Fanwood's Earth Hour Debate Gets Heated

Fanwood Mayor Colleen Mahr read a proclamation Tuesday encouraging borough residents to dim their lights for an hour on March 27, but not without first addressing recent claims that the Environmental Commission had ulterior motives for presenting Earth Hour to the council.

At last week's council meeting, Commissioner Kalpana Krishna Kumar urged the council to promote Earth Hour, which is an international effort sponsored by the World Wildlife Foundation to raise awareness about climate change. Republican Councilman Robert Manduca took issue at the time with the way the proclamation was potentially "politicizing science" and with how the language implied that climate change is man-made. He further expressed his concerns in a letter to Patch, calling Earth Hour an agenda of the mayor's that would support similar legislation by Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood) and ultimately help the case of pro-tax increase groups.

At Tuesday's council meeting, Mahr called the accusations "insulting."

"This is supposed to do two things: one, to say Earth Hour is out there, and two, that in a small way we can educate people about climate change," she said.

"To take an issue that one would think we'd wrap our arms around and be called duplicitous and question why the Environmental Commission is up here, it's a distortion of the truth of what happened last week. I say these comments here because I am very concerned how this issue of trying to be global stewards has resulted in an attack on my character, all for some conspiracy theory."

Mahr went on to insist that she had no knowledge last week that Stender had just sponsored legislation in support of Earth Hour and that she wasn't even familiar with the event until Kumar presented it.

"I cannot let that go unchecked," the mayor said, turning to Manduca. "If this is the type of political game you want to play … I say do it. But don't expect me to stand by and let this happen."

Manduca, who had already spoken on the issue that evening, attempted to respond to the mayor's comments, but she declined him the opportunity.

"I don't get to respond to your theater crap?" he asked.

"No," Mahr replied.

Earlier in the meeting, Manduca said that he "applauded the council and good people on the Environmental Commission for their conservation ethic" and that he appreciated their attempt to make the proclamation's language less harsh.

Still, he said he could not support Fanwood's participation in Earth Hour, citing New Jersey's climate change legislation as one reason why plants have left the state to go work in neighboring Pennsylvania.

"This is about people's jobs and property values," he said.

In his letter to Patch, Manduca said the Earth Hour proclamation was being passed across New Jersey so that "it can be paraded around Trenton by tax-raising politicians as proof the public supports higher gas and electric taxes in order to, you guessed it, 'fight climate change.'"

Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood) also attended the council meeting Tuesday night to make clear her role in backing Earth Hour. Stender informed the council that she did sponsor legislation supporting Earth Hour and that it was passed by the NJ Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee in February. She noted the strong bipartisan support for the legislation, stating that it was simply a "calling for people to be good stewards."

According to Earth Hour's Web site, four cities, six universities, 11 schools, 15 organizations and 29 businesses in New Jersey have already pledged to participate in Earth Hour 2010. The event currently spans 800 cities in 80 countries and last year also included the Chrysler Building, Empire State Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, the St. Louis Gateway Arch, the Great Pyramids of Giza, the Acropolis, the Parthenon, St. Peter's Basilica, Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower and the Sydney Opera House.

"It gives us the chance to be a part of something bigger than all of us," Stender said, "so we have the future we all want for our children and grandchildren."

Other Fanwood council members expressed their support for Earth Hour, including Anthony Parenti, who called the proclamation a chance for Fanwood to demonstrate that it's trying to do its part, no matter how small.

"I am a victim of a bad environment," Parenti said, noting his asthma. "If shutting my lights off for an hour is going to help, believe me, I'll turn them off for a day."

Councilwoman Kathleen Mitchell also commended the Environmental Commission for doing its job by bringing events like Earth Hour to the council's attention.

After the mayor read the proclamation, which asks Fanwood residents to dim their lights from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. on March 27 and also calls for all nonessential municipal lights to be turned off during that time, Environmental Commission Chair Gary Szelc stated his position briefly.

"This is something just for making people aware," he said. "We would welcome the public and the council to attend our meetings and discuss this further."