It was good to have the opportunity to speak Wednesday night in Oceanport Town Hall before the Fort Monmouth Revitalization and Planning Authority.
I had attended an “environmental summit” at the Clearwater Festival Aug. 19-20 and wanted to express some of their concerns for inclusion in the planning process and the goals that were to be fulfilled.
These concerns were: 1. Housing 2. Health care for veterans. 3. Development of environmental programs to address global warming. 4. Development of good paying jobs to replace those that were lost.
.This meeting offered me a chance to speak of these concerns and learn from former employees what some of the problems were. The press will have an important role to play in promoting openness as plans develop.
I wanted to learn of the orientation of the panel toward concerns about global warming , sustainable energy (solar, fuel cells, wind power, thermal energy) options to reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. These reductions are long overdue as we observe the increasing incidents of hurricanes like Katrina and rising sea levels.
Congressman Frank Pallone (D-6), as a ranking member of the Energy Committee in Congress, who attended the Clearwater Festival, has issued a strong statement on global warming and said that he will “continue to raise the profile of this issue and enact innovative energy policies-based on energy efficiency and conservation that will reduce harmful greenhouse emissions.”
One former employee expressed praise for the thermal energy program that was adopted on the fort. This should be expanded and combined with other technologies to expand their use.
These are federally funded programs which engage our taxes and should be incorporated into the broader vision of the plan for the future of Fort Monmouth in 2010
The next meeting of the planning authority will be on Wednesday, Sept. 20 at Eatontown Town Hall. I urge more citizens to express themselves on the issues of global warming and the environment.
Sylvia Zisman
Long Branch