david paterson

Governor David A. Paterson today announced an agreement to allocate low-cost electricity for Brookhaven National Laboratory ( BNL ) that will support the construction of a high-intensity light beam project known as the National Synchrotron Light Source II ( NSLS-II ). Project construction will take place this year, and result in up to 1,000 jobs over the next few years and several hundred new permanent positions at the scientific research center -- one of Long Island's largest employers and energy users. In constructing the new NSLC-II facility, BNL will invest $900 million, which will help retain thousands of jobs on Long Island.

"As New York faces the worst economic recession in more than a generation, it is critical that we do everything we can to maintain the healthy and valued drivers of our economy. Brookhaven National Laboratory is fundamental to Long Island and to New York State's overall economy. Its world-class facilities attract thousands of visiting scientists each year, who conduct pioneering work in materials and life sciences and other fields while contributing to the local and State economies," said Governor Paterson. "The research conducted at Brookhaven -- which includes advancements in energy -- is critical to New York's position as a national leader in renewable energy initiatives."

The New York Power Authority ( NYPA ) is expecting for the first time to provide BNL with 15 megawatts ( MW ) of hydropower, along with other market supplies, to meet BNL's full electricity requirements over a 15-year period. Last month, the NYPA Board of Trustees authorized contract negotiations for the distribution of hydropower to BNL, which is operated by Brookhaven Science Associates for the U.S. Department of Energy ( DOE ). In addition to serving BNL's overall operations, the supplies of low-cost power will underpin the atomic-scale work in which the NSLS-II facility will be engaged for ultramicroscopic medical, energy and materials research.

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Last month, the DOE authorized the construction of NSLS-II to begin this year, which will be the largest capital project under construction of any of the ten national laboratories in the United States that are owned by DOE's Office of Science. Brookhaven is the only national lab in the Northeast.

The new NSLS-II facility will direct bright beams of x-rays exceeding that of any other light source currently existing or under construction to peer at particles a billionth of a meter long. The beams will be 10,000 times brighter than the current NSLS at Brookhaven, which was commissioned in 1982. The NSLS facility has reached the practical limits of machine performance and will be replaced by the new light source project.

Access to world-class capabilities provided by synchrotron light sources is crucial to many scientists at the State's universities and research institutions, including the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, Cornell University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Other organizations using the existing BNL light source facility include Corning, General Electric Global Research Center in Niskayuna, and IBM Research Division in Yorktown Heights.

The protesters were demanding that Mr. Pataki repeal the state's 30-year-old drug sentencing laws, widely regarded as the nation's most unforgiving. One of those placed in plastic handcuffs and carted off to a police station was a state senator named David A. Paterson.

Now, with Mr. Paterson in the governor's mansion and Democrats in control of both houses of the State Legislature, an aggressive effort is under way to finally dismantle what remains of the stringent 1970s-era drug laws, which imposed stiff mandatory sentences as a way to combat the heroin epidemic then gripping New York City.

As a child growing up in Connecticut, I visited the Bronx Zoo at least five to ten times a year.It was my Disney World and science classroom rolled into one and it inspired a lifelonglove of zoology that led directly (eventually) to ZooBorns .Therefore it was with extremeconcern that I learned of Governor Paterson's proposal to cut funding for New York zoos, aquariums and botanic gardens from $9 million to $4 million in 2009 andcut funding entirely by 2010.

The Governor's plan is to focus funding on "capital initiatives that provide ongoing environmental benefits" rather than "annual operating support" to organizations. I believe the rationale behind this approach to be deeply flawed. Zoos and aquariums communicate the importance of conservation ina tangible way that environmental engineering projects simply cannot. What is more, they reach a far larger and more diverse audience, including millions of children, sowing the seedsofconcern for the living world around us. Essentially whatthese institutions provide is education inits most captivating and inspiring form. I can think of no more worthwhile investmentfor "ongoing environmental benefits" than the education provided by the Wildlife Conservation Society - the umbrella organization for the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, and New York Aquarium.

The Governor's office can be emailed here: http://161.11.121.121/govemail