Clarkson Integrator

Issue date: 11/2/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Sawyer Sutton Kit Kennedy discusses issues related to global warming on Tuesday, October 27.

This past Tuesday, Kit Kennedy, Special Deputy to the New York State Attorney General's Office, attended a press conference with the Integrator along with a public forum concerning global warming. In the press conference, the Integrator made an effort to skirt the climate change issues; specifically discussing invasive species as a pollutant, confined animal feeding operations (CAFO's), and natural gas drilling downstate. Kennedy's visit came about as a result of a combination of discussions with Tony Collins, the college search for her children, and largely to promote awareness of how the Attorney General's Office is involved in NY state environmental litigation.

The global warming forum took the form of a lecture followed up by a question and answer session. Kennedy gave a moderate outline of the science concerning global warming, the importance of reducing emissions to 350ppm of CO2 and the consequences of current greenhouse gas emissions. She pointed out that as a result of climate change, summer temperatures in New York could increase by 14 degrees; not a drop in the bucket, she added, as this will increase mortality rates and illness rates during the summer. Kennedy suggested as well that higher temperatures would have adverse effects on snow quality, livestock, property values as a result of decreased tourism, and pests associated with agriculture.

Kennedy shifted the subject to environmental reparation litigation, her office's specialty, concentrating on vehicle emissions, wedge solutions, cradle-to-grave emissions, plus a dollop of cap and trade. On vehicle solutions, Kennedy cited the fact that New York, Vermont and several other states banded together, adopting the California tailpipe emission regulations. Many automakers initially sued in response to this. The main point of the discussion was the fact that until this point, greenhouse gas emissions were not regulated as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act of the 1970's. The case went to the US Supreme Court during the Bush Administration, at which point Kennedy said the court had a conservative bias; however, the automakers lost and were forced to adopt the new regulations. Concerning wedge solutions, Kennedy highlighted the idea that carbon emissions are a sector-wide problem and that there is no "silver bullet." Switching from coal-based electricity to nuclear power is an example of a wedge benefit; it solves a reasonable chunk of the problem, but there could be a handful of chunks, some being easier to deal with than others. An example of this is transportation. After converting to nuclear and other alternative power sources, workers should use mass transportation on alizens, scientists, and local policymakers, Kennedy discussed the issue of invasive species and their role in the great lakes region in her interview with the Integrator. Kennedy outlined the process by which issues such as these are communicated and resolved. In the case of invasive species, the ballast water from large displacement boats and barges caused great controversy within the communities affected. Citizens were concerned about the local ecosystem and the economy; forums like the one held in Cheel help to allow for citizen input toward these issues. She also pointed out that citizen input is crucial to issues like this one and to contact her office with any questions or comments regarding environmental issues in their area.

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