BY RICHARD VITACCO
The East Bronx History
Forum and the Huntington
Free Library are pleased to
announce the forum will hold
its 160th meeting on Wednesday,
Dec. 15 at 8 p.m. with
a Zoom presentation, “The
Parkchester Project” with advertising
and public relations
professional Sharon Pandolofo
Perez.
Parkchester has always
been a favorite topic of the History
Forum from the history
of the Catholic Protectory, to
the History Forum’s own documentary
about Parkchester,
“A Day In Harmony, An Evening
at the Palace” and to Jeffery
S. Gurock’s lecture and
book “Parkchester: A Tale
of Race and Ethnicity.” Sharon’s
talk will certainly focus
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with government members via a video link in Sochi, Russia
November 24, 2021. Photo by Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS
on the more artistic and creative
elements of this vibrant
neighborhood.
Sharon spends her
free time as an arts advocate.
Her Instagram
acount “The Parkchester
Project”documents the terracotta
artwork of American
sculptors Joseph Kiselewski,
Carl L. Schmitz, Edmond Amatesis
and others. As a result
of “The Parkchester Project,”
she was able to expose how
many of the priceless World
War II era sculptures were
carelessly destroyed during
façade renovations. The story
was covered by CBS, NY1,
News12 and BronxNet television
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, D 52 EC. 10-16, 2021 BTR
which helped gain the
interest of the public and lead
the National Academy of Design
& Landmarks Commission
to help in conservation
efforts.
Please join us and fi nd out
how the some of the most renounced
sculptors of the 1940s
have managed to still grace
this part of the east Bronx.
The East Bronx History Forum
will post the login details
on our web page at BronxNYC.
com. An email with Zoom
login information will also
be sent. Please help defray the
cost of the meetings by using
the donate button.
BY FRANK VERNUCCIO
American families will
face devastating increases in
energy prices in the coming
months. It is a wholly unnecessary
crisis, created by the
Biden administration and the
progressive extremists who
control it.
Accepting the most radical
of approaches to environmental
concerns, Biden moved
swiftly to curtail U.S. energy
production, the transportation
of natural gas. Almost immediately
upon taking offi ce,
he cancelled the Keystone XL
pipeline, halted new oil and
gas leases on federal property,
stopped drilling in ANWAR,
and targeted federal subsidies
for oil and gas production.
Before Biden attacked U.S.
energy production, Americans
were enjoying the fi nancial
benefi ts of the energy
independence the Trump administration
had achieved.
Household energy expenditures
had dropped dramatically.
Now, oil prices have hit
a seven-year high.
Biden also rejoined the
Paris Climate Accord, which
does more to transfer wealth
from industrialized nations
to the Third World nations. As
the Financial Post has noted,
“Paris is a climate fairy tale.
It has always been more about
money and politics than the
environment.”
Biden’s climate mistakes
have been a major gift to Vladimir
Putin. Russia’s main
source of international income
and power is from the
sale of energy. While destroying
Keystone, Biden made
it easier for Putin’s similar
pipeline to be developed. Major
sales of U.S. energy to Europe,
which could have aided
the American economy, have
been replaced by Moscow,
which uses its energy sales
as a bludgeon to infl uence the
continent.
America’s NATO allies are
suffering as a result of Biden’s
inexplicable eviscerating of
U.S. energy while encouraging
Russia. Moscow has already
begun squeezing supplies
of energy. Europe was
already suffering high prices,
since they adopted policies
similar to those Biden is now
imposing on the U.S.
House Republican Whip
Steve Scalise (R-La.) and
House Energy Action Team
(HEAT) Co-Chairs Rep. Jeff
Duncan (R-S.C.) and Rep.
Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.)
have protested the White
House policy. In a statement
recently released, they noted:
“The Biden Administration
has abandoned hardworking
families because
they once again chose radical
anti-energy special interests
over lower energy costs and
national security for American
households. Since taking
offi ce, President Biden’s anti-
American energy agenda has
been on full display as he has
killed the Keystone pipeline
and halted domestic oil and
gas exploration while begging
OPEC and Russia to increase
production of foreign oil, and
is now trying to ram through
billions in new job-crushing
energy taxes and regulations
that will increase costs and
infl ation even higher on lowincome
families. Meanwhile,
gas prices in America have
skyrocketed to a seven-year
high and household energy
costs continue to increase for
hard-working families. On top
of that, this Administration
has ignored the fact that these
anti-American energy policies
mean that we, and our allies
abroad, will have to get our
energy from countries with
much worse emissions standards
like Russia, Saudi Arabia,
and China…”
The path Biden is following
has already failed in Europe,
where natural gas prices are
about six times as expensive
as they were just a year ago.
EuroNews reported that “Polish
Prime Minister Mateusz
Morawiecki recently said the
energy price crisis was to
blame on the EU climate policy.”
Hiked energy prices result
in higher prices for everything
else. U.S. infl ation has
hit 5.4%, the highest rate since
2008. It may go higher as energy
prices continue to soar.
The concept of engaging in
clean energy is not terrible.
But realism must be factored
in. A Heartland Institute
study notes that “The fi nancial
costs of building the 100%
renewable energy world are
enormous, but the land area
needed to accommodate such
diffuse sources of energy
supply is just as daunting. Accommodating
the 46,480 solar
PV plants envisioned for the
U.S. …would take up 650,720
square miles, almost 20% of
the lower 48 states. This is
close in size to the combined
areas of Texas, California, Arizona,
and Nevada.” USAtoday
reports, “The existing supply
of metals needed for clean energy
technologies is nowhere
near suffi cient, not in America
nor across the world.”
Nor are the technologies
used for “clean energy” without
signifi cant drawbacks.
Solar energy destroys vast
amounts of natural habitat;
windmills destroy wildlife
and uses huge amounts of nonrecyclable
materials.
CIVIC CENTER
Community Action
Civic Association
CIVIC CENTER
East Bronx
History Forum
Carl Schmitz’s terracotta statue and doorway entrance.
Photo Sharon Pandolfo