
by KS Lack
I grew up in Northport, NY. It is a sheltered harbor town on the North Shore of Long Island that was home to a thriving lobster-fishing community and the Long Island Lighting Company smokestacks. Each smokestack is 600 ft. tall, can be seen for miles, and is part of one of the most polluting powerplants in the Northeast. The lobster population on Long Island has dropped 99% in the last two decades due to rising water temperatures in the Long Island Sound and to the derelict lobster pots littering the Sound floor. Having a large power plant in town provided jobs and helped support my local school district. I did not know then that the candy-striped stacks were polluting the environment. Nor did I realize that the lobster boats dotting the harbor would disappear.
