RENewsletter | October 14, 2012

RENewsletter October 14, 2012

The Free environmental newsletter from RochesterEnvironment.com

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

[10/07/2012 – 10/14/2012]

Opening Salvo: “Become the Media! and do a Hail Mary pass around corporate media ”

Last Tuesday, over 4, 000 petition signatures to ban all Fracking and related activities were delivered to Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks and members of the Monroe County Legislature. But presumably that wasn’t enough because the press didn’t even show up. Alas, our mainstream media (which continually barrages us with countless ads and news that isn’t news) did not show up for this local event against Fracking either: Cobbs Hill rally against fracking (October 3, 2012) Indymedia Rochester, NY.

Hummm… I thought the press was supposed to give the public a full airing of major issues in our communities. I know the Communications Act of 1934 has been ripped to shreds and turned into the you-can-talk-about-anything-you-want-to-the-publc-even-hate-radio Telecommunications_Act_of_1996, but still I thought there would be some vestige of the First Amendment and a desire to act in the public interest. Call me stupid, but tearing up our countryside, threatening our water, jeopardizing our right to self-determination, and potentially transforming the Empire State into a Resource Curse sounds like an issue of interest to the public to me.

Apparently, I was wrong. I looked around the legislature and not a commercial reporter could I see. I looked under my seat. I looked down the rows of our county representatives, thinking maybe one of our intrepid reporters tripped and fell while trying to interview one of Those Who Represent The People, but not an investigative soul did I see. I looked down the four flights of stairs from our room and no “Wait! I’m coming” from the press did I hear. What was wrong? What was I missing? Maybe it was because we here in Monroe County aren’t ‘sweet’ enough. Huh? Let me explain.

The reason why the press didn’t show up for the release of 4,000 signatures could be that Monroe County is an “Unsweet Spot”. I know, you think I’m toying with you now. But, wait. I’m completely serious. The just released USGS Releases First Assessment of Shale Gas Resources in the Utica Shale: 38 trillion cubic feet says that the part of the Utica Shale that doesn’t include Monroe County is a ‘Sweet Spot’ and quite a nice place to Frack—in fact ‘sweet’. But although we here in Monroe County are still in the Utica Shale (we haven’t moved, folks), we are in the ‘Unsweet Spot’ (I kid you not, this is the word they use) “The Utica Shale Oil AU is an area of about 15,000,000 acres at the mean and is divided into a sweet spot and a nonsweet spot.” (Page 5, Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of the Ordovician Utica Shale of the Appalachian Basin Province, 2012)

So, the reason that the local press doesn’t show up to anti-Fracking events and continually dismisses the idea of Fracking in our Monroe County area (which, is larger in population than the state of Vermont) is because the press thinks there is no need to worry our pretty little heads over something that they think is not going to ever happen? But wait!—again. Sorry, for the dramatics, but this sentence on the same page as the above quote is quite a kicker: If I’m reading this study correctly, “Based on these input parameters, recovery of the resource would require at the mean about 7,000 wells to be drilled within the sweet spot and an additional 10,500 wells at the mean to be drilled in the nonsweet spot to extract this potential resource.” (Page 5 Ibid.)

Read it and weep: “an additional 10,500 wells at the mean to be drilled in the ‘nonsweet’ spot to extract this potential resource.” If you are thinking that Monroe County doesn’t have to lift its finger to protect itself from Fracking, because we’ll never get Fracked, you’d better read the fine print: Hydraulic Fracturing SGEIS that says NYS is considering Fracking in the Utica and Marcellus Shale. Could it actually be the case that because we are a ‘nonsweet’ spot instead of a ‘sweetspot’ we could get drilled with a lot more wells as the Fracking industry madly burrows under our region for every darn fix of fossil fuel?

Here’s the news that the local news media couldn’t bother themselves to print: Thousands Sign Petition to Ban Fracking and Related Activities On Monroe County Properties. This is what we really should be doing: ‘Become the Media!’ instead of waiting for mainstream media to ‘get it’ on Climate Change, Fracking, and other critical environmental matters. We have social media and web sites and email lists and we can reach the public just as well as the present-day dysfunctional media—if we change our attitudes. Let’s not pander to the media and street-theatre for their attention, let’s BE THE MEDIA! So, let’s give that a try by demonstrating that we can get into the Monroe County Legislature next time and fork over 20,000 signatures? Be hard to ignore 20,000 signatures. And it would prove to ourselves that we can do a Hail Mary pass around the corporate media and get our message out to the masses.

Become the Media! And get everyone you know to sign this petition: Prohibit All Fracking Related Activities on Monroe County Properties, NY

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

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* Got news? | Go to my blog: Environmental Thoughts - Rochester, NY or Tweet me @ http://twitter.com/#!/FrankRrrr On Twitter and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RochesterEnvironment and Examiner/RochesterEnvironment, I post local environmental events, news, and commentary as soon as it happens. If you think this newsletter, which continually informs our community on our local environmental news, events, actions, is worthwhile, please encourage others to sign up. We who care about our environment and future need to ‘Occupy’ the Rochester media to change how the public views environmental news.

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?

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

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

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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.]

10/13/2012 - This is an amazing thing about US: We acknowledge that Climate Change is happening but won’t make it presidential issue. It’s like saying, “I know cigarette smoking will not only kill me, but cause me and those around me years of agonizing pain and suffering and burden my society with medical bills, but I’m going to do it anyway.” Have corporations (think fossil fuel industry) control over our minds and bodies or what? Summer Weather Disasters Change Americans' View of Climate Change After a summer of heat waves, droughts and severe storms, the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication released a study this week reporting that a growing majority of Americans see climate change at work in the weather. Seventy Four percent of Americans said that they believe climate change is affecting weather in the United States, a five percentage point increase from the group's previous survey in March 2012. The study also found that 61 percent of Americans say that the weather in the U.S. is getting worse -- an increase of nine percentage points from the previous survey, said Edward Maibach with George Mason University, one of the principal investigators on the project (October 12, 2012) PBS NewsHour [more on Climate Change in our area]
10/13/2012 - Why rush to Frack New York State when we have Pennsylvania as a guinea pig? Be prudent to see what happens there first before we do it to ourselves. And, this near-NYS-Marcellus-Fracking-experiment doesn’t look so good: Pennsylvania Fracking Law Opens Up Drilling on College Campuses The state's latest grab for Marcellus Shale money could turn some colleges into industrial zones. Last year, when Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett suggested offsetting college tuition fees by leasing parts of state-owned college campuses to natural gas drillers, more than a few Pennsylvanians were left blinking and rubbing their eyes. But it was no idle threat: After quietly moving through the state Senate and House, this week the governor signed into law a bill that opens up 14 of the state’s public universities to fracking, oil drilling, and coal mining on campus. For a system starved by budget cuts, it's an appetizing deal: The Indigenous Mineral Resources Development Act mandates that 50 percent of all fees and royalties from the mineral leases will be retained by the university where those minerals are mined, 35 percent will be distributed across the state system, and another 15 percent will go towards subsidizing student tuition. (October 12, 2012) Mother Jones [more on Fracking in our area]
10/12/2012 - ACTION: Sign this online petition against Fracking in Monroe County:Prohibit All Fracking Related Activities on Monroe County Properties, NY Last Tuesday, over 4, 000 petition signatures to ban all Fracking and related activities were delivered to Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks and members of the Monroe County Legislature. But presumably that wasn’t enough because the press didn’t even show up. Here’s the news that the local news media couldn’t bother themselves to print: Thousands Sign Petition to Ban Fracking and Related Activities On Monroe County Properties. Don't let New York State become a Resource Curse. It would be great if we could march into the Monroe County Legislature next time and fork over 20,000 signatures. Maybe that will wake our local government up to the fact that Fracking must be stopped here and in New York State. Find out more about this petition and download hard copies for your church group or other organization here. Numbers count. Don't be sorry after the fact, act now.
10/12/2012 - Find out how to Climate Change proof your house with a lecture and tours: 2012 Open House Saturday & Sunday, October 13-14 10:00am-4:00pm Visit 21 homes that use renewable energy and/or eco-friendly building practices. Homeowners and/or green building professionals will be on-site to answer your questions and describe their building's green features -- such as energy-efficient appliances, passive solar design, photovoltaics, wind power, salvaged and non-toxic building materials, local lumber, strawbale construction and much more! Friday Special Event: "Building Our Homes to Respond to a Changing Climate" Free & open to the public Milstein Hall Auditorium, Cornell University, 6-8p, reception 5:30 How can we expect our climate to change here in Tompkins County in the next 50-100 years, and how should we be designing and building our homes to deal with those new challenges? Join us for a moderated discussion with Jessica Rennells, a climatologist with the Northeast Regional Climate Center, and Kevin Pratt, principal of the architecture firm Epiphyte Labs and an Assistant Professor in Cornell's Department of Architecture specializing in building technology and sustainable design.
10/12/2012 - If FOX (it’s definitely not news) News is against “Promised Land” an anti-Fracking film, gotta see it! Oh No, Not Those Liberal Hollywood Elites Trying to Squash America’s Energy Independence Again Okay, kidding aside, now that A-list megastar is headlining a film with an anti-fracking slant, the pro-fracking oil and gas lobby has come out swinging full force to denounce Damon and the film. Even Fox News has already issued a damming critique—Hollywood, Hypocrisy and Matt Damon’s Anti Fracking Film—of this not yet released movie. The Fox piece states: (October 7, 2012)EcoWatch
10/11/2012 - What this story about West Nile Virus suggests to me is that Climate Change, as indicated in many Climate Change studies, is a major factor in the increase incidences of this disease and will increase as our region warms up. I wonder when our public health departments will begin connecting the dots on West Nile Virus and Climate Change and begin informing the public more on this matter. West Nile outbreak closer to being second worst in U.S (Reuters) - The outbreak of West Nile disease in the United States moved a step closer on Wednesday to becoming the second worst on record with federal health authorities reporting 280 cases of the virus-caused illness over the past week. There have now been 4,249 cases of West Nile recorded this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 20 cases fewer than in 2006, the second-largest outbreak on record. (October 10, 2012) Reuters [more onWest Nile Virus in our area]
10/11/2012 - Cannot wait until Dear Governor Cuomo… , a film about Fracking in New York State, comes to the Rochester, NY area. Dear Governor Cuomo… On Thursday, Oct. 11, the documentary film Dear Governor Cuomo… about New York’s anti-fracking movement will premiere at the Woodstock Film Festival. The film documents the diverse coalition of citizens, musicians and scientists fighting for a state ban of fracking, highlighting their advocacy at the State Capitol and an accompanying concert of prominent artists to further emphasize their opposition. The film was written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Jon Bowermaster, includes footage directed by Academy Award-winning director Alex Gibney, and features biologist Sandra Steingraber, actor Mark Ruffalo, actress Melissa Leo, and musicians Natalie Merchant, Joan Osborne, Citizen Cope, Medeski Martin, and Wood and The Felice Brothers. (October 10, 2012) EcoWatch
10/11/2012 - Sounds like a great program to get kids educated about our environment, coming up online on October 24, at 3PM EST Enhancing Schoolyard Habitats for Teaching Webinar Enhancing Schoolyard Habitats for Teaching Webinar How can you make improvements to your Schoolyard Habitat to facilitate outdoor instruction? Please join the National Wildlife Federation's Schoolyard Habitats® Program for a free webinar on enhancing Schoolyard Habitats for teaching on Wednesday, October 24th at 3:00 pm Eastern time. Our featured speaker is Dr. Herbert Broda, Professor of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Ashland University. He will be discussing Schoolyard Habitat site enhancements that can be added to school grounds to facilitate outdoor instruction, how to overcome potential stumbling blocks to taking learning outside and tips for working with children in the outdoors. National Wildlife Federation
10/11/2012 - Must watch video where Bill McKibben explains Climate Change in a way that pop culture can get it. Bill McKibben nails it on Bill Maher show — plus Tuesday-afternoon quarterbacking Bill McKibben was on Real Time with Bill Maher last Friday. Watch: (October 9, 2012) grist
10/11/2012 - Guess you got to go outside of US to find out about major issues likeClimate Change that our presidential candidates should be debating. Global News | 5 key issues in the U.S. presidential campaign TORONTO – The American electorate has a final month of taking in sound bites and platform promises as the U.S. election winds down. But pundits and voters alike are still in a frenzy over Republican nominee Mitt Romney’s comments on Big Bird and PBS – remarks most recently spoofed by comedian Jimmy Fallon. Here are five key election issues that critics say have fallen to the wayside. Read it on Global News: Global News | 5 key issues in the U.S. presidential campaign (October 10, 2012) Global News [more on Climate Change in our area]
10/11/2012 - ACTION: Help get the word out about Climate Change, from a local perspective: When you consider that so many people are uninformed about Climate Change because of the media that won’t connect the dots between the recent rise in extreme events Climate Change and some spectacularly popular media which outright dissembles (Read: Fox News Climate Coverage 93% Wrong, Report Finds ) on the science of Climate Change, we need other outlets to inform the public in this planetary crisis. To help understand Climate Change from a local perspective, help out this local film get off the ground and into the public arena. COMFORT ZONE A Film about Climate -- and Change COMFORT ZONE is almost ready for distribution, but we need your help! The film has been almost six years in the making, and now we are weeks away from being able to release it. But we need YOUR help to make it over the line. Comfort Zone makes a global crisis into a personal issue. The film strikes a nerve whether or not you accept that climate change is real, whether or not you believe that human beings are responsible. The filmmakers, once the documenters, became the documented. The film is grappling with powerful questions that we ourselves could not skirt, and that all of us will need to confront. The filming is complete. The editing is complete. People are asking us for the film. But we can't take the final steps without you. And your donation will be tax-deductible, because Comfort Zone is fiscally sponsored by New York Women in Film and Television (NYWIFT), a 501(c)(3) organization.
10/11/2012 - Got marshes? Salt Marshes May Slow Climate Warming . . . For A WhileSalt marshes may help slow the rate of climate change in the future, as rising and warmer oceans will enable them to more quickly capture and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, according to a study published in the journal Nature this week. Carbon dioxide is the predominant “greenhouse gas” that traps heat and warms the atmosphere. (September 26, 2012) U.S. Geological Survey
10/10/2012 - Our dreary local media in Rochester, NY didn’t publish this major Fracking story that involves our region, so here it is: Thousands Sign Petition to Ban Fracking and Related Activities On Monroe County Properties Rochester, Monroe County, N.Y., 10-09-12. More than four thousand petition signatures were delivered today to Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks and members of the Legislature by supporters of the grassroots network R-CAUSE (Rochesterians Concerned About Unsafe Shale-gas Extraction). from R-Cause
10/10/2012 - Kind of odd local Rochester, NY media didn’t cover 4,000 Fracking petitions delivered at last night’s Monroe County legislative meeting last night. You’d think, given the potential environmental disruption because of Fracking coming to NYS and even Monroe County because the Utica Shale sits under our feet, that our media would keep us informed. But, I guess we’ll have to wait until the local independent media comes out with the story before we get to know about important stuff. Hey! How about those football scores! Got to love local media when it comes to pandering to our zeitgeist, instead of what we need to know.
10/10/2012 - Climate Change, it’s going to get personal. This report that connects the dots between extreme weather and Climate Change is from world's largest reinsurance firm. If you connect the dots, you will realize that even if you don’t get Climate Change, your insurance company, the people who pay you back when your house gets flooded from extreme weather events, gets it. We might think twice before installing a Climate Change denier political party in the US. Remember: We haven’t asked the presidential candidates to debate what they will do on Climate Change. And when your insurance company won’t pay for major damage to your property because everyone else is demanding money during an extreme weather event, because your insurance company denied Climate Change, and so doesn’t have enough money to pay you (think Hurricane Katrina), do you think a Climate Change denier president will foot your bills? Think about who must pay the bills in a disaster when insurance companies cannot do it. Do you really want a president in power who hasn’t been preparing and planning for Climate Change? Report: Climate change behind rise in weather disasters The number of natural disasters per year has been rising dramatically on all continents since 1980, but the trend is steepest for North America where countries have been battered by hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, searing heat and drought, a new report says. The study being released today by Munich Re, the world's largest reinsurance firm, sees climate change driving the increase and predicts those influences will continue in years ahead, though a number of experts question that conclusion. (October 10, 2012) Rochester Democrat and Chronicle [more onClimate Change in our area]
10/10/2012 -Is US Bipolar on Climate Change? It’s a very strange and dysfunctional place to be at in our history where the majority of the folks on the most powerful and influential country in the world understand the ramifications of Climate Change (or say they do) and at the same time are even considering putting in a political team that not only denies Climate Change but is going to enact many policies to increase fossil fuel usage. This isn’t meant to be a political statement, but a statement about the warming world we are living in. We in the US cannot have our cake and eat it too: We cannot say we ‘get’ Climate Change then go right ahead and vote in a party that will make Climate Change worse by their policies. I know, this sounds political to those who think politically, but it’s really about our survival and everyone else’s. Extreme Weather and Climate Change in the American Mind A large and growing majority of Americans say “global warming is affecting weather in the United States” (74%, up 5 points since our last national survey in March 2012). Asked about six recent extreme weather events in the United States, including record high summer temperatures, the Midwest drought, and the unusually warm winter and spring of 2011-12, majorities say global warming made each event “worse.” (October 9, 2012) Yale Project on Climate Communication
10/09/2012 - Is Rochester, NY a potential ‘sweet spot’ in Utica Shale, which holds about 38 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas? Or, they just didn’t look yet are just waiting for Frackng to be passed in NYS so we can find out after the fact that we might be Fracked? The study by the U.S. Geological Survey seems to avoid the Rochester, NY area, which may not be part of the ‘Ordovician’ Utica Shale, but it is over the Utica Shale. The issue, Hydraulic Fracturing SGEIS, where we in New York State are considering whether or not to Frack here, is that the Rochester, NY region is in the Utica Shale and the language in the Hydraulic Fracturing SGEIS includes both the Marcellus Shale and the Utica Shale. The question we here in the New York area that contains the Utica Shale should be asking is this: How much natural gas is under the Rochester, NY region and shouldn’t the public know before a law is passed to allow Fracking in our area? USGS releases Utica Shale reserves estimate The U.S. Geological Survey released its first reserves estimate for the Utica Shale last week. The federal agency estimates that the Utica holds about 38 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas and 940 million barrels of oil. According to the USGS press release: (October 8, 2012)Innovation Trail [more on Fracking in our area]
10/09/2012 - Is it ‘in the public interest’ to frame Climate Change science and environmental regulations as a war against the public? Is that in public’s best interest? Or, a failed ideology’s best interest? Hard to believe that in this day and age so many folks watch a media that does not act in their best interest. Fox News Slams Environmental Laws Protecting Human Health A Fox News special on President Obama’s “green agenda” presented a one-sided discussion of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules that distorted the intention and impact of regulations, downplayed the threat of climate change and ignored the public health threats of coal use. (October 8, 2012) EcoWatch [more on Climate Change in our area]
10/08/2012 - Appears that quite a brouhaha is going on over a new film on Fracking. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to see this: Promised Land A salesman for a natural gas company experiences life-changing events after arriving in a small town, where his corporation wants to tap into the available resources. Internet Movie Data Base
10/08/2012 - While many are dismissing and ignoring Climate Change, even during our presidential election year, some scientists are out gathering data to understand this man-made world-wide crisis. Scientists Adopt Tiny Island as a Warming Bellwether It appears as if the island’s wildlife is thriving at this remote outpost, which is also a former Coast Guard station crowned by a decommissioned lighthouse. It was also once a whaling base for the Makah tribe, who maintain treaty rights to the land. But for over four decades, with the blessing of Makah leaders, Tatoosh has been the object of intense biological scrutiny, and scientists say they are seeing disturbing declines across species — changes that could prove a bellwether for oceanic change globally. (October 6, 2012) New York Times
10/08/2012 - In the Green Business world, what is green? What can you say in your ads about being green? Find out the updated rules: Environmental MarketingCompanies are offering consumers an ever-growing assortment of “green" options. But whether your environmental claims are about the product or the packaging, you'll need competent and reliable scientific evidence to support what you say. Find out more by consulting the FTC's revised Green Guides. Bureau of Consumer Protection
10/08/2012 - EVENT: Meet others interested in Green Business: Green Drinks is a monthly networking event where people in the environmental field and the sustainably minded meet over drinks (alcoholic or non), in an informal setting to exchange ideas, find out who's doing what and spread the word on what you're doing, find employment leads and make new friends and contacts. October Date: Thursday, October 18, 2012 Time: 6:00 - 7:30 pm Where: Harris Whalen Lodge, at Harris Whalen Park, on Route 441 in Penfield. Across from Wegmans plaza. Penfield's Energy and Environment Advisory Committee (EEAC) welcomes "Green Drinks" participants to showcase examples of the town's efforts to promote sustainability and protect the environment. -from Center for Environmental Initiatives (CEI)

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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. Also, be sure to check other calendars and environmental series for multi-day events.

October 2012

Sunday, October 14, 2012, 10:00 AM | The Thousand Acre Swamp Nature Preserve 1581 Jackson Rd - between Atlantic Ave & Plank Rd, opposite Penfield Center Rd Penfield, NY 14526
- Family Fall Hike at Thousand Acre Swamp Sunday, October 14, 2012, 10:00 AM Find out what the signs of fall are in the Swamp on this hike paced for families. Leaders: Lynn Hettel and Jean Squire-Gefell. Wear footwear appropriate to the weather and the likelihood of Poison Ivy. This event is free & open to the public The Thousand Acre Swamp Nature Preserve 1581 Jackson Rd - between Atlantic Ave & Plank Rd, opposite Penfield Center Rd Penfield, NY 14526 Parking is available in our lot at the end of the access road. For more information contact Marie Heerkens at 585-773-8911. The Thousand Acre Swamp Sanctuary is a property of the Central & Western New York Chapter of the Nature Conservancy Susan Pixley, Chair Thousand Acre Swamp Preservation Committee
October 14, 2012, 1:00 – 5:00pm at the Rochester Folk Art Guild 1445 Upper Hill Road, Middlesex, NY
- "Locafest Apple Fair October 14, 2012, 1:00 – 5:00pm at the Rochester Folk Art Guild 1445 Upper Hill Road, Middlesex, NY and sponsored by The Center for Sustainable Living & Held in conjunction with the Rochester Folk Art Guild Open House Oct. 13-14 COME JOIN US! Pressing Cider – Making Apple Sauce with Children and other Apple Games – Canning and Freezing Information – Dehydrating Apples – Visiting Orchards and Root Cellars BEE DEMO with ULSTER OBSERVATORY! Hoop House growing and “wintering over” veggies! Buy a special APPLE DESSERT! Be a locavore and visit a real working, living, caring and fun 40 year-old community. Live Music by EAST HILL RAMBLERS & other musicians For more information call: Victoria Hunter 315-521-8680 or email her at vitahri@gmail.com Please Visit us at Genesee Valley / Finger Lakes Region Center for Sustainable Living"
October 10 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM | Meet at the Montezuma Refuge Visitor Center
- MARSH! Volunteer Event We’ll be finishing up with pulling the invasive Japanese stiltgrass to keep it from taking over native plant habitats. Then we’ll move on to bathymetry surveys, where we use GPS, measuring sticks, and canoes to measure the water depth in our pools (GPS unit training provided). This month, we’ll focus on Tshcache Pool! LUNCH PROVIDED by Friends of the Montezuma Wetlands Complex. Meet at the Montezuma Refuge Visitor Center. Please call 315/568-5987 or email Andrea_VanBeusichem@fws.gov to sign up in advance! Montezuma Audubon Center 2295 State Route 89 Savannah, NY 13146 The Center is Open Tuesday-Saturday 10 am- 4 pm Visithttp://ny.audubon.org/montezuma for more information about our facilities, trails, and events.
Thursday, October 18, 2012 Time: 6:00 - 7:30 pm Where: Harris Whalen Lodge, at Harris Whalen Park, on Route 441 in Penfield. Across from Wegmans plaza.
- Green Drinks is a monthly networking event where people in the environmental field and the sustainably minded meet over drinks (alcoholic or non), in an informal setting to exchange ideas, find out who's doing what and spread the word on what you're doing, find employment leads and make new friends and contacts. October Date: Thursday, October 18, 2012 Time: 6:00 - 7:30 pm Where: Harris Whalen Lodge, at Harris Whalen Park, on Route 441 in Penfield. Across from Wegmans plaza. Penfield's Energy and Environment Advisory Committee (EEAC) welcomes "Green Drinks" participants to showcase examples of the town's efforts to promote sustainability and protect the environment. -from Center for Environmental Initiatives (CEI)
Saturday, October 20th at 5 p.m. WHERE: South Lodge, King's Bend Park, 170 West Jefferson Rd., Pittsford, NY
- WHO: The Rochester Group, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter WHAT: Sierra Club Halloween Fun and Fall Festival: Voyage to Antarctica WHEN: Saturday, October 20th at 5 p.m. WHERE: South Lodge, King's Bend Park, 170 West Jefferson Rd., Pittsford, NY (click here for maphttp://action.sierraclub.org/site/R?i=55i4dgwEZYcglptN6ZBIiw ) Directions: Go South on Clover St. to Jefferson Rd., turn left, and look for park entrance on your left RSVP: Not necessary, but if you can, please call (585) 234-1056 and let us know you are coming, so we can know how much pizza to order Questions: Email Jessica Slaybaugh with any questions.jessica.a.slaybaugh@gmail.com
October 20 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM. | Montezuma Audubon Center 2295 State Route 89 Savannah, NY 13146
- HAPPY OWL-WEEN AT THE MONTEZUMA AUDUBON CENTER Live Owls And An Owl Prowl Will Be A Hoot! The Montezuma Audubon Center is pleased to announce its wildly popular Happy Owl-ween program on Saturday October 20 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM. We are so happy to welcome back Jean Soprano, of Kindred Kingdoms Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, who will have live owls on display during her presentation about the silent hunters of the night. Then, join the Montezuma Audubon Center staff for an owl prowl around the woods and grasslands in search of the wild owls of Montezuma. Space is limited for this family friendly event! Registration is required. Fee: $5/child, $7.50/adult, $20/family. To register or for more information about the Center or its programs, please call 315-365-3588 or e-mail montezuma@audubon.org. Photo Caption: Jean Soprano and a barn owl delight an audience. Montezuma Audubon Center 2295 State Route 89 Savannah, NY 13146 The Center is Open Tuesday-Saturday 10 am- 4 pm http://ny.audubon.org/montezuma The Montezuma Audubon Center is a state-owned facility operated through a cooperative agreement between the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the National Audubon Society. Now in its second century, Audubon is dedicated to protecting birds and other wildlife and the habitat that supports them. Our national network of community-based nature centers and chapters, scientific and educational programs, and advocacy on behalf of areas sustaining important bird populations, engage millions of people of all ages and backgrounds in conservation.www.audubon.org
Saturday, October 20. | Tops Markets at 3507 Mt. Read/Maiden, Rochester, NY
- Saturday, October 20. Secure Your ID Day: featuring free document shredding and electronic recycling. Where: Tops Markets at 3507 Mt. Read/Maiden, Rochester, NY BBB and Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Rochester will host an Identity Theft & Fraud Prevention event and feature FREE on-site document destruction and electronic recycling! Bring up to three boxes or bags of documents to be shredded and up to a car load of electronics to recycle. If it has a cord or circuit board, we’ll take it! (Please, no Freon based electronics or waste materials!) Data destruction guaranteed for cell phones and computers to be stripped of personal data safely and securely. Sunnking is R2 (Responsible Recycling) certified. Please visitwww.sunnking.com/acceptable-materials for acceptable materials details.
October 23, 2012Frontline’s “Climate of Doubt” 10/23/2012.
- FRONTLINE | "A Climate of Doubt" Preview | PBS Four years ago, climate change was hot. Politicians from both parties, pressed by an anxious public, seemed poised to act. But that was then. Today, public opinion about the climate issue has cooled, and politicians either ignore the issue or loudly proclaim their skepticism of scientific evidence that human activity is imperiling the planet. What's behind this reversal? FRONTLINE correspondent John Hockenberry of PRI's The Takeaway goes inside the organizations that fought the scientific establishment, environmental groups, and lawmakers to shift the direction of debate on climate issues and redefined the politics of global warming. Watch on air and online beginning October 23 at 10 pm ET on PBS. Climate of Doubt - from Frontline

November 2012

Wednesday November 7: Tompkins County Public Library, Borg Warner Room (101 E. Green St., Ithaca NY 14850). 6:30 pm:
- Thanking our volunteers! A reception precedes the public meeting to thank Hydrilla Hunters and others who have been on alert for hydrilla all summer and who helped “spread the word, not the plant.” Come for refreshments and a brief talk by John Abel, West Shore Homeowners Association. No charge. Stay for the public meeting at 7 pm. 7:00 pm: Hydrilla Public Information Meeting: Sharing information on the herbicide treatment, plant and water monitoring in 2012. No charge. Roxy Johnston and others will speak. Sponsored by the Hydrilla Task Force of the Cayuga Lake Watershed. www.StopHydrilla.orgContact: steward@cayugalake.org
Thursday November 8: Seneca Falls Public Library, Littlejohn Community Meeting Room (47 Cayuga St., Seneca Falls NY 13148).
- 6:00 – 8 pm: Hydrilla Hunters Thank You & Public Information Meeting:Take part in a reception and thank-you event for all the folks who have been helping keep an eye out for hydrilla this past summer. We will also have speakers to update us: Roxy Johnston, City of Ithaca, will report on the hydrilla situation in Cayuga Lake during 2012. Bob Natale, City of Auburn, will speak about Asian clams and other invasives. Speakers may be added. No charge. Refreshments served. Co-sponsored by the Cayuga Lake Watershed Network and the Hydrilla Task Force of the Cayuga Lake Watershed.www.cayugalake.org Contact: steward@cayugalake.org
November 14, 24 Hours of Reality http://climaterealityproject.org/
- Major online Climate Change event with former Vice-President Al Gore: The Time Is Now | On November 14, It’s time to talk Dirty Dirty fossil fuels have created a world of Dirty Weather. Together we can stop the climate crisis. Join us for the 24-hour global live-streaming event when the world stands up for reality. The Climate Reality Project
Friday, November 30, 5-9 PM; Saturday, December 1, 10 AM-2 PM Place: First Unitarian Church of Rochester 220 South Winton Road Rochester NY 14610
- METRO JUSTICE’S 31st ANNUAL ALTERNATIVE FAIR Date/Time: Friday, November 30, 5-9 PM; Saturday, December 1, 10 AM-2 PM Place: First Unitarian Church of Rochester 220 South Winton Road Rochester NY 14610 Cost: $3 suggested donation for ages 12+. Children under 12 free. FREE CHILD CARE. DOOR PRIZES. Description: FAMILY HOLIDAY SHOPPING with a conscience – at Metro Justice’s 31st annual Alternative Fair, featuring thousands of fair trade, earth friendly, and locally produced goods that support a just and sustainable world. Holiday shopping for the whole family, including clothing, toys, non-competitive games, pottery, and jewelry hand crafted by local artists, fair trade imports, and more, at prices the whole family can afford. Door prizes, food, music, and information tables by local progressive organizations will be available. The Alternative Fair is an annual fund-raising event for Metro Justice (www.metrojustice.org) , an independent, grass-roots, progressive membership organization that works for human rights, equality and economic and environmental justice by raising community awareness and engaging in non-violent action. Accessibility: The building is handicap accessible

December 2012

December 3, 2012 | 5:30 PM – 9:00 PM | Louise Slaughter Hall (formerly the CIMS Building) on the RIT campus REGISTER HERE
- "Economic Development and Environmental Protection CEI’s Community Salute 2012 | December 3, 2012 | 5:30 PM – 9:00 PM | Louise Slaughter Hall (formerly the CIMS Building) on the RIT campus REGISTER HERE The Center for Environmental Initiatives (CEI) invites you to our 39th Annual Community Salute to the Environment. Join us for this very special evening focused on environmental issues and policy, a lively discussion on Economic Development and Environmental Protection, a tour of the newly built Golisano Institute for Sustainability green building, awards for leadership and excellence, and more. Keynote speaker: Leecia Eve, JD, Deputy Secretary to the Governor for Economic Development, New York State, will discuss Economic Development and Environmental Protection. Tour: Take a tour of the newly constructed green building that will house the Golisano Institute for Sustainability at RIT Agenda includes: Exhibits from local environmental service and product vendors Dinner Community environmental leadership / excellence awards Keynote speaker Golisano Institute for Sustainability new green building tour For Registration and Information: www.ceinfo.org Awards: Elizabeth Thorndike Environmental Leadership Award CEI Awards for Environmental ExcellenceAward Nomination Information Sponsorship Opportunities and Exhibitor:Registration Center for Environmental Initiatives (CEI) is working for environmental protection and enhanced quality of life in the Greater Rochester and Finger Lakes region through education, collaboration and informed action. "

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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.

ACTION: Due Date: Now
- Sign this online petition against Fracking in Monroe County: Prohibit All Fracking Related Activities on Monroe County Properties, NY Last Tuesday, over 4, 000 petition signatures to ban all Fracking and related activities were delivered to Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks and members of the Monroe County Legislature. But presumably that wasn’t enough because the press didn’t even show up. Here’s the news that the local news media couldn’t bother themselves to print: Thousands Sign Petition to Ban Fracking and Related Activities On Monroe County Properties. Don't let New York State become a Resource Curse. It would be great if we could march into the Monroe County Legislature next time and fork over 20,000 signatures. Maybe that will wake our local government up to the fact that Fracking must be stopped here and in New York State. Find out more about this petition and download hard copies for your church group or other organization here. Numbers count. Don't be sorry after the fact, act now.
ACTION: Due Date: Now
- Help get the word out about Climate Change, from a local perspective: When you consider that so many people are uninformed about Climate Change because of the media that won’t connect the dots between the recent rise in extreme events Climate Change and some spectacularly popular media which outright dissembles (Read: Fox News Climate Coverage 93% Wrong, Report Finds ) on the science of Climate Change, we need other outlets to inform the public in this planetary crisis. To help understand Climate Change from a local perspective, help out this local film get off the ground and into the public arena. COMFORT ZONE A Film about Climate -- and Change COMFORT ZONE is almost ready for distribution, but we need your help! The film has been almost six years in the making, and now we are weeks away from being able to release it. But we need YOUR help to make it over the line. Comfort Zone makes a global crisis into a personal issue. The film strikes a nerve whether or not you accept that climate change is real, whether or not you believe that human beings are responsible. The filmmakers, once the documenters, became the documented. The film is grappling with powerful questions that we ourselves could not skirt, and that all of us will need to confront. The filming is complete. The editing is complete. People are asking us for the film. But we can't take the final steps without you. And your donation will be tax-deductible, because Comfort Zone is fiscally sponsored by New York Women in Film and Television (NYWIFT), a 501(c)(3) organization.
ACTION:- Due Date: Now.
- ACTION: SIGN OUR PETITION TO ASK OBAMA AND ROMNEY AT THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: "HOW DO YOU PLAN TO ADDRESS THE CLIMATE CRISIS?" Put Climate Change on the Agenda in the First Presidential Debate Dear Debate Moderator Jim Lehrer, In your role as moderator of the first presidential debate, you have the opportunity to ask questions about the most pressing issues facing our country. We urge you to ask President Obama and Governor Romney how they will confront the greatest challenge of our generation -- climate change. This summer, the climate crisis has fallen right into America's front yards--in some cases literally. With trees crashing through their windows, fires burning through their neighborhoods, water flooding under their doorsteps, and droughts destroying their crops, Americans have been hurting from the effects of weather extremes that climate scientists have predicted would happen as a result of global warming. " - League of Conservation Voters
ACTION: Due Date: Now.
- Feel like you’re stuck in an energy rut? You crave energy but almost everything out there warms the planet. How about Clean Energy Victory Bonds? There’s no getting around it: If you give the fossil fuel billions in tax subsidies they will take it and not give it back; and when they melt the Arctic with their greenhouse gases, they see opportunity with the pristine Arctic environment and start drilling. So what are you going to do? Why not launch a public effort to fund renewable energy, energy that won’t pollute the planet and warm it up beyond our sustainability level, with the collective might our own monies like we did back in World War Two? Victory Bonds. Help push this bill to put renewable energy out in front: Clean Energy Victory Bonds On August 2, Representative Bob Filner and 10 cosponsors introduced the Clean Energy Victory Bonds Act of 2012, H.R. 6275 in the House of Representatives. The bill, officially entitled “To promote the domestic development and deployment of clean energy technologies required for the 21st century,” will allow all Americans to invest in Treasury Bonds for as little as $25 each that will fund a clean energy future. The $50 billion raised from the bonds will fund clean energy programs that support wind, solar, energy efficiency, and electric vehicles in the United States.
ACTION: Due Date: soon as project needs to be completed by Oct. 31st.
- Are you an expert bicyclist? You can help update local bicycling map and help increase active transportation in our area and decrease greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. Help Update the Greater Rochester Area Bicycling Map Several years ago, members of the Rochester Bicycling Club (RBC) helped to rate selected roads in the City of Rochester, surrounding Monroe County, and nearby towns in Wayne, Ontario, and Livingston Counties. These road ratings were used by the Genesee Transportation Council (GTC) to develop the 2009 Edition of the Greater Rochester Area Bicycling Map. 20,000 copies of the map were printed by the GTC and distributed throughout the bicycling community by members of the RBC and others. It is time to update the map and we need the help of experienced road cyclists Rochester Cycling Allinace
ACTION: Call Governor Cuomo Today.
- Stopping Fracking in New York State may be the most important thing you do today. Tell Governor Cuomo that Fracking is not a good idea for New York; don’t give into despair that this cannot be stopped; and, make sure your children can’t blame you for not trying stopping this disaster that will befall them. "Despite a record-breaking 74,000 public comments, we still need your help to make Governor Cuomo hear that fracking has yet to be proven safe. It will only take you a couple of minutes. Please tell Governor Cuomo not to put New Yorkers' health at risk. Call 1-866-584-6799 and leave a simple message like, "Protect New York's water, land and air by not permitting fracking in New York. Instead, support renewable energy that will bring good, long-term jobs to New Yorkers!" This phone number goes through Food & Water Watch who is keeping track of the number of calls, and is directed to a recording from the Governor's office asking for your name, address and comments. This is part of a state-wide initiative to get a record number of calls in to Governor Cuomo this August. PLEASE MAKE THAT CALL THIS WEEK!!! "
ACTION: Due date: Now
- Let’s stop assuming that our Great Lakes is a toilet for industry and our sewer systems. Help Keep Sewage Out of the Great Lakes Billions of gallons of combined raw sewage and storm runoff are dumped into the Great Lakes each year. Raw sewage, trash and personal hygiene products — along with industrial wastewater, household chemicals, urban runoff, herbicides and pesticides — often flow into the lakes after heavy rains. Bacteria, viruses and other pathogens in untreated sewage pose a significant health risk and are one of the causes of Great Lakes beach closings and swimming advisories. Trash can float in the water and pollute shorelines for miles. Swimmers at many beaches face multiple closings a year, and boaters can find themselves traversing waters littered with an offensive blend of garbage and sewage. Help Us Reach 5,000 Signatures Sign the Petition and Share It with Your Friends --fromAlliance for the Great Lakes
ACTION: Due Date now
- Learn about Plan Bv7 – a new approach to regulation of water levels and flows on the Great Lakes from Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River | The Nature Conservancy and Restore Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River - Citizens Campaign for the Environment and sign the petition online. Save the River - Water Levels Petition "Support a Healthy Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River! The International Joint Commission (IJC) recently released water levels management plan – called Plan BV7 – for the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario. The new plan will make significant progress in protecting the health of the River and Lake, while providing greater economic opportunities for industry and continuing to provide protection for shoreline property owners from erosion and flooding. "--from Save the River - Riverkeeper of the Upper St. Lawrence River
ACTION: Due Date: Now
- Environment Petition: Prohibit All Fracking Related Activities on Monroe County Properties, NY | Change.org "The magnitude of New York State’s upcoming decision to permit and regulate high-volume, slick-water, horizontal hydraulic fracturing (fracking) demands immediate attention and action by our County Legislature to ensure self-determination and the health and safety of our community. "
ACTION: Due Date: Now
- Tired of meteorologists failing to connect the dots between Climate Change and our daily weather? Do something about it. Take action: Forecast the Facts WE NEED OUR TV METEOROLOGISTS TO REPORT THE FACTS ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE. According to a recent national survey, more than half of TV weather reporters don’t believe in human-induced climate change. Meanwhile, their viewers are facing unprecedented climate-change induced heat waves, droughts, and flooding.
ACTION: Due Date: Now
- Tell the NRC: Expand emergency evacuation zones Today, NIRS and 37 other organizations submitted a formal Petition for Rulemaking to the NRC to expand emergency evacuation zones around U.S. nuclear reactors and make other improvements in emergency preparedness. We're calling this the Nuclear 911 campaign. You can join us as a co-petitioner below! The widespread radioactive contamination caused by the Fukushima nuclear disaster (and Chernobyl before it) makes clear that the current 10 mile Emergency Planning Zones in the U.S. are woefully inadequate to protect the American people. "Nuclear Information and Resource Service - NIRS
ACTION: Due Date: Now
- What to do something concrete about solving Climate Change? Go here: "Are you passionate about changing the conversation about the climate crisis? Are you interested in leading the climate movement? What if I said you have the chance to be personally trained by Al Gore to educate others about climate change? This summer, you could have that chance. I'd like to invite you to apply to be one of our esteemed Climate Reality Presenters -- impassioned volunteer leaders who bring the reality of climate change to people around the world. We call our grassroots network of Presenters the heart of our Climate Leadership Corps. Learn more: "Climate Reality "To reveal the complete truth about the climate crisis in a way that ignites the moral courage in each of us. "Climate Reality | Climate Reality Training Application
ACTION: Due date: Now
- Take action for our Great Lakes "Speak Out Now to Set the U.S.-Canada Strategy for Protecting our Great Lakes The health of our Great Lakes is threatened by new challenges — including invasive species, climate change, habitat loss and emerging contaminants. The United States and Canada are now completing negotiations on an updated version of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, a binational agreemet to address Great Lakes threats. " from Alliance for the Great Lakes

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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.]