Upon reading an analysis of the cost of the legislation by political site FiveThirtyEight, I find out this morning that Arcuri’s statements were even more off base. It seems that the average household expense from the legislation in New York State would be much lower than the national average: 19 cents a day – an amount easily offset by replacing an inefficient lightbulb. New York’s expense would be the second lowest in the United States, behind only Florida.

If New York’s energy expenses would be increased at a lower rate than any other state than Florida, wouldn’t that make our state more attractive to businesses and individuals looking to relocate? Once again, Mike Arcuri doesn’t seem to have been able to think things through. He’s thrown away for both environmental and economic improvement for our region.

Burakowski, a graduate student at University of New Hampshire’s Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space, found that winters in the Northeastern United States have been especially sensitive to climate change. Of all our seasons, our winters – the particular character of which make our region so distinctive – have warmed the most. The amount of snow we get during the winter has decreased as well.

I was born and grew up in Central and Western New York, and I don’t remember such long stretches of balmy winter weather when I was a kid. This year, we didn’t even get a frost until almost November, and though we’ve had some very nippy days, the winter has been mild on the whole so far, like last year’s.

My winter play as a child was made of snow forts. My kids are practicing riding the bicycle, climbing trees or playing with a ball.

(Source: Associated Press)