To the Editor:
Micron’s investment may bring jobs and economic growth to Central New York — opportunities of critical importance, especially to those living in concentrated poverty in Syracuse. However, Micron’s planned destruction of about 300 acres of wetlands in and around Clay raises serious concerns.
Wetlands are essential to our health and environment. They support more than one-third of the country’s threatened and endangered species, filter pollutants and buffer communities from floods. They also store vast amounts of carbon, making them powerful tools in the fight against climate change. In fact, 300 acres of freshwater wetlands store 305,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, roughly equal to the yearly emissions of 66,000 cars. Destroying these wetlands will release this CO2 into the atmosphere and remove future carbon storage, further contributing to climate change. This release of CO2 is not accounted for in Micron’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement.
Micron proposes to offset this destruction by restoring wetlands elsewhere, but science tells us that restored wetlands rarely replicate the ecological functions of intact ones, even after 100 years. According to a study analyzing 621 restored or created wetlands worldwide, their ability for carbon storage remained 23% lower than undisturbed wetlands, and supported 26% less biodiversity.
New York has ambitious sustainability goals. Sacrificing wetlands for industrial development undermines those commitments. I urge Micron and state leaders to avoid the destruction of existing wetlands and prioritize truly sustainable alternatives, like an eco-industrial park, as modeled elsewhere, that creates jobs, protects the environment and honors our responsibility to future generations.
Hilary A. McManus
Fayetteville
The writer is a professor of Biological and Environmental Sciences.
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