Updated Daily  01/27/2012 RochesterEnvironment.com

Our Environment is changing: Keep up with the Change.


Rochester, NY was one of the hosts of the World Canal Conference on September 19, 2010.

If it deals with the environment, Rochester, New York, and the Internet, it's here.

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Since 1998, RochesterEnvironment.com has been an ongoing experiment to completely inform one community [Rochester, NY] of all its environmental Newslinks, Events, Daily Updates, Resources, Environmental Education, regional Climate Change, and Environmental Issues. and more...    * Please read this carefully, it's not the usual Yada Yada

(Above scripts from Dynamic Drive)

RochesterEnvironment.com – This is site a free media resource to encourage public dialogue on local environmental issues, a local newspaper devoted to a single community’s environment, an archive of Environmental News to capture a proper sense of time in which environmental issues transpire, and an attempt to frame environmental issues free of corporate, governmental, and any ideology.  Sustainability, connecting the dots of our environmental information, rules.  Understanding that all of our local Environmental Issues now must be interpreted in the context of Climate Change, which will be continually moving the bar on the state of our environment, is critical for our survival.  Climate Change 101

The great conundrum of our times is that in a time of rapidly occurring Climate Change and a rapid disintegration of the environment that we need to thrive and survive, mainstream media still marginalizes environmental concerns. [Check often for this continually updated list on the possible consequences of Climate Change in our region--supported by facts.] If there isn’t a quick and substantial change in how environmental concerns are reported, edited, and chosen in mainstream media, the public will continue to believe that environmental concerns are merely special interest matters, issues they can avoid if they choose.  How can we inform the public and monitor our environment without abridging our Freedoms--in enough time to safe ourselves?   Bookmark This Site

Likely Changes   Frank's Essays

Anything else you're interested in is not going to happen if you can't breathe the air and drink the water. Don't sit this one out. Do something. You are by accident of fate alive at an absolutely critical moment in the history of our planet.-- Carl Sagan

 

Page Contents: Rochester-area NewsLinks | Daily Updates | Green Business | Top 10 things you can do for our environment | Green Events | Green Actions | This month's Winner of the Environmental Site Award

 

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Rochester area NewsLinks.

NewsLinks: Get the most important environmental news of the day and monitor your environment daily.  Also: Get Newslinks since 1998… Unlike other news, environmental news often takes time to reach our attention. Follow potential problems and catch them before they're catastrophes.

 

Today's Rochester-Area Environmental News:

All these news stories are connected to our area’s environment--even though many don’t come from local media. We need to understand environmental news in a way where we can monitor the state of our environment.

To be sure you have the latest News, refresh your browser, or Ctrl +R.  

News Highlight

Save the Planet, Surf the Web      

by Frank J. Regan


“Photo by Frank J. Regan"
I know, it sounds just a little too convenient and ridiculously easy to think we can save the planet by surfing the web.  But hear me out.  Your great big brain added to all the other human brains pondering our collective fate and interconnecting with each other on Climate Change could be one of our most effective Climate Change strategies.  For without a wholesale understanding of the Climate Change crisis by the public, all the other stuff—Climate Change talks, Climate Change actions plans, specific Climate Change Action (Tar Sands Action), and all those little things we do to limit our carbon footprints--are just are not going to happen at the speed and across-the board changes that will matter.   Climate Change cannot be solved by doing little things here and there.   (This is the bottom-up approach.)

Climate Change is a world-wide phenomenon that is happening right now and no matter how inglorious this issue many seem and how annoying the increasing natter about denial gets, we have to address it.  For a zillion reasons, the public (especially the American public whose per capita greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) out produces all other nations in warming up the planet) doesn’t want to hear about Climate Change.  They doubt it, or they believe it all too well and it makes them feel helpless, or they don’t understand how Climate Change is affecting them right now, or how it will increasingly do so.  Or, they think the Climate Change folks want to take their gas-guzzling pick-up trucks away from them.  Whatever.   The Climate Change crisis, however slow some may think it is occurring, is a kind of disaster like nothing our species has experienced.   more...

(Above scripts from Dynamic Drive) 

Green Business.

Green Business - We are working on finding Green Jobs for our area.  As always, we will post anything we can dip up on finding employment for people who want to sustain themselves and the planet at the same time.

Here's the Latest on Green Business News for the Rochester, NY area:

Event Highlight

 
  • Friday, April 27, 2012 At "The Links" in East Syracuse, New York
    • Eighth Annual Symposium on Energy in the 21st Century| DescriptionofSymposium A Division of Synapse Sustainability Trust Inc. Looking Ahead to a Future in Renewable Energy A Local & Global Perspective Friday, April 27, 2012 At "The Links" in East Syracuse, New York  Symposium on April 27, 2012. Registration opens today. This Symposium is noted as one of the most important energy conferences in the Northeast.  This will be a very well attended Symposium and I encourage you to register ASAP. Last year we closed registration early at 360 attendees. This year we are going global, and including successful models of energy sustainability from other countries. Ruggero Schleicher-Tappeser, will be flying in from Berlin exclusively for this Symposium to speak Germany's success in using renewable energy, particularly solar voltaic. Willett Kempton, Ph.D, Visiting Professor at Denmarks Tekniske Universitet, will be speaking on Denmark's model, particularly in wind energy. Other esteemed speakers include Garry Brown, Chairman PSC, Laura Morton, Senior Advisor for Renewable Energy, U.S.D.O.E, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy,  Paul Tonko, Congressman, Nathanael Green, Director of Renewable Energy Policy, NRDC, Michael Gerrard, Director Climate Center, Columbia Law School, and Kit Kennedy, Counsel to Air & Energy Program, NRDC, who will be the moderator. Our keynote will be Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Included in the program is greetings from Frank Murray, President & CEO NYSERDA, and Joe Martens and, Commisioner DEC. We are giving a special award to Joanie Mahoney, County Executive of Onondaga County for her exceptional work. This will be a landmark Symposium!!
Symposium on Energy in the 21st Century

(Above scripts from Dynamic Drive) 

Top Ten Things You Can Do for Rochester’s Environment .

This list assumes you are ready to take responsibility (as a member of the only species capable of doing so) for your presence at this critical time in our planet’s history.  And, it isn’t about just your personal fulfillment thing—our environment isn’t politics, religion, a fad, or a cause; it’s science all the way down. Pollute the planet, stuff happens.  Finally, in order for the effects of this list to be effective a lot (I mean billions) of humans need to do them too.  In the deepest practical sense, everything you do (where you live, what you eat, what you buy, what you throw away) matters to our environment. Ready folks, here we go:

  • Be engaged with the issues surrounding our local environment by monitoring the media, books, reports, and the Internet using the laws of Nature as your guide to monitor how our lifestyle is affecting our environment.
  • When you consume anything--food, water, cars, gadgets, whatever—do so as though you were demonstrating how to consume for the rest of the world—considering the lifecycle of the products you buy, how they are made, how they are used, and how you get rid of them.
  • When you have someplace to go, consider all your options in order of their affect on our environment: walking, biking, car-pooling, mass transit, and lastly a personal vehicle. 
  • Conserve energy until we find a non-polluting, renewable energy source.
  • Vote. If you’re doing good for our environment and your representative in government doesn’t get it, you’re just making yourself feel good without much effect.
  • Recycle, reuse and encourage your local government to create a place where recycling just about everything is the norm.
  • Think twice before using toxic chemicals that make your yard look like a golf course and your house like a hospital.
  • Consider other species (plants and animals) and their role in sustaining our environment.  Some are annoying and critical.  Some are cute and a burden.
  • Adopt green business practices: your business will save our environment and be able to compete with the rest of the world.
  • Communicate your concerns about the state of our environment to everyone. Sustainability isn’t going to work unless everyone gets on board quickly.  11.   Encourage all your news sources to have an environmental section daily and help move environmental investigations and news to mainstream media.

 350.org

350.org is an international campaign that's building a movement to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis—the solutions that science and justice demand. Our mission is to inspire the world to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis—to create a new sense of urgency and of possibility for our planet.  

Watch this video to understand why addressing Climate Change matters:

Bill McKibben, author and founder of the international environmental campaign 350.org, says that a global campaign to curb climate change, the ecological devastation that will result could make our planet uninhabitable. His appeal to citizens and policy-makers, the sixth video in the series "Peak Oil and a Changing Climate" from The Nation and On The Earth Productions, is a call to action as much as it is a sobering account of the damage we're already doing to our environment. Go to www.thenation.com  to learn more about "Peak Oil and a Changing Climate," and to see the other videos in the series.

 

Green Events.

RochesterEnvironment.com Environmental Calendar is the longest running and most comprehensive environmental calendar for our area. Got an environment event? Contact me and I'll get it listed.

Here are some events coming up soon & lots more...    

 

January 2012

  • January Thursday, January 26 from 6 pm-7:30 pm, at Rochester Civic Garden Center, 5 Castle Park, Rochester, NY 14620.
    • Green Drinks - January Thursday, January 26 from 6 pm-7:30 pm, at Rochester Civic Garden Center, 5 Castle Park, Rochester, NY 14620. Event co-hosted by Batavia Turf Farms, the Rochester Civic Garden Center and Jane Millliman (Upstate Gardener's Journal) from CEI: Center for Environmental Information
  • Wednesday, January 25, 2012   6:30pm  Brighton Memorial Library, 2300 Elmwood Avenue. 
    • Free. As traditional energy costs rise, many are feeling the heat from higher winter energy bills.  Here's a chance to be on the smart side of the equation in just a few minute's time.   Color Brighton Green has invited Lee Loomis and Haley Rotter of Energy Smart Communities to make a multi-media presentation on immediate, no-cost ways to save 10% on your energy bills this winter.  They will present methods to save as much as 30% for a minimal additional investment this year and in the future.   Learn about tax incentives for businesses to get energy lean, as well as income-based price reductions on energy audits for your home that can save you hundreds of dollars a year.     Take advantage of this informative, easy session on reducing your energy bills this winter, and for every season to come.   For more information, contact Cheryl Frank or Carrie Senefelder at info@ColorBrightonGreen.org."

February 2012

  • Learn about how water will factor in our future: Monday, February 6th, 2012, 6:30 to 8:30PM | Henrietta Library, 455 Calkins Road, Rochester, NY 14625.
    •  Climate Change is an issue of HOW we life.  Water Wars are an issue if we life.  Will Water be “the oil of the 21 century?” Why do people spend up to 4,000 times more for bottled water… when the purity is less than regulated tap water? Who will stop large multi-national corporations from taking over the world’s water supply? Blue Gold : World Water Wars The Great Lakes Committee of the Rochester Sierra Club will be hosting Blue Gold: World Water Wars.  Whether you are new to the topic or a long time advocate for water issues, Please join us for this film and discussion about the issue of water privatization.  These showing are free and open to the public.   For questions: greatlakes@newyork.sierraclub.org
  • Tuesday, February 7, 2012 Time: 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Where: Workers United Union Hall, 750 East Avenue, Rochester 14607
    • A Solar Jobs Act for New York Transitioning to a New Solar Economy Come and hear the experts and join in on the discussion When: Tuesday, February 7, 2012 Time: 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Where: Workers United Union Hall, 750 East Avenue, Rochester 14607 In his State-of-the State message, Governor Cuomo announced his New York Sun initiative to increase the deployment of solar energy in New York State. He reiterated this commitment in his Executive Budget with sales tax breaks targeted to commercial solar installations and for solar equipment leases. Meanwhile, the NY State Legislature has been working on its own versions of a solar jobs act. Come and hear more about these initiatives and offer your own views about how to increase solar energy deployment and component manufacturing in New York. For more information contact Bill Bastuk at 585-503-6826 or wbastuk@rochester.rr.com  For directions to the Forum, click here. There is no charge for this event "
  • February 8th, 2012 6:30pm | Monroe Branch Library 809 Monroe Avenue Rochester, NY 14607 
    • Winter Garden Symposium Wide Water Gardens, The City of Rochester and the Monroe Library are teaming up to help you get ready for the 2012 gardening season. Come to swap seeds, pick up free plant materials, rent a community garden plot and get all kinds of great gardening tips. No experience required! Reservations appreciated, so adequate materials can be provided.

April 2012

 
  • Friday, April 27, 2012 At "The Links" in East Syracuse, New York
    • Eighth Annual Symposium on Energy in the 21st Century | DescriptionofSymposium A Division of Synapse Sustainability Trust Inc. Looking Ahead to a Future in Renewable Energy A Local & Global Perspective Friday, April 27, 2012 At "The Links" in East Syracuse, New York  Symposium on April 27, 2012. Registration opens today. This Symposium is noted as one of the most important energy conferences in the Northeast.  This will be a very well attended Symposium and I encourage you to register ASAP. Last year we closed registration early at 360 attendees. This year we are going global, and including successful models of energy sustainability from other countries. Ruggero Schleicher-Tappeser, will be flying in from Berlin exclusively for this Symposium to speak Germany's success in using renewable energy, particularly solar voltaic. Willett Kempton, Ph.D, Visiting Professor at Denmarks Tekniske Universitet, will be speaking on Denmark's model, particularly in wind energy. Other esteemed speakers include Garry Brown, Chairman PSC, Laura Morton, Senior Advisor for Renewable Energy, U.S.D.O.E, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy,  Paul Tonko, Congressman, Nathanael Green, Director of Renewable Energy Policy, NRDC, Michael Gerrard, Director Climate Center, Columbia Law School, and Kit Kennedy, Counsel to Air & Energy Program, NRDC, who will be the moderator. Our keynote will be Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Included in the program is greetings from Frank Murray, President & CEO NYSERDA, and Joe Martens and, Commisioner DEC. We are giving a special award to Joanie Mahoney, County Executive of Onondaga County for her exceptional work. This will be a landmark Symposium!

 

The Upstate Green Business Network, a program of the "Center for Environmental Information", is a network of businesses, institutions and organizations that share a mutual concern for the state of our environment.

Green Action.

ACTION: Often, I receive requests to pass on alerts, petitions, Public Comments on local environmental issues needing action by the Rochester Community and around the world.  

 

FreePressFree Press is a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to reform the media. Through education, organizing and advocacy, we promote diverse and independent media ownership, strong public media, quality journalism, and universal access to communications.

Daily  Updates.

Daily Updates: Connecting the dots on Rochester’s environment. Find out what’s going on environmentally in our area—and why you should care.  Get Daily Updates since 1998...

  • 1/27/2012 - In your face Climate Change for the Rochester, NY region: Gardening changes. There a many, many Likely Changes coming to the Rochester, NY region because of Climate Change.  But because of the relatively slow nature of Climate Change it’s often easy to deceive yourself that it is not really happening.  (I say ‘relatively slow nature of Climate Change’ because only from our human daily awareness outlook is Climate Change proceeding slowly; from a geological standpoint Climate Change is hurling itself upon us with frightening rapidity.) You look around Rochester, NY now and you feel a very warm, wet winter that certainly haunts the skiing, skating, ice fishing, and snowmobile businesses—and those who grew up with colder winters with more snow.  Is all this the new normal for January? more...
  • 1/27/2012 - Something wicked this way comes with fossil fuels: Breaking News | InsideClimate News Critics are attacking Canada's energy strategy after internal documents shed new light on the extent of federal efforts to advocate for the oil sands industry.
  • 1/27/2012 - Learn about sewage pollution in our region from Citizens Campaign for the Environment - New York and Connecticut Environmental Protection Preservation and Advocacy.  This is scary when you know “The top nine beaches in NYS that had the most days that exceeded standards for contamination in 2010 were ALL Great Lakes beaches;’’ and that “There is currently no law requiring public notification if a sewage overflow has contaminated a local beach, waterway, or entered a community in either New York State or Connecticut.” Learn more and then act: Sewage Pollution - Citizens Campaign for the Environment "Many communities in New York State, Connecticut, and throughout the nation are served by aging and dilapidated sewage infrastructure. When our sewage infrastructure is not properly operated or maintained, billions of gallons of untreated raw sewage can be released in to the environment before reaching a treatment plant. Sewage is primarily discharged into the environment through Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSO) and Combined Sewer Overflows (CSO). Separate sewer systems carry only wastewater such as domestic sanitary waste and commercial and industrial waste to a sewage treatment plant. Separate sewers are not designed or intended to carry water such as storm water. SSOs occur in separate systems. Combined sewer systems are built larger than separate sewers so that they can carry two components: wastewater, carried continuously, and runoff, carried after storms. "
  • 1/26/2012 - President Obama mentions ‘Climate Change’ in his State Union Address Last year President Obama avoided using ‘Climate Change’ in his State of the Union Address and focused on clean energy.  This year the President did mention Climate Change, but not in a good way: “The differences in this chamber may be too deep right now to pass a comprehensive plan to fight climate change.”  2012 State Of The Union Address Enhanced Version | The White House#transcript The President’s bowing to the power of the ‘chamber’ when he should be leading the country on Climate Change is disproportional to the concerns coming from our country’s own climate assessments.  For example, this report that just came out this month from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with support by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies minces no words on the scale and immediacy of the Climate Change problem.  more...
  • 1/25/2012 - I saw Urbanized at the Toronto Film Festival (TIFF) and it was very entertaining and informative.  Find out how many communities around the globe and dealing with a world that is becoming predominately urbanized.     Ubanized, February 2, 2012, 7PM film, 8PM discussion @ The Little Theatre, 240 East Ave Rochester, NY 14607 Greentopia Film: Urbanized "Urbanized is a feature-length documentary about the design of cities, which looks at the issues and strategies behind urban design and features some of the world’s foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders, and thinkers. Over half the world’s population now lives in an urban area, and 75% will call a city home by 2050. But while some cities are experiencing explosive growth, others are shrinking. The challenges of balancing housing, mobility, public space, civic engagement, economic development, and environmental policy are fast becoming universal concerns. Yet much of the dialogue on these issues is disconnected from the public domain. Who is allowed to shape our cities, and how do they do it? Unlike many other fields of design, cities aren’t created by any one specialist or expert. There are many contributors to urban change, including ordinary citizens who can have a great impact improving the cities in which they live. By exploring a diverse range of urban design projects around the world, Urbanizedframes a global discussion on the future of cities. Urbanized is the third part of Gary Hustwit’s design film trilogy, joining Helvetica and Objectified. "
  • 1/25/2012 - How will Fracking affect our communities?  Check it out:    SHALE GAS EXTRACTION IN WESTERN NY:  Exploring Community Impacts & Implications for Our Towns   7PM, Tuesday, January 31, 2012 West Bloomfield Congregational Church 9035 Route 5 & 20, West Bloomfield, NY 14585 (corner of Route 5 & 20 and County Road 37) This presentation is free and open to the public   Presenter: Arthur J. Buckley,  County Planner for the County of Wyoming   Hosts: The Community Information Committee of West Bloomfield   Press Release attached 
  • 1/24/2012 - The scientist: Jim Hansen risks handcuffs to make his research clear — The Daily Climate NASA's chief climate scientist built his career studying Earth's atmosphere and modeling humans' potential impacts on climate. Then he realized that laboratory work wasn't enough. (January 24, 2012) The Daily Climate
  • 1/24/2012 - Biggest construction project in the Rochester, NY region since the untangling of the Can of Worms could be an opportunity for Active Transportation (bicycles and walking) for our area.  Check this out: Let NYSDOT know what YOU Think about the Access 390 project that could connect UR, RIT, and MCC with the City! | Rochester Cycling Alliance "An Active Transportation Network for the Rochester Multiversity. Jon Schull, co-founder Rochester Cycling Alliance With small modifications, a proposed “Access 390″ highway project could bind Rochester’s three major universities with several multi-use trails and bikeways, and move us toward a future that is more ecological, economical, healthful, and energy-independent. It could really happen…but we have to ask for it! The New York State Department of Transportation’s (NYSDOT) is accepting written comments from the public until January 31 (see below), and NYSDOT officials at the meeting seemed genuinely receptive to constructive suggestions backed up by citizen support. This is a big opportunity! " Rochester Cycling Alliance
  • 1/23/2012 - There’s no environmental freight to throw overboard; it’s a Fracking delusion Environmental issues are riddled with examples of why our environmental infrastructure must remain intact for us humans to have a sustainable future.  I mean intact in the way that 4 billion years of biology and evolution on this planet has fit every little piece of our environmental puzzle together resulting in our specie’s appearance and survival.  Deep ecology recognizes that our environment is not just about us. Take biodiversity for example.  If we carve up our environment for our particular immediate needs, we threaten our environment’s ability to rebound after a disaster—say extreme weather. A disease could rip through our monocultures, like the potato blight, and leave our agriculture crippled.  Allowing other plants and animals to survive gives our environment a cushion against a complete collapsed when things go awry. more... 
  • 1/23/2012 - ACTION: Got ideas on how we should solve Climate Change?  How important are nature’s services (one of them being LIFE) are to you?  The Public Review Draft of the National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy is now available for public review and comment.  You have until March 5th, 2012 to submit comment via mail, web, or in person.  NFWP Climate Adaptation Strategy "The Public Review Draft of the National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy is now available for public review and comment. To ensure that we are able to consider your comments, we must receive them by March 5, 2012. You can submit your comments through the web, by mail, or in person. Learn how to submit your comments here. Public workshops will be conducted at several locations around the country to provide additional opportunities for public comment and discussion of the draft. Please visit our Public Workshops page for more information. In addition, a free, public online web conference or webinar will also be held. Learn more and sign up here. "
  • 01/22/2012 - This week's RENewsletter has been published RENewsletter January 22, 2012 Each week get all the environmental news, events, actions and comment free.  Click Subscribe
  • 1/21/2012 ACTION: Chime in on helping to identify ways to reduce packaging waste, increase recycling, and reduce the overall impact of packaging materials on the environment—by February 9th, 2012. Dialogue on Sustainable Financing of Recycling: Dialogue Report on Consumer Packaging | Resource Conservation | US EPA "Stakeholder Dialogue Report The participants in the dialogue were tasked with producing a report that discusses multiple strategies for financing municipal recycling systems focusing on consumer packaging. While the report is a result of an EPA-convened dialogue, the report is a work product of the dialogue participants, and not of EPA. Reference to any specific company or commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation or favoring by the United States Government. EPA invites you to review and comment on the report. Final Report of the Dialogue on Sustainable Financing of Recycling of Packaging at the Municipal Level (PDF) (128 pp, 872K) How to Submit Comments EPA will accept comments on this report for until February 9, 2012 . The docket for this rulemaking is EPA-HQ-RCRA-2011-0912 and can be accessed at Regulations.gov. Comments on the report will be collected into a companion document, and made available here. EPA will review all comments received and consider them in any future actions, but does not plan to formally respond to comments on the final report. Related Materials Issue Assessment: Sustainable Financing for Recycling of Packaging Materials (PDF) (20 pp, 119 K) Dialogue Meeting Summaries and Presentations "
  • 1/21/2012 - Finally, a Rochester, NY area forum on a useful and good source of energy for our area that won’t put our water in jeopardy and won’t warm the planet.  Be there if you care:    "You are invited to a Greater Rochester Apollo Alliance Forum A Solar Jobs Act for New York Transitioning to a New Solar Economy Come and hear the experts and join in on the discussion When: Tuesday, February 7, 2012 Time: 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Where: Workers United Union Hall, 750 East Avenue, Rochester 14607 In his State-of-the State message, Governor Cuomo announced his New York Sun initiative to increase the deployment of solar energy in New York State. He reiterated this commitment in his Executive Budget with sales tax breaks targeted to commercial solar installations and for solar equipment leases. Meanwhile, the NY State Legislature has been working on its own versions of a solar jobs act. Come and hear more about these initiatives and offer your own views about how to increase solar energy deployment and component manufacturing in New York. For more information contact Bill Bastuk at 585-503-6826 or wbastuk@rochester.rr.com  For directions to the Forum, click here. There is no charge for this event "
  • 1/21/2012 - As Fracking is becoming the most immediately critical environmental issue of our NYS region, a little lesson on Fracking might be just the thing.  Check this series out:   Teaching About Marcellus Shale: Part One - GrowWNY "by Don Duggan-Haas, The Paleontological Research Institution & its Museum of the Earthon January 12, 2012 Terms:Arts & Culture, Don Duggan-Haas, Eco-Tourism, Energy & Climate, Hydraulic Fracturing, Jobs & Economy, Nature & Habitat, Schools & Education, Technology, The Museum of the Earth This post is intended to serve as a gateway to a range of readings and other resources to support teaching about the Marcellus Shale and the larger energy system, but before simply posting a list of linked resources, some background is needed as to the types of knowledge needed to effectively teach this content. Part 1, this post, is the introduction to the kinds of knowledge needed to teach the Marcellus Shale. Part 2 will include a list of readings and other resources for building that knowledge. "  -from GrowWNY
  • 1/20/2012 - If you care about our environment you need to hear this:    Bill McKibben on Occupy The Courts - YouTube "350.org Founder Bill McKibben discusses the need for environmentalists to support the fight to overturn Citizens United. "
  • 1/20/2012 - Wanna do something about Climate Change in Rochester, NY?  (Hint: bike.) If you care about increasing Active Transportation in the Rochester, NY region you can still make comment on this major road construction project by the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) until January 30th, 2012.  Check this out: Access 390: Interchange 16   more...
  • 1/20/2012 - Science educators need help in defending your right to teach the science of Climate Change in your school?  Check this out: NCSE | National Center for Science Education - Defending the Teaching of Evolution & Climate Science The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) is a not-for-profit, membership organization providing information and resources for schools, parents and concerned citizens working to keep evolution and climate science in public school science education. We educate the press and public about the scientific and educational aspects of controversies surrounding the teaching of evolution and climate change, and supply needed information and advice to defend good science education at local, state, and national levels. Our 4500 members are scientists, teachers, clergy, and citizens with diverse religious and political affiliations.
  • 1/17/2012 - Trying to communicate Climate Change over the din of Super denials The collective human reaction to Climate Change in the US can be characterized as dysfunctional.   I use ‘dysfunctional’ in the sense that our collective reaction to the Climate Change threat is not normal for a functional species—a species intent on survival.  Whether most folks in the United States understand Climate Change, or ‘think’ they understand Climate Change, we aren’t really addressing it in any meaningful way.  To ‘get’ Climate Change in a meaningful way would be to see a massive turnaround in how our media, politics, and our culture itself reacts to the most troubling issue of this century.  Only a top-down, that is, leadership from government s around the world will bring down our greenhouse gas concentrations in our atmosphere to a level that won’t threaten our ability to survive.  That is not even close to happening.  We need to find a way to communicate this issue that is like no other challenge the human species has ever faced.  Never had we had to change human behavior instantly on a planetary scale to survive. more...
  • 1/17/2012 - Looks like a great way to bone up on your Climate Change education.  This is something the public needs to take a little time and understand the science behind the gravest problem of our generation.     Open Climate Science 101 "Three thousand non-science major undergraduates at the University of Chicago have taken this class since 1995, and learned the science behind the forecast for a human influence on Earth's climate. The story combines physics, chemistry, biology, and Earth and atmospheric science. The content of this class is now being served to the internet world at large. You can watch video lectures followed by quizzes to stimulate your understanding, and work your way through tutorial exercises letting you get hands-on with interactive models and simple mathematical ideas. You can work at your own pace, on your own time. You don't get University of Chicago credit, but it's free, and if you complete the exercises you can download a certificate of accomplishment signed by me. "
  • 1/13/2012 - The EPA could have been a contender on Fracking Here’s something interesting to think about as we read the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) response to the Revised Draft SGEIS on the Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Regulatory Program (September 2011) - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation.  So, today’s news abounds with the EPA’s letter to the SGEIS report on the safety of Fracking in New York State.  The EPA, which is usually responsible for enforcing measures to protect our fresh water for the entire country, had a lot to say: more...
  • 1/12/2012 - Find out about getting rid of unwanted medicines and what it does to our environment if done incorrectly.   Safe Disposal of Unwanted Medicine What happens to prescription or over-the-counter medicines that are brought home, but for one reason or another, end up unused? Medicines that are flushed or tossed in the trash can end up in lakes, rivers, and drinking water. This poses a risk to people, animals, and the environment. Do you have medicine you no longer need? Don’t flush it! Bring it to a local medicine take-back program. If there isn’t a take-back program available: Mix medicine with cat litter or coffee grounds in a sealable container such as a coffee can before throwing it in the trash. Mark out any personal information before recycling your pill bottle. You can see our 15 second message that is running on the CBS large screen in Times Square until March 31, 2012: Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant | University of Illinois
  • 1/12/2012 - Learn about how water will factor in our future: Monday, February 6th, 2012, 6:30 to 8:30PM | Henrietta Library, 455 Calkins Road, Rochester, NY 14625. o   Climate Change is an issue of HOW we life.  Water Wars are an issue if we life.  Will Water be “the oil of the 21 century?” Why do people spend up to 4,000 times more for bottled water… when the purity is less than regulated tap water? Who will stop large multi-national corporations from taking over the world’s water supply? Blue Gold : World Water Wars The Great Lakes Committee of the Rochester Sierra Club will be hosting Blue Gold: World Water Wars.  Whether you are new to the topic or a long time advocate for water issues, Please join us for this film and discussion about the issue of water privatization.  These showing are free and open to the public.   For questions: greatlakes@newyork.sierraclub.org
  • 1/12/2012 - Climate Change is caused in large part by human-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  So where is the date for that?  It’s here: Greenhouse Gas Data | Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program | Climate Change | U.S. EPA "EPA develops the national greenhouse gas inventory each year to track the national trend in emissions and removals since 1990. The national greenhouse gas inventory is submitted to the United Nations in accordance with the Framework Convention on Climate Change . The national greenhouse gas inventory is a comprehensive, sectoral level accounting of all human-related sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. The emissions presented in the U.S. greenhouse gas inventory are generally based on national-level statistics." Including Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions from Large Facilities
  • 1/11/2012 - One good thing about the NYS DEC Fracking process As we reach the last day for making public comment on whether to lift the moratorium on Fracking in New York State, something  good has come out of the four-month comment period.  That something good is that we New Yorkers have had a conversation about our environment.  Albeit, limited but a conversation nonetheless.  Usually, when environmental concerns come up, we only argue about them as NYMBY issues, as how the environmental effects of a project will affect those immediately surrounding that particular project.  Or, an environmental disaster occurs and folks start pointing fingers and calling up lawyers.  We are a long way from adequately addressing environmental concerns in the media.  (Note the almost criminal denial of media attention on Climate Change in the US presidential campaigns this year.) more...
  • 1/10/2012 - What is the “Occupy” movement all about?  Check this talk out:   January 17   The Occupy Movement   The Occupy movement began in the summer of 2011. The first US Occupy communities began on Wall Street and in San Francisco in September. By the end of November 2011 the Occupy movement is believed to have communities in over 2,609 towns and cities worldwide-over 600 are in the United States-including Rochester.    Claiming to represent 99% of the population the movement has primarily been directed against economic and social inequality. But what does that really mean? Who are the 99% Occupy signs refer to? Who the 1%? What specifically is being protested against and has an alternative vision for social and economic equality come out of the movement?   Speaker: Colin O’Malley, Organizing Director, Metro Justice   Time: 12:12 PM to 12:52 PM   Location: Kate Gleason Auditorium, Central Library, 115 South Ave., Rochester, NY 14604   Admission: Free and open to the public, seating up to 120, wheelchair accessible   Sponsor: Central Library and the Friends & Foundation of the Rochester Public Library     Linda Rock Director of Community Programming The Friends & Foundation of the Rochester Public Library 115 South Avenue Rochester, NY 14604 585-428-8350 linda.rock@libraryweb.org
  • 1/10/2012 - Save energy, help our environment: "Wednesday, January 25, 2012   6:30pm  Brighton Memorial Library, 2300 Elmwood Avenue.  Free. As traditional energy costs rise, many are feeling the heat from higher winter energy bills.  Here's a chance to be on the smart side of the equation in just a few minute's time.   Color Brighton Green has invited Lee Loomis and Haley Rotter of Energy Smart Communities to make a multi-media presentation on immediate, no-cost ways to save 10% on your energy bills this winter.  They will present methods to save as much as 30% for a minimal additional investment this year and in the future.   Learn about tax incentives for businesses to get energy lean, as well as income-based price reductions on energy audits for your home that can save you hundreds of dollars a year.     Take advantage of this informative, easy session on reducing your energy bills this winter, and for every season to come.   For more information, contact Cheryl Frank or Carrie Senefelder at info@ColorBrightonGreen.org."