Musings: Got a favorite issue? Note unintended consequences
A compost collection stand at Springs Farmers Market in East Hampton. Credit: John Roca
Everybody has their pet projects.
We need to compost.
We need to recycle plastics.
We need more housing
We need to save our water resources.
We need electric cars.
The problem is that these are not unrelated problems. While you may see your pet project as solving a problem, its unintended consequences are probably making other problems worse.
You want to build more affordable housing? Then you must accept more housing will further strain fresh water resources and create more wastewater treatment and runoff issues.
You want to recycle plastics? Then you must accept that washing out recyclables is a potentially wasteful use of our water resources, when only 5%-6% of post-consumer plastics are actually recycled, mostly to make things like recycled park benches.
You want composting? Then you must accept the open methane emissions — the worst greenhouse gas — that are produced from rotting garbage, as opposed to a landfill, where most of that gas can be captured and burned.
You want green energy? Then you must accept large battery storage facilities, potentially in your neighborhood. While the risk of battery fires at these facilities is low, it isn’t zero, either, so we must be prepared for accidents. Our volunteer fire departments are generally struggling to recruit members, so do they have the resources to properly address an accident? What about the potential for hazardous emissions if batteries were to overheat or go on fire? Are they dangerous? Can they be controlled?
You also need to accept that offshore wind turbines may be altering ocean life. And you have to hope that high-voltage power lines that will crisscross Long Island are not harmful.
These are not single-solution problems, but rather trade-offs. Long Island needs to take a holistic view of the problems we face and have a conversation about the trade-offs that are acceptable and those that are not.
We need local governments to make rational decisions, not knee-jerk reactions. We need Albany and Washington to allow us to figure out what we need or don’t need. We don’t want their uninformed solutions and unintended consequences imposed on us.
— Doug Augenthaler, Glen Head
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