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The
Dead Zone
 Both
frontrunners in Buffalo’s mayoral race blew off an environmental
forum at the Unitarian Church on Elmwood Ave. The snub by
Republican Kevin Helfer and Democrat Byron Brown demonstrated
two important lessons to the People’s Republic of Elmwood:
First, it showed just how unimportant environmental issues
are to today’s cash-starved politicians, and secondly,
it brought home the fact that environmentalism as a movement
in Buffalo is completely dead.
The
forum, which was held on the weekend before the environmental
disaster of Hurricane Katrina, failed to attract interest
because the public overwhelmingly attributes the increase
in extreme weather events not to global warming, but to mysterious
“acts of God.” Hence, environmentalism is viewed
by many as either retro-chic, or hopelessly out-of-date, like,
say, earth shoes and earth tones.
Although
God couldn’t be reached for comment, it’s safe
to say that the fingerpointing in his direction won’t
jeopardize political campaign contributions to either party.
The wrath of God explanation also seems to carry water for
both Muslim and Christian fundamentalists. So, whether the
man upstairs likes it or not, 90 degree temps in the Gulf
of Mexico and the hurricanes that are fueled by it are his
fault. There’s nothing we can or should be doing about
global warming, especially now that God has seen fit to mess
with our national economy again. As the old saying goes, “Everybody
complains about the weather but nobody does anything about
it.”
In
terms of local environmental issues, no one seems to be too
concerned that the Buffalo Sewer Authority has, through years
of incompetence, political patronage and corruption, left
Buffalo with a sewage system that quite simply does not work.
Many local people are concerned with the environment to the
extent that they shop at the Lexington Co-op for organic produce
and are appalled with the Bush Administration. The health
risks to residents of the City’s west side stemming
from the dysfunctional Bird Island Sewage Treatment Plant
fails to register with these folks, despite the fact that
it should be the number one environmental issue in this year’s
Mayoral race. Like the expanding “dead zone” in
Lake Erie, our ignorance of the environmental crimes right
under our noses seems to be growing.
So
you can’t blame Brown and Helfer for not showing up
to debate the merits of organic produce. They don’t
have to worry about any repercussions from the so-called environmental
community – not at the ballot box, and certainly not
at future political fundraisers. Now if the banking community
had held a similar forum, attendance would have been 100%,
despite the rubber chickens and Iceberg lettuce.
More
Briefs:
1. Kickin' Ass & Cashing Checks
2. Seizin' Regan
3. Less is Mohr
5.
Casino Paladino
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