Opinion

Our faculty and staff have been planning and preparing, while our facilities and maintenance personnel have been working to make sure that our buildings are ready for teaching and learning. As a district, we are committed to providing a respectful, responsible and safe learning environment for all students. We believe all students must be provided quality educational experiences that maximize their full potential.

On Aug. 8, Oswego Mayor Billy Barlow released the city of Oswego 2017 proposed operating budget. While the proposed city budget contains several small cuts to other departments, 16 Oswego Firefighters will be laid off as of January 1, 2017. These cuts represent a 27% loss in available staffing on a daily basis, which will dramatically impair our ability to protect the public.

I’m sure everyone remembers statements like: ”It’s not going to cost us anything” “If they leave us a bunch of piles what did we lose? Nothing because it didn’t cost us anything”! Well I just want to interject my thoughts and ideas with some numbers for everyone to think about.

In passing the Clean Energy Standard (CES), New York is now the groundbreaking world leader in recognizing nuclear power’s crucial role in our energy portfolio and in the protection of our environment. The Public Service Commission’s support for nuclear plants in the CES means that we’re one step closer to achieving the ambitious and important goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent (from 1990 levels) by 2030.

New Yorkers are the big winners from the PSC’s very important decision to adopt the ZEC. The PSC and Governor Cuomo are both to be commended for their very positive leadership on this measure. The Department of Public Service has documented that the ZEC will preserve $1.7 billion in annual economic benefits for New York, including thousands of jobs and large local, regional and state tax payments. Without the ZEC, upstate nuclear power plants are certain to close and New York would see a dramatic increase in its carbon emissions from power plants, a rise of as much as 15.5 million tons a year.

The Oswego County 4-H Program would like to thank the community for all of its support with the recent Third Annual Fabric Sale, a fundraiser for the local 4-H Program, held at Believer’s Chapel in Mexico.

At this time I wish to thank Chairman Kevin Gardner and Majority Leader Shane Broadwell for the extraordinary acts of bi-partisanship at the last two meetings of the Oswego County Legislature. As I said during the recent meeting, there are issues that go beyond politics, and the FitzPatrick jobs are one of them.

The Public Service Commission just updated the Clean Energy Standard (CES) that is designed to achieve a 40% reduction in carbon emissions in the state by 2030, and requires that half of our power come from renewable energy. These benchmarks will save lives in New York and maintain a supply of clean and reliable energy for years to come.

Dear Editor: The New York Public Service Commission will soon decide whether New York will have a much cleaner electricity portfolio, or go backwards. At issue is the Clean Energy Standard, a program initiated by […]