January 28, 2008 RENewsletter

RENewsletter | January 4, 2009

The Free environmental newsletter from RochesterEnvironment.com

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

[12/27/08 – 1/04/09]

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

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Opening Salvo: The RENewsletter is renewing (after a short hiatus since June 2008) as a much leaner weekly edition. Trying to get out monthly coverage of all NewsLinks, events, actions, updates, ‘Site of the month”, etc. proved to be too much. So I’ve decided on a format that will allow me to send out a newsletter each week quickly and easily, instead of a newspaper like-format each month. This new format is designed to be skimmed quickly and to load quickly—as it has no images. Also, RochesterEnvironment.com, the web site, is under-going radical changes to update software and make it leaner and easier to find things.

We are in an extraordinary time where the environment, the media, and the economy are undergoing a monumental change—world-wide and at the local level. RENewsletter attempts to zero in on a single locality—Rochester, NY—to keep you updated on all environmental changes here and connect the dots.

With everything else going on that grabs our attention, it’s often difficult to stay focused on what I believe is the most important issue of our times: the state of our environment. Though, our environment is not exclusively an issue, a passion, a political football, or a personal interest (though it tends to be all of these). Our environment is Where We Live: If our environment is not sustainable, then “anything else we want to do is not going to happen.” (Carl Sagan).

If you don’t want to receive a weekly (every Sunday) newsletter, instructions on how to unsubscribe will be at the bottom of each newsletter. But, I hope you’ll stay on as things on our environment and the media are changing quickly.

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]

D&C Will Increase Investigative Reporting - Wind Turbines @ Naples - NYS Environmental Programs Cut? - Recycling Christmas Trees - Private Lands Made Public - Genesee River Update - Wind Power at School - Carbon Dioxide Pollution Allowance - NYS Budget Cuts on Environment - Zebra Mussel Update - Area Bird Count Figures - Penfield Group Presses Green - Acid Rain Never Went Away - Organic Milk For Rochester - Renaissance Square Update - Global Warming Ohio - Drilling for Gas in NYS - Victor Groundwater Issue Update - The Second Carbon Auction

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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.]

-DISCUSSION - News on the Genesee River - What is becoming clear with this article and several others, Rochester City Newspaper is now the most important environmental newspaper in our area. Every other media in our area has dropped the ball on the most important issue of the day—the state of our environment. The other media in our area—newspapers, TV, radio, etc.—when they publish articles on our environment at all are mostly pollution outbreaks, reprints from other media, or agenda-ridden stories that foster the illusion that we are ‘going green’ rapidly. Granted there is a shift in public, governmental, and business attitudes towards living a more environmentally sustainable life, but an honest, investigatory, and comprehensive appraisal of our complete environmental profile is missing. Articles like this on the Genesee River, which is polluted and has not been visited by the media for years, is missing as Dr. Makarewicz notes an “understanding of the river's specific long-term trends.” If we were really serious about our environment, articles like this would occur daily. Just one little concern: How can one talk about ‘industrial pollution’ of the Genesee River and not mention Kodak?
-DISCUSSION - How to ‘Get It” on our environment. on’t know much about how our environment works? Don’t like to read long texts? Don’t like going to school? Just want the facts, in great depth, about how our environment actually works? Why not attend a free online course on “Earth and Environmental System” by Dr. Christian Shorey from the Colorado School of Mines. I highly recommend these incredibly thorough and accessible 53 lectures. They are about an hour long each and you can listen online or download to your IPod—or MP3 device. Get the basic facts about how our environment works. In these lectures there is a wealth of absolutely necessary information that everyone on this planet should know Before they render an opinion about our environment. Dr. Shorey has done an incredible job of organizing and making this long series of lectures available to everyone. The podcasts are clear, professional, and even entertaining at times. EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL - SYSTEMS PODCAST - COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES by - Dr. Christian Shorey

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Events – Rochester Environmental Events Calendar – [The most complete listing of all environmental events around the Rochester, New York area.]

**EVENT** What: A Family Program--Owls of New York - BBRR gives a hoot about owls! Just to show how much we love our nocturnal birds of prey BBRR will be presenting an educational program in their honor. Please join us to learn more about the Snowy, Barn, Great Horned, Barred, Short-eared, Great Gray owls and others that can be found here in New York. We will even provide a chance to view a live owl up close and personal! When: Thursday, January 15, 6:30 pm – Where: Braddock Bay Park Lodge, East Manitou Road in Greece. (Take Lake Ontario State Parkway to East Manitou Road, turn north after exiting.) This promises to be a fun/informative evening to brighten your dark January nights. It isn’t every day that you get a chance to see a live owl close up and personal. It’s early, so school kids can still get to bed on time. If you have kids, grandkids, friends, neighbors, spread the word. Hope to see you there! For more information to publicize, call Daena Ford at 321-1616, or the number below. Who: Braddock Bay Raptor Research Details: $2.00 per person suggested donation For More Information: Call (585) BOP-LIVE [267-5483] e-mail: information@bbrr.org)
**EVENT** Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York and NOFA-NY Certified Organic, LLC. January 23--25, 2009 - The 27th Annual NOFA-NY Organic Farming & Gardening Conference - Meals Without Wheels - Revitalizing our Local, Organic Foodshed - Rochester Riverside Convention Center. NOFA-NY is an organization of consumers, gardeners and farmers creating a sustainable regional food system which is ecologically sound and economically viable. JOIN US! for over 80 Workshops throughout the weekend and over 75 Exhibitors at our Organic Tradeshow & Marketplace! View the 'Schedule at a Glance' to see what's going on and when, or you can view & download the full Conference Brochure (PDF). Register now and SAVE on Walk-in Fees! Pre-event Registration ends January 9, 2008!! - Rochester Riverside Convention Center 123 East Main Street Rochester, NY 14604-1619 USA - Phone: +1 800.856.1678 +1 585.232.7200 -Fax: +1 585.232.1510

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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.

**ACTION** -Pass that Bottle Bill Already! Contact your legislators! This opinion published in the Buffalo News yesterday about the crucial need to pass the new bottle bill could not be said better by these New York environmental officials. Passage of the Bigger Better Bottle Bill has been delayed for years without a good reason. And now at the last possible hour for our economy and environment, this short essay by the head of the New York State Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the agriculture commissioner, and the commissioner of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation is spot on. Updating ‘Bottle Bill’ is a no-brainer for Albany : Opinion : The Buffalo News By Pete Grannis, Patrick Hooker and Carol Ash "As Gov. David A. Paterson has made clear, New York is facing a staggering budget deficit — by far the largest in state history. And many hard budget choices must be made. But updating New York’s 25- year-old bottle deposit law isn’t one of them: Expanding the law to cover noncarbonated beverage containers, including water, fruit juice and sports drinks, is long overdue." (Jan 3, 09) The Buffalo News ___________________________________________________

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 in a couple of weeks.

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