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We were disappointed in the coverage of comments made at the Fredonia Village Board meeting on March 20.
First of all, none of us who spoke consider ourselves to be anti-gas activists; rather, we are supporters of sustainability.
Many of us heat our homes and cook our meals with natural gas, as this has been one of the most common fuel sources for heating older homes in our area.
However, we support New York state's environmental initiatives as steps to halt the progression of climate change, which is a very real threat to all of us and our descendants.
We also recognize the economic benefits of climate change mitigation efforts, including "savings to residents and businesses through reduced expenditures on water, energy, gas and other resources, and lower healthcare costs for business, employees and public agencies, more productive employees, and students better prepared to learn," as pointed out by the Institute for Local Government in its paper, "The Fiscal and Economic Benefits of Sustainability."
We ask our elected officials to approach the future with their eyes wide open, recognizing the urgency with which this must be dealt now. NYS has created numerous resources to support municipalities in their sustainability efforts. See https://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/76483.html
At the previous Fredonia Village Board meeting (March 6), Mayor Essek said, " I would like to have a board resolution in support of National Fuel Gas, as objection (to) the governor's ban on natural gas to new homes and buildings coming up here in the future."
While Mayor Essek's concerns about the pragmatic aspects of monumental change are understood, the imminent crisis which has revealed itself in recent years as severe weather events, droughts, floods, and wildfires compels us to act, meeting challenges as they arise.
The first sentence of the article sets the reader up with an image of conflict ("Some anti-natural gas activists got a chilly reception at last week's Fredonia Board of Trustees meeting.") We felt that the board's response to our concerns was, for the most part, polite and respectful, and we hope for a positive relationship with open dialogue.
As humans, we invent technology, and technology transforms us. We must embrace these changes with an eye toward the habitability of the planet for future generations.
As people of faith, we are committed to standing up for Creation, for communities most impacted by the climate crisis, and for children of the future, who cannot speak for themselves. We expect our elected officials at every level (local, county, state, and federal) to be visionary regarding sustainability as they create policy based on well-informed decisions.
Our current path is unsustainable.
Janey Wagner, LoVetra Rose, and Mitch Cummings, represent the Green Sanctuary Team of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Northern Chautauqua in Fredonia.