights in local, state and national elections at the immigrants rights rally in Ithaca today. If we are truly to protect immigrant rights, immigrants must be given the right to vote. Almost 400 people gathered in the Ithaca Commons for the rally. Excellent information about immigrant voting rights is at http://www.immigrantvoting.org, the website of the Immigrant Voting Project.