CAC Chair, Barbara Heinzen was invited to participate in a panel discussion at the second annual Robert J. Doherty Memorial Lecture on Sunday, April 14. The gathering was held at the SUNY School of Public Health by the Justice Center of Rensselaer County, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the memory of its co-founder with events that highlight important social and environmental issues.
The discussion was moderated by Dr. David O. Carpenter, Director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at SUNY Albany. Also on the panel: Joe Ritchie of Lights Out Norlite, Bob Welton of Rensselaer Environmental Coalition Against Dunn Landfill, and Greg Campbell-Cohen of TIMBER (working to replace lead pipes in Troy).
Guest Speaker
Before the panel discussion, Guest Speaker, Judith Enck, President of Beyond Plastics, spoke about the many dangers of plastics and microplastics. “By design, plastics are not recyclable… and that’s why the only solution is to ‘make less plastic.'” Judith continued to stress the need for environmental standards for plastic packaging referencing her time at the EPA during the Obama Administration. “If you want a circular economy you’ve got to get toxins out of packaging.”
Protect Don’t Destroy
Heinzen then provided a timeline of the struggles that the residents of Ravena have had to confront in the Greater Ravena area, many created by the expansion of the Port of Coeymans: warding off waste burning at the local cement plant, advocating to pass the Clean Air Law in Albany County, and pushing the DEC for a cumulative impact study.
“I think the challenge of the 21st century is to include the natural world in our economic system in a positive way not a destructive way. There are no incentives for someone like me to increase biodiversity. I get nothing for removing the invasives from my property but the Port of Coeymans gets rewarded for destroying natural habitats. It doesn’t make any sense.”
