Earth Day panel praises commitment

CORNWALL — Earth Day 2022 was marked by a panel of speakers on Friday, April 22, each with their individual perspective on what can be done to find alternative non-polluting, non-depleting, renewable energy resources.

Conceived and coordinated by resident Susan Claw and sponsored by the Cornwall Library, the panel included historian, author and activist Jeremy Brecher, First Selectman Gordon Ridgway who has served in that office since 1991, and solar energy expert James Laporta. All three are Cornwall residents.

Among the Northwest Corner towns, Cornwall distinguishes itself as the Greenest Town in the State, earning the title not only for the treasure of its natural beauty, but also because most who choose to live here are fully committed to the environment and its protection.

According to the World Health Organization, used as a lead-in by Brecher, 99% of the world’s population is inhaling unhealthy air. When he has flown over Connecticut to observe smog levels, he saw significant smog over urban areas but somewhat clearer air over the Northwest Corner towns.

“We, too, are affected by smog and air pollution, though,” Brecher cautioned, also pointing to instances of more severe weather patterns affecting Cornwall.

The introduction and spread of invasive plants, Brecher said, is due to changing climate.

Simply put, Brecher said, the major cause of climate change is the burning of fossil fuels.

“If we don’t start in a year or two to reach the goals of the Paris Accord, those goals will be impossible to reach. There is zero time to get started,” Brecher said. The Paris agreement calls for zero emissions by the year 2050.

Before he was a farmer, Ridgway said that he was a writer who authored a single book in 1981 titled “Renewable Energy in Northwest Connecticut,” with illustrations by local artist Marc Simont.

“The issues are just as relevant today,” Ridgway said.

“We have moved in a direction,” Ridgway said of the 40-year interval. He said that the war in Ukraine comes down to energy, a huge political price to be paid for not being energy independent.

“Think about our Earth. It’s more than environmental survival, it is the very survival of democracy.”

Turning his attention to Cornwall, Ridgway pointed to the advent of virtual events that result in reduced pollution because people no longer need to drive to meetings, settling down to work from home. Bikeways and bike shops are enjoying brisk business in Cornwall, he added.

“People in Cornwall like to dig in the dirt,” Ridgway noted, and they subscribe to simple frugality, the annual rummage sale and the goings-on at the transfer station, now under renovation. Composting is getting to be common among residents, reducing the tonnage that needs to be trucked out.

“Better to bury your corn cobs and watermelon rinds than pay to ship them out of state,” Ridgway said.

Thanks to the installation of solar panels, the town hall is now off the grid, Ridgway noted

Solar energy expert James Laporta, of Litchfield Hills Solar, noted that since 1950, energy demand has spiked upward, but today only 3% of the energy is from solar technology.

“Too many people are using way too much power,” Laporta said. “The Earth does not have a seat at the table where big decisions are being made.”

Laporta estimated that he had done hundreds of solar installations throughout Litchfield County, and perhaps up to 40 of them in Cornwall.

To view the Earth Day video, go to the library’s website, www.cornwalllibrary.org.