ITIZEN ACTIVISM IS THE CORNERSTONE OF SOCIAL JUSTICE. THOSE WHO WORK PASSIONATELY AND TIRELESSLY BEHIND THE SCENES ARE CATALYSTS FOR CHANGE.  ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM WAS BORN IN THE HUDSON VALLEY, BUT THREATS TO OUR PRECIOUS LANDSCAPE DID NOT END WITH OUR STORM KING MOUNTAIN VICTORY. WE WORK TO PREVENT ILL-PROPOSED INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES AND TO CLEAN UP POISONS THEIR PREDECESSORS LEFT BEHIND. A NEW GENERATION OF ACTIVISTS FLOURISHES UNDER THE LEGACY THAT GAVE ORDINARY CITIZENS A VOICE.
Today a dark cloud looms over our valley - St. Lawrence Cement (SLC). It has proposed a coal-burning industrial city for Columbia County that could reverse years of progress. As part of a growing opposition to the plan, staff and volunteers of the Hudson Valley Preservation Coalition (HVPC), a 16-member organization of national, state and local groups; The Olana Partnership; and Friends of Hudson have united to stop the plant.
Here are the stories of dedicated citizens who stand out in this battle. |
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| CLEARING THE AIR |
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Joel Hulsey
His first act was circulating a letter to fellow organic farm shareholders regarding the massive amounts of coal SLC wanted to burn. He urged them to ask more questions about the environmental impacts. His apprehension grew with thoughts of his daughter, who suffers from asthma, breathing the plant's soot.
An antiques dealer central to Hudson's Warren Street revitalization, Mr. Hulsey was appointed to the SLC-formed citizens forum, which he described as a "textbook greenwashing technique."
Eager to subvert SLC's deceptive tactics, Mr. Hulsey made sure that the company did not stack the committee and that objective commentary was available to the community. He reviewed the company's environmental impact statement with a fine-toothed comb and developed air pollution expertise listening to the impartial testimony he helped bring to light.
"Given the fact that the region has long been in nonattainment with federal ozone standards, as well as the lingering severity of acid rain, it's absolutely ludicrous to think the state would allow an industrial polluter to get away with these increases in nitrogen oxide and volatile organic compounds," he said. "I thought we were supposed to be headed in the other direction."
Describing his activist inspiration, Mr. Hulsey stated, "Industries like SLC that are taking advantage of our precious resources should be put through the most rigorous scrutiny. The primary resource they would use and abuse day in and day out is our air." |
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| STANDING FOR HER COMMUNITY |
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Cyndy Hall
"Claverack is unique. It's wonderful architecturally. We have a lot of young families here, and the thought of kids in their backyards breathing this stuff was amoral and unconscionable."
On a Sunday afternoon in 1999, she and Dr. Irma Brownfield gathered 40 town residents to discuss the proposal, and Concerned Women of Claverack (CWC) was born. The group's grass-roots efforts include a legendary tag sale that netted $5,000 in one day. CWC today boasts 350 members and includes men despite its name.
Troubled by SLC's hollow promises of jobs and prosperity, Ms. Hall and the group approached the town board. Vigorous efforts to engage members were dismissed. Most town officials already supported the plant. Frustrated with its lack of standing, CWC next sought an audience with state and federal representatives.
"We are going to get the plant's full impacts - emissions, the blasting that's going to take down Becraft Mountain, light pollution, the 400-foot stack - everything."
Seeking a voice in the permit process, CWC joined the HVPC, amplifying its reach and connecting to resources it could not access alone.
In addition to environmental impacts, Ms. Hall laments that SLC has fractured her community. "SLC brought up this whole issue of locals versus weekenders, and I hate that. It's very sad because it has driven a wedge in this community that's going to be difficult to repair." |
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| COAST GUARD |
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Laura Skutch
"We're just going to get one big horribly polluting industry after the next unless we say 'no' to projects like SLC," she said.
Powered by the Internet and a deep personal connection to the area's cultural landscape, Ms. Skutch's bailiwick is the Coastal Management Program, which seeks to protect and restore the nation's coastal areas, including the Hudson River. The HVPC is challenging SLC's proposal based on its inconsistency with state coastal policy.
"The coastal program has incredible authority to limit inconsistent actions," noted Ms. Skutch, "and it could ultimately kill the SLC project." She prefers the objectivity of this program to what she believes is the comparatively nebulous "balancing of interests" in the state review process.
"The sad tale of this area is that big industry comes and big industry leaves, decimating the community. Maybe the lesson is that letting in huge multinational corporations doesn't build a healthy economy. Small- to medium-sized industry and business, that drives an economy."
Ms. Skutch understands the difficulty grass-roots organizations face in battling large industry. "SLC has millions of dollars. The only way to equalize the playing field is working with organizations like Scenic Hudson, which gives the average person a voice." |
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Faces of Activism - Left top: Joel Hulsey, Hudson Antiques Dealers Association. Left bottom: Laura Skutch, Citizens for the Hudson Valley. Right: Cyndy Hall, Concerned Women of Claverack. Not pictured: Ruth Piwonka; Margaret Davidson, The Olana Partnership; Norma Ramos, DEC Environmental Justice Advisory Group; Don Christensen; and Maureen Jerome.
Photos by Peter Finger and Shari Calnero |
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