RENewsletter | March 29, 2009

 

The Free environmental newsletter from RochesterEnvironment.com  

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

[03/23/09– 03/29/09]

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

*** The February Environmental Site of the Month Award goes to Save Auburn Trail.  Go to Award.

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Opening Salvo:  “Getting Around Tomorrow”

 

 

A recent poll in Rochester on high-speed rail (3/20/09 Rochester Business Journal ) showed Rochesterians favoring this flashy mode of travel. Proponents say it will create jobs, reduced air pollution, and get us around more quickly. There are other ideas floating around town as federal dollars float in, including funds to develop hydrogen fuel. 

 

Realistically, most if not all that fed money will be used for fixing and updating our highway infrastructure. Road construction and bridge repair are shovel-ready; already in regional budgets, and they are going to create immediate jobs.  For the time being, traveling around Rochester will not leap suddenly into the breath-taking fictional world of The Jetsons. 

 

What will the future bring? Change will certainly occur in Rochester’s transportation. Indigenous peoples walked on well-work paths, then came horse and carriages, then ole Clinton’s Folly (which some are talking of resurrecting through the city), then train, bicycling, the automobile, and the airplane. Some modes make it, some don’t. A helicopter in every garage did not and probably will not ever happen.   

 

Forces other than speed and cost are driving our future transportation.  Back in the day, when the miracle of the horseless carriage fulfilled all our dreams of privacy and accessibility (not to mention one’s own music sound chamber) no one thought that the stuff coming out the tailpipe would question their viability. Anthropogenic climate change (get used to it, it’s real) and the horrendous cost of building and maintaining the seemingly endless growth of highways is going to force us to reconsider the private automobile as the dominate form of Rochester travel. Today’s transportation is not sustainable.

 

As a species seemingly at times capable of thinking and adapting, we can not only speculate on what getting around will look like in Rochester’s future, we can be the driving force of that change. Things don’t just occur; there is always a cause. If you want high speed rail in Rochester, you have to provide the people who maintain your highways and bridges the reason for billions of your dollars to go elsewhere. If you continue to buy large polluting vehicles to commute an hour to work and play, your government will have to put the majority of public transportation funds in that pot—until, of course, the gas-guzzling automobile fails economically and environmentally. By the way, that is happening now.

 

FDR supposedly said to A. Philip Randolph: “I agree with everything that you've said, including my capacity to be able to right many of these wrongs and to use my power and the bully pulpit. ... But I would ask one thing of you, Mr. Randolph, and that is go out and make me do it." We must demonstrate to our representatives that we want a sustainable future.

 

If we want our streets made easier for walking and bicycling, less money spent on highways, and more money spent on public transportation (maybe high-speed rail), then we must prove it our representatives. We must walk more, bike more, and use public transportation. We must demand that vehicles slow down on our streets, respect one’s right to bicycle on our streets, and always give way to pedestrians. Increase these free community-empowering modes of transportation and our representative will hear you. The biggest and most profound change we can make in Rochester’s transportation future is to change our attitude: Be a community that accommodates people instead of the car. 

 

 

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]

 

·         EPA & Jobs

·         NYS DEC Tree Programs

·         Drugs in Fish

·         EPA Says Decline in NYS Toxic Emissions

·         Major Off-Shore Wind Study NYS

·         Dry Spring Could Mean More Fires

·         Flushing Drugs I Bad

·         No Re-opening Climate Regulations

·         State of the Bottle Bill

·         Tuberculosis Reminder

·         How Climate Change will Affect our Agriculture

·         New York's Toxics Release Inventory

·         Declines in Bird Populations

·         Lights Out for One Hour

·         Great Lakes Invasives Move Inland

·         Signs of Climate Change in Great Lakes Ice Cover

·         Tyron Park & Bikes

·         Rochester Likes High-Speed Rail

·         Our Infrastructure

·         Louise Slaughter on Antibiotics

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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.]

 

• 3/26/09 - Good article on local farming and food and environment from the experts: Cornell Cooperative Extension New Local Food Cooking Program Highlights NYS Agriculture If you’re a person who’s spending more time thinking about the connections between health, the environment, and your food sources, you’re not alone. And if you’re buying local food more often, you may have joined a growing number of consumers exploring the benefits of local agriculture and farm products."
• 3/24/09) How's that cleanup coming along? Exxon Valdez Anniversary: 20 Years Later, Oil Remains Two decades after the worst oil spill in U.S. history, huge quantities of oil still coat Alaska's shores with a toxic glaze, experts say. More than 21,000 gallons of crude oil remain of the 11 million gallons of crude oil that bled from the stranded tanker Exxon Valdez on the night of March 23, 1989. --from National Geographic - Inspiring People to Care About the Planet
• 3/24/09 - Earth Day recycling event Recycle electronics & clothing on Saturday, April 18, 2009 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. --from Home Page - Color Brighton Green
• 3/23/09 - Make sure that bad things aren’t going into your beautiful lawns:  Green Lawns and Gardens - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation We all want a beautiful looking yard, but also one that is safe for our families, friends and pets to enjoy. Use the tips and resources on this page to learn how to have both and protect the environment at the same time. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

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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.

 

• April 2, 09 - 2009 Syracuse Chamber Business Show Adds New Green Tech Exhibit Area SYRACUSE - The 17th annual Syracuse Chamber Business Show, to be held on April 2 at the NYS Fairgrounds, will feature, for the first time, the green tech companies of New York’s Creative Core   Firms that are developing a green technology or manufacturing a green product, along with green architects, engineers, builders and other service providers are invited to be an exhibitor. This is the FIRST SHOW of its kind in New York State. Darlene Kerr, president of the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce said, “For the last three years, the Chamber has been a leader in branding our region as a global hotspot for green technology. We are proud to be taking this next step in showcasing the region as a leader in green technologies.” Exhibitors have the unique opportunity to display their work in the green technology sector to the entire business community. Green tech companies will be an additional attraction for the 200+ exhibitors and 7,000+ attendees that come to the Chamber Business Show every year. Government representatives and national experts in green technology are invited as well as businesses involved in cutting-edge green technology, potential investors, and local and regional media.   National Grid will be sponsoring a section of the green show dedicated to emerging businesses. These early-stage businesses have the opportunity to promote their product or service compliments of National Grid. For more information on exhibiting your green-tech emerging business at no charge sponsored by National Grid, please contact Karen Villi, show director, at 315-470-1835. ClearChannel Communications is also sponsoring the event and will be showcasing the AMOS Project. For more information on how you can become a part of this inaugural event, please contact Karen Villi, show director, at (315) 470-1835 or kvilli@syracusechamber.com.
• Saturday, April 18, Learn Birdwatching Basics with the Rochester Birding Association, Webster Library, 1-4 p.m. Just in time for spring migration.  Learn the fundamentals of birdwatching from experts.  This three-hour Birding School at the Webster Library, 980 Ridge Road, Webster, teaches where to go, what you’ll see, why birdwatching is fun.  Space is limited.  Registration required by April 11 at www.rochesterbirding.com or call 467-2474.  $20 fee includes one-year membership in the Rochester Birding Association.
• Earth Day recycling event Recycle electronics & clothing on Saturday, April 18, 2009 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. --from Home Page - Color Brighton Green
• 2009 Environmental Forum Local and Sustainable Food – Local Food Choices  Thursday, April 16th, 2009 5:30 PM - 9:PM First Unitarian Church, 220 S. Winton Rd, Rochester, N.Y.   The Focus of the “Local and Sustainable – Local Food Choices” Environmental Forum 2009 By the Rochester Regional Group of the Sierra Club: The focus of the Environmental Forum is to educate our community that every aspect of environmental wellbeing is touched by how we eat and to help to provide a link to the local options that are available to everyone.  Reasoning: Daily dietary choices are some of the most critical decisions that we make as a human population. In our lifetimes, we are directly responsible for what these daily choices do to our planet, our health, and our future generations.  Because of this we strive to eat as healthy and environmentally sound as possible..
• Earth Day New York State Parks :: Earth Day 2009  Event at Hamlin Beach State Park. The event is on April 25, 9-1 at Shelter 1/ Area 1.
• Friday 1 May 2009 Conference on Sustainability Ethics Tentative speakers: Braden Allenby (Lincoln Professor of Engineering & Ethics, Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, and of Law, Arizona State University) Bryan Norton (Distinguished Professor in Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology) Paul Thompson (W. K. Kellog Chair in Agricultural, Food, & Community Ethics, Michigan State University) William Shutkin (Director, Initiative for Sustainable Development and Chair in Sustainable Development, University of Colorado at Boulder) Sponsored by the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, the Provost, Student Affairs, the Sustainability Institute, and the Hale Chair of Applied Ethics
• Lima Planning Sustainability Fair in the Spring   Exciting plans are taking shape in Lima. A group of residents and local officials, with diverse interests in environmental conservation, renewable energy sources, historic preservation, protection of local agriculture, and downtown renewal and revitalization, have been coming together to plan a multi-faceted "Sustainability Fair" to be held at the Lima Town Hall, 7321 East Main St Lima, NY 14485 on Saturday May 2nd (10:00AM to 4: 00PM).   The goal of the fair is to foster awareness of our overuse of the earth's resources, and to promote changes in everyday practices that will enable people to save money, and reduce energy and resource consumption. As we collectively learn how to make more sustainable choices, we contribute to the conservation of these vital assets for future generations.   The group understands "Sustainability" as:   'the ability to meet our present needs for the earth's resources without compromising that of future generations to meet theirs.'   The all-day fair will include activities, information, and fun for all ages, including: • talks on "Small Scale Renewable Energy Options" and "Why Historic Preservation Is Green"; • tours of a local "green house," and several recently restored historic downtown buildings;• exhibits by vendors of green products and services, as well as by high school students, scouts, and other groups; • supervised, eco-friendly crafts and films for kids • an environmental poster contest for older children:• a workshop on practical techniques for making older homes more energy efficient; • videos on environmental issues and  simple practical tips for reducing our own carbon footprints; • a continuous slide show of Lima's 58 National Register structures.   So please save the date for Lima's "Sustainability Fair" on May 2nd at the Lima Town Hall, and check our website for more details as they emerge (www.greenlima.com). If you are interested in helping to plan this community event, or helping that day as a volunteer, please contact us through the website.   The fair will be free and open to everyone, from far and wide. We are hoping to help promote Lima as a small, forward-thinking town that is proud of its past, but preparing for the future.
• The 7th Annual Festival celebration of International Migratory Bird Day at Braddock Bay —May 8-10, 2009 Theme for 2009: "Celebrating Birds in Culture" Braddock Bay Park is located on East Manitou Rd at the Lake Ontario State Parkway near Rochester, NY (Town of Greece, NY). Take I-490 or the New York State Thruway (I-90) to I-390 North. Stay on Rte 390 North to the end at Lake Ontario State Parkway. Take the Lake Ontario State Parkway West. Take the second Parkway exit at — East Manitou Rd/Braddock Bay Park. Turn right. Less than 50 yards down the road, turn left into the Park.
• Help Clean Up the World and put your activity on the global environmental map!   Held in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Clean Up the World is one of the world’s largest community-based environmental campaigns with an estimated 35 million volunteers from 120 countries participating annually in environmental activities.   Join the campaign and put your group and its activity on the global environmental map by visiting activities.cleanuptheworld.org .  Activities can be conducted year round, however the campaign’s flagship event, Clean Up the World Weekend (18-20 September 2009) is a global celebration of the environmental actions and achievements of participants.   Joining Clean Up the World is simple: ■ Register online: http//:activities.cleanuptheworld.org ■ Email: info@cleanuptheworld.org ■ Visit: www.cleanuptheworld.org ■ Call: +61 2 9692 0700 ■ Post: 18 Bridge Road, Glebe NSW 2037, Australia. Clean Up Clean Up the World partners with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to inspire and assist communities to "clean up, fix up and conserve their local environment" through carrying out initiatives ranging from waste removal and tree planting to water and energy conservation projects. Clean Up the World and its participating organisations mobilise an estimated 35 million volunteers from more than 120 countries annually.

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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 – [On the last Sunday of each month, we present an environmental award for the Rochester-area environmental web site or blog that best promotes the need to protect and offers solutions for our area's environmental issues.]

 

This month’s winner of the Environmental Site Award reflects the vision of the award: that best helps promote the need to protect and offers solutions to our area's environmental issues. As our media transforms and moves to the Internet, one of the tragedies of that evolution is the lack of local environmental reporting.  There just isn’t going to be the monies available to local environmental investigating reporting as their used to be when each community had competing newspapers.  [Read this critical essay Who'll Unplug Big Media? Stay Tuned By Robert W. McChesney & John Nichols – from The Nation | Unconventional Wisdom Since 1865.]  So, a new way to focus attention on crucial environmental is being heralded by web sites like Save Auburn Trail that bring their case to the public with all the connectivity and special capabilities of the web. Instead of the (mostly fictional) objectivity of the news reporter, the future will rely on the education and reason of the viewer and the reasonableness of the case brought by groups hoping to save our environment.

 

I think that Save Auburn Trail brings its case to save a small portion of an environmentally fragile area to the forefront in a calm, descriptive, and measured way that best depicts what an environmental site should do.  Rather than passively being told what to think by Big Media, sites like Save Auburn Trail asks that you engage in them in a thoughtful discussion on an important environmental matter and lays out its case. To the future then…   

 

Save Auburn Trail - http://www.saveauburntrail.org/  “Help preserve this special part of the Auburn Trail -   The Town of Victor, NY is planning a six foot wide stone dust trail to replace a narrow footpath through a unique environmental area known as the  Railroad Mills Special Environmental Area (RRMSEA) The Coalition to save RRMSEA believes Victor's plan will have serious environmental impacts and will eliminate the wilderness feeling that makes the area so special.  We propose a compromise that creates an accessible trail that can be enjoyed by a wide range of users, and preserves the sensitive and unique environment.”