To the Editor:<\/p>\n
Micron\u2019s<\/a> investment may bring jobs and economic growth to Central New York \u2014 opportunities of critical importance, especially to those living in concentrated poverty in Syracuse. However, Micron\u2019s planned destruction of about 300 acres of wetlands in and around Clay raises serious concerns.<\/p>\n Wetlands are essential to our health and environment. They support more than one-third of the country\u2019s 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\u2019s Draft Environmental Impact Statement.<\/p>\n Micron proposes to offset this destruction by restoring wetlands elsewhere,<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Hilary A. McManus<\/p>\n Fayetteville<\/p>\n The writer is a professor of Biological and Environmental Sciences.<\/p>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To the Editor: Micron\u2019s investment may bring jobs and economic growth to Central New York \u2014 opportunities of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":68865,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[746,159,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-68864","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114866458704766347","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}