RENewsletter | February 22, 2009

 

 

The Free environmental newsletter from RochesterEnvironment.com  

“Our Environment is changing: Keep up with the Change.”

02/016/09 – 02/22/09]

 

* Need to vent? | Go to my blog: Environmental Thoughts - Rochester, NY

 

    Opening Salvo | NewsLinks | Daily Updates | Events | Environmental Site of the Month | Take Action |

 

*** The February Environmental Site of the Month Award goes to Climate Change Central.  Go Award.

 

[Hyperlinks work by CTRL + click to follow a link]

 

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Opening Salvo:  “Moving to Higher Ground”

 

Odds are if your great, great, great, great, (…all the way back to caveman days) grandfather heard a rustle in the grass in the night, he assumed the worst. Good bet there’s a predator out there, better take evasive action. Not to have taken immediate action in the face of insufficient information in this case would probably have meant you wouldn’t get to be his great, great, great, (…all the way to now) grandchild.

 

Much of our history involved this sort of thinking: reacting quickly to perceived danger instead of waiting until all the information was in.  By the time our primitive ancestors waited for a lion in the night to reveal itself in full attack mode, he would have been lion dinner.  And, we are descendants of those intelligent wary individuals, who, when they erred, did so on the side of caution.

 

Though we are a lot more intelligent, more capable of discerning and combating real danger, we too benefit from this precautionary faculty that some say is hard-wired into our brains.  If we hear a rustle in the air that it (the air itself) is warming up, backed by an avalanche of data leaning in that direction, the better genius of our nature would tell us to take preventative action.  Skedaddle or die. Waiting for leaping lions and solid month of 100 degree days in New York State is not who we are. That foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, not minds that passed into future generations.  

 

So it with Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s decision this week to raise “…equipment such as pump motors and circuit breakers from 25 feet below sea level to 14 feet above sea level” (from (Bloomberg: City must adapt to global warming now -- Newsday.com, Feb. 22, 09) in New York City, we evidence that ancient faculty for prudent caution has not deserted us.  The new report, “CLIMATE RISK INFORMATION  NEW YORK CITY PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE  FEBRUARY 17, 2009 says “Climate change poses a range of hazards to New York City and its infrastructure. These changes suggest a need for the City to rethink the way it operates and adapts to its evolving environment.”

 

I note this story about Mayor Bloomberg’s actions because it is the first time I have read about a major political figure doing something so concrete about the threat of Global Warming.  Bloomberg is not wrangling with his staff about whether or not that ‘rustle’ of climate change heard throughout the world means we should wait until Earth becomes a Venus: he’s moving equipment to higher ground.  By the way, the mayor has also been gearing up New York City in many other ways, assuming the worst about Global Warming and also trying to mitigate those threats.  Taking evasive action.

 

Instead of staring dumbfounded into the night, paralyzed by the great inconvenience of dealing with the climate change threat, the mayor of our state’s largest city is acting in the best tradition of a species intent on surviving.

 

 

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com  (Click on my email for feedback)

 

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NewsLinks – Environmental NewsLinks – [Highlights of major environmental stories concerning our area from the past week]

 

·         Ren. Square Environmental Report

·         Water Worries

·         Ontario Rising

·         NYC Mayor on Climate Change

·         Reversing Bush - EPA

·         DEC - Upgrade Bottle Bill

·         Gasification Meeting Geneva

·         Great Lakes Water Future Study

·         Brighton Bikes

·         Nuclear Reactor  Application

·         Climate Smart Communities - DEC

·         Green Educations - EPA

·         Great Lakes Cleanup Needs Money

·         New Yorkers Use Solar Panels

·         Turning the Grind Green

·         Money for Great Lake's Wastewater

·         Farms Without Toads

·         Lead Law & Libraries

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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? Clicking on -DISCUSSION – will take you to my blog “Environmental Thoughts, NY, where you can add your comments.]

 

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Events – Rochester Environmental Events Calendar – [The most complete listing of all environmental events around the Rochester, New York area.]  If you don’t see your event, or know of a local environmental event, please send me the info: FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com with (EV event) in the subject line.

 

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Action – Take Action - Often, I receive request to pass on alerts, petitions, Public Comments on local developments, and environmental items needing action by the Rochester Community and around the world. I’ll keep Actions posted until their due date. 

 

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Award – Environmental Site of the Month Award – [Each month, included in the RENewsletter goes out an environmental award for the best Rochester-area environmental web site or blog that best helps promote the need to protect and offers solutions to our area's environmental issues.] Award to be made on the Last Sunday of each month.

 

The February Environmental Site of the Month Award goes to Climate Change Central.  If you haven’t stopped over and talked to the good people (Holly and Mary) over at Climate Change Central at 545 Park Ave., you should do so soon.  They are moving, though not their web site http://www.climatechangecentral.info/.  The great thing about Climate Change Central is that Global Warming discussions get a warm, friendly face—and a cup of coffee.  You can sit down and talk about one of the most important issues of the day, anthropogenic climate change in a friendly atmosphere.  Climate Change Central also conducts many programs, book discussions, and events trying to raise public consciousness about Climate Change.  After this month we hope they land safely in new location because this kind of friendly environment is what environmental issues need. 

 

Climate Change Central "climate change central is a community resource  center and forum for climate change dialogue in  Rochester, New York.  We believe improved access to  climate change information will empower citizens in  our community to recognize climate induced  hazards, and to make positive changes for their  families and neighborhoods. given the right  resources and tools, people can protect their  families and help their communities in the face of  this crisis." - February, 2009