Photo contributed

WHEN YOU SAY “CLIMATE CHANGE” the first thing that springs to mind is global warming. The second thing that comes up is sea level rise. Both those are quite likely to become increasingly important in our future. But it is all so much more complex than that, especially as every location around the world will react differently.

Columbia County will endure climate change differently from Southeast Asia, the American Southwest, Florida, New Orleans and simply everywhere else. But The Columbia Paper has asked the two of us to ponder what might happen right here in the upper Hudson Valley and so we have been searching through the literature, hoping to find some answers. Let’s begin a series of columns about what might happen hereabouts in coming decades. Of course, no one actually knows for certain, so let’s just say that we will write about some educated guesses that we have been able to make.

We have been especially interested in some recent speculations about what will happen to the Gulf Stream if global warming continues. You may have learned about the Gulf Stream in high school science classes. See the northeast trending gray line on our illustration (courtesy of Wikimedia Commons). The Gulf Stream is a current of very warm surface waters that begins near Florida and flows north and then northeast toward Europe. It transports enormous amounts of heat from the Caribbean to all of the Northern Atlantic basin. Read more…

Congressman Antonio Delgado talks to a resident in Germantown. Photo contributed

GERMANTOWN—U.S. Representative Antonio Delgado (D-19th) held his 62nd town hall in his 11-county district at Palatine Park on Tuesday evening, August 17. Approximately 70 people attended.

The congressman opened the session with remarks about the situation in Afghanistan faulting a “lack of execution” and failure to “leave with dignity” while acknowledging surprise at “how fast the collapse [of the Afghan government] occurred.” Mr. Delgado said that our “number one focus” is to “make sure we get our folks home” during this “trying period.”

The congressman also mentioned two bills that will be taken up in the House immediately following Congress’ recess, The John Lewis Voting Rights Bill and the Infrastructure Bill, which recently passed in the Senate. While touting bipartisan support for the Infrastructure Bill, Mr. Delgado noted, “It’s not been easy but I try to find common ground. We can’t get anything done if we can’t work together.” Read more…

KINDERHOOK—The villages of Kinderhook and Valatie are working with the Town of Kinderhook to form a committee looking into the new law legalizing adult use and sale of cannabis in the state. Both village mayors announced at their board meetings last week that they are looking for volunteers to sit on the local cannabis committee.

In March, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA). According to the state the legislation establishes a licensing system and two new state agencies: the Cannabis Control Board, and the Office of Cannabis Management.

According to the website of the New York Conference of Mayors (NYCOM), the state’s marijuana act “creates a heavily regulated market requiring individuals and organizations to obtain a license before engaging in any of the myriad types of authorized cannabis businesses, including cultivating, processing, distributing, delivering, dispensing cannabis, or operating a cooperative, microbusiness, nursery, or on‐site consumption establishment.” Read more…