Published: May 04, 2008 12:40 am            

GENCO: This little bird is making a developmental difference

At first, I thought it was ridiculous when the common tern was blamed for almost canceling fireworks for Canal Fest.

After all, the little bird, which seems to me nothing more than a glorified seagull, has taken up nesting on the water intakes where they used to moor the barge used to launch fireworks. Apparently, the fumes and flash were fatal to the birds and the State Department of Environmental Conservation decided to protect them.

That all sounded OK, despite how ridiculous it was, until the most recent ruling about the “signature span” designed to replace the Peace Bridge. Apparently, the fireworks didn’t kill enough of the terns to make a difference, because the proposed towers on the new span were allegedly too high. Supposedly, the birds may become confused and not be able to make it to their feeding grounds.

We have a long history of projects never built in Western New York, but I have to wonder: Did someone dream this up? Is it a Dilbert cartoon?

Think about it. Look around at things actually proposed and never built:

n Bass Pro in downtown Buffalo. Reason not built: Not enough state aid and it’s easier to do business elsewhere.

n Land of Oz in Wheatfield. Reason not built: Someone has to fund it.

n Aqua Falls Aquarium in Niagara Falls: The developer dug a big hole. The hole sat empty for six years. The developer never really had the money it took to get the job done.

n Consolidated Erie Community College: Joel Giambra left office. Chris Collins had enough sense to look around and see A) Roads and bridges that were more of a priority and B) Multiples of state aid are available for highway projects and unavailable for college development.

I’m sure I’m forgetting a few scuttled projects here and there, but does anyone else sense a pattern?

Somehow, with all that different stalled development I never saw nature as a punchline.

Fun with Math

I’ve railed on numerous occasions in this space about the excessive electric rates and utter incompetence of the New York Power Authority.

I’ve always been a bit of a special kind of nerd when it comes to reading packages, analyzing labels and doing the math.

Here’s a fun conclusion. Have you purchased compact florescent lightbulbs? As a noted cheapskate, I always pay attention to projected savings. "This 3 pack will save $111 in energy costs!!!** over the life of these lightbulbs."

Here’s the trouble. Follow the asterisks and read the fine print. You actually have to look at the lightbulbs to figure out they were made in China. The packaging says it nowhere. The fine print also reveals Sylvania uses the national average of 10 cents per kilowatt hour (kwh) to calculate the savings. My bill this month is $80.35 based on 506 kwh of usage, which means we are paying 15.88 cents per kwh, 63 percent more than the national average thanks to the incompetent stewardship of NYPA and the louts in Albany.

Now let me see if I can simplify it further and put Albany-style PR spin on it: "Because you live in New York, this package of lightbulbs will save you $180.93, 63 percent more than the national average" Isn’t that wonderful?

It’s kind of like praising Governor Paterson because his budget increased spending only 5 percent (double the rate of inflation) and he put a freeze on hiring. I know, he didn’t come on board with enough time to make a real difference but still, if that’s success, what is failure? Our state elected officials need to live in the same world as the rest of us. To start with, they should pay for their own health insurance. Only then will they get it.

Word of the Week: Cacophemism – a euphemism without any hint of subtlety. For example quack instead of doctor or flack instead of public relations professional, hack instead of journalist.

LM Boyd of the Week: The British refer to newspaper clippings as newspaper cuttings.

Contact Joe Genco at jgenco@localnet.com.

        

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