Documentary about a man who swims the Hudson River, from its source in the Adirondack Mountains to New York City to bring attention to environmental causes in the Hudson River Valley. With swimmer/activist Christopher Swain, Pete Seeger, and Riverkeeper © 2007

Stauber and Rampton cite a classic example of image manipulation in this chilling analysis of the PR business. During the aftermath of the 1975 Three-Mile Island nuclear accident, a company spokesman said that a spark in the accumulated hydrogen bubble could result in a ``spontaneous energetic disassembly''--otherwise known as an explosion. The authors trace certain specious practices of the $10 billion PR business to P.T. Barnum, who in 1836 wrote anonymous pro and con letters to editors about himself, generating heated interest. Modern public relations has evolved ``crisis management'' and ``anti-'' PR campaigns including sabotaging the tours of authors who challenge industry clients, for example, Jeremy Rifkin, author of Beyond Beef. The new euphemism for sewage sludge, ``biosolids,'' is part of a campaign to convince the public that municipal sludge, replete with an astounding array of toxic substances, is good for farm soil. The authors point to Business for Social Responsibility, an organization that includes The Body Shop, Ben & Jerry's and others, as now containing ``some of the most environmentally destructive corporations on the planet.'' Giant agencies extend their contracts to selling national policies, as Hill & Knowlton did in selling the Gulf war to the American public. Although most large news organizations at least rewrite PR materials, many smaller markets ``rip and read'' prepackaged video news releases. This is a cautionary reminder that much of the consumer and political world is created by for-hire mouthpieces in expensive neckties.

The New York Capital Region is home to hundreds of thousands of people. Why is the giant multinational polluter LafargeHolcim determined to burn toxic waste in our backyards? The outcome of a political battle in Coeymans could determine whether the LafargeHolcim cement plant can burn millions of tires every year. The Ravena Coeymans Selkirk middle and high schools are just a stone's throw from this plant.

This program explains how LafargeHolcim sidestepped the Albany Clean Air bill passed last year. You'll hear some of the community leaders working to hold LafargeHolcim accountable:

- Jane Williams, chair of the National Sierra Club Clean Air Team
- Matt Miller, Albany County Legislator, Selkirk resident, and science teacher in the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Schools
- Carlo A.C. deOliveira, attorney, Ravena resident, and member of the Clean Air Coalition of Greater Ravena-Coeymans
- Joseph Ritchie, founding director of Saratoga Sites Against Norlite Emissions (SSANE)

The moderator was Hudson Mohawk Magazine correspondent Corinne Carey.

In accordance with our Operating Permit Special Condition SW-IS and 6NYCRR3ÔO, Section 3,
we are pleased to submit our 2019 Annual Facility Operating Report.

HUDSON FALLS — The Wheelabrator trash-burning plant in Hudson Falls is listed
as one of the top polluting incinerators in the country for lead, mercury and carbon
monoxide, according to a national report on waste incinerators released Tuesday.
It has not exceeded its permit requirements, nor has it had any recent violations, but
some local and national organizations still worry what the cumulative impacts of its
emissions are on the community.

GLENS FALLS — Wednesday night’s snow didn’t keep several dozen people away from an informational meeting held in the Queensbury Hotel Ballroom about a local cement company’s plan to burn paper and plastic.

Lehigh Cement Company LLC (Lehigh) and Lehigh White Cement Company, LLC (Lehigh White) have agreed to invest approximately $12 million in pollution control technology at their 11 portland cement manufacturing plants in eight states to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act, announced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice. Today’s settlement will reduce more than 4,555 tons of harmful nitrogen oxides (NOx) and 989 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) pollution each year.

GLENS FALLS — Lehigh Cement Co., the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency and the Department of Justice have reached a settlement following
alleged Clean Air Act violations, which will require the cement company's plants to
reduce some of their toxic air emissions, including at the Glens Falls plant.
The federal agencies issued a consent decree on Dec. 3 to the parent companies,
Lehigh Cement Co. and Lehigh White Cement Co., requiring them to invest about
$12 million in air pollution controls and pay about $1.3 million in penalties.
The changes are expected to show annual company-wide reductions in nitrogen
oxide pollution by 4,555 tons and sulfur dioxide by 989 tons, according to an EPA
news release.

Lehigh Cement Co. LLC in Glens Falls received state approval in July for a modification to its state air emissions permit.

Seminar Series is an annual event that engages our community on a critical environmental topic. This year, of course, we will not be able to host our speakers in the Nott Memorial, but I am nevertheless excited that this will be another fabulous series.

This year's topic, Environmental and Climate Justice, will be an exploration of how various segments of our population, particularly people of color and indigenous people, experience environmental risks and benefits.

I hope you will help me spread the word to anyone who is interested. The Series is free and open to anyone.

Long Island’s four waste-to-energy power plants face the prospect of millions of dollars in higher costs and potential shutdown if a new state policy to reduce carbon emissions is approved by regulators in the coming year, say officials at Covanta Energy, which owns three of the plants.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has created great uncertainty for the New York economy. Studies show adding a social cost of carbon can help by reducing the cost of electricity while also helping communities with poor air quality by providing a strong economic incentive for re-powering older power plants in New York City with cleaner, more efficient technology.