Remembering Superstorm Sandy - It's Time to Act on Climate

Fossil fuels divestment campaign is gathering momentum
From university students to church groups, a united global effort will politically bankrupt the fossil fuel industry.

By Bill McKibben   
| Environment | theguardian.com.

Excerpts:
The world has a choice when dealing with climate change. One is to decide it's a problem like any other, which can be dealt with slowly and over time. The other is to recognise it as a crisis, perhaps the unique crisis in human history, which will take rapid, urgent action to overcome.

Science is in the second, scared camp – that's the meaning of the IPCC report issued last month, which showed that our planet is already undergoing climatic shifts far greater than any experienced in human civilisation, with far worse to come.

And those of us urging divestment from fossil fuel stocks are in the second camp too – we recognise that business as usual is quite simply impossible.

In the US, a number of colleges, churches, and universities have begun to divest those stocks, arguing that they can't both simultaneously decry the wreckage of the climate and try to profit from it for a few more years.

The trustees of San Francisco State University recognised that it made no sense to have, on the one hand, a physics department understanding climate change and on the other hand, an endowment full of oil and gas stocks.

The United Church of Christ, which traces its roots back to the Pilgrims, decided it couldn't pay the pastor by investing in companies that are running Genesis backwards.

In addition, UK university students are increasingly engaged in divestment campaigns as evidenced by the work undertaken by People & Planet. To date there are 19 active divestment campaigns across the UK including universities with the largest endowments: Cambridge, Oxford and Edinburgh.

Everyone involved in this campaign understands that divestment won't in fact bankrupt Exxon or BP or Shell, but they also understand how important it is to politically bankrupt them. These are now rogue industries, committed to burning more carbon than any government on earth thinks would be safe to burn. Their irresponsibility belongs to their executives and boards of directors – but it also belongs to anyone who holds their shares. If you think that climate change is a true crisis, then the time has come to sever your ties.

Read the full article here.

~ ~ ~

  ~ Superstorm Sandy Hit New York One Year Ago Today ~

TONIGHT: Tuesday, October 29, 2013 at 7:00 PM
Sierra Club Niagara Group will remember Sandy and screen “Comfort Zone” -- a one hour film on what Climate Change will do to Western New York.

Place: Schenck Hall at Daemen College, Main Street in Snyder [Campus Map]

The program is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Shale Gas -- Revolution or Bubble?

Pennsylvania fracking boom goes bust
By Will Bunch, Daily News Staff Writer
It was just a couple of years ago that fracking was booming in upstate Pennsylvania's Bradford County, and Janet Geiger, a retired hospital worker living on a 10-acre spread near the New York border, could count on getting a $300 to $400 check every month from the gas giant Chesapeake Energy Corp., which was drilling under her land.

But both the gas and the checks - with the financially ailing Chesapeake now claiming big deductions - dwindled until finally, in March, a check never showed up. "I thought the mail had gotten lost," said Geiger, 74, but after a week she finally reached someone with the Oklahoma gas driller who explained "they didn't have a buyer [for the gas] that month."

But Geiger said that she'd already seen the signs of a slowdown, that rural streets once clogged with the massive trucks of the drilling firms were mostly empty now, while new motels that had been hastily thrown up or expanded to accommodate a flood of out-of-state workers had only a couple of cars in the parking lots.
Read more at the Philadelphia Inquirer.

US shale gas project 'biggest regret' for outgoing Shell boss
Outgoing Shell chief executive Peter Voser says in an interview with the Financial Times his biggest regret during his time at the company is the failure of the company’s huge bet on US shale gas.
The Financial Times says Shell has invested at least $24bn in so-called unconventional oil and gas in North America. But the investment has yet to pay off and in August Shell said it would carry out a ‘strategic review’ of its US shale activities.

‘Unconventionals did not exactly play out as planned,’ Voser is quoted as saying.

He also admitted exploration results in US shale beds had been disappointing. ‘We expected higher flow rates and therefore more scalability for a company like Shell,’ he said.
Read more at Dutch News.


Shale Bubble

We’re being told that – thanks to technological advances like hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling – the US is undergoing an energy revolution, leading us in a few short years to become once again the world’s biggest oil producer and an exporter of natural gas. According to the Oil & Gas Industry and their proponents, “fracking” will provide the US with energy security, low energy prices for the foreseeable future, more than a million jobs, and economic growth.

Pointing to record low natural gas prices and increased production, policymakers and the media on both sides of the political aisle, as well as investors and utilities, have bought the hype and are shifting their plans and proposals with the expectation that the shale revolution is here to stay.

The Reality is that the so-called shale revolution is nothing more than a bubble, driven by record levels of drilling, speculative lease & flip practices on the part of shale energy companies, fee-driven promotion by the same investment banks that fomented the housing bubble, and by unsustainably low natural gas prices. Geological and economic constraints – not to mention the very serious environmental and health impacts of drilling – mean that shale gas and shale oil (tight oil) are far from the solution to our energy woes.
See the full report at ShaleBubble.org 

US shale gas project 'biggest regret' for outgoing Shell boss

Monday 07 October 2013
Outgoing Shell chief executive Peter Voser says in an interview with the Financial Times his biggest regret during his time at the company is the failure of the company’s huge bet on US shale gas.
The FT says Shell has invested at least $24bn in so-called unconventional oil and gas in North America. But the investment has yet to pay off and in August Shell said it would carry out a ‘strategic review’ of its US shale activities.

‘Unconventionals did not exactly play out as planned,’ Voser is quoted as saying.
He also admitted exploration results in US shale beds had been disappointing. ‘We expected higher flow rates and therefore more scalability for a company like Shell,’ he said.
- See more at: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2013/10/us_shale_gas_project_biggest_r.php#sthash.CNn5l8qf.6bLkEKok.dpuf

US shale gas project 'biggest regret' for outgoing Shell boss

Monday 07 October 2013
Outgoing Shell chief executive Peter Voser says in an interview with the Financial Times his biggest regret during his time at the company is the failure of the company’s huge bet on US shale gas.
The FT says Shell has invested at least $24bn in so-called unconventional oil and gas in North America. But the investment has yet to pay off and in August Shell said it would carry out a ‘strategic review’ of its US shale activities.

‘Unconventionals did not exactly play out as planned,’ Voser is quoted as saying.
He also admitted exploration results in US shale beds had been disappointing. ‘We expected higher flow rates and therefore more scalability for a company like Shell,’ he said.
- See more at: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2013/10/us_shale_gas_project_biggest_r.php#sthash.CNn5l8qf.6bLkEKok.dpuf

Wendell Berry - Visionary, Author, Farmer, Activist

Introduction and Video from Moyers & Company.

 Wendell Berry, a quiet and humble man, has become an outspoken advocate for revolution. He urges immediate action as he mourns how America has turned its back on the land and rejected Jeffersonian principles of respect for the environment and sustainable agriculture. In a rare television interview (video, below), this visionary, author, and farmer discusses a sensible, but no-compromise plan to save the Earth.

Bill Moyers profiles Berry, a man of the land and one of America’s most influential writers. Berry's prolific career includes more than forty books of poetry, novels, short stories and essays. The interview was taped in Kentucky during a conference celebrating Wendell Berry’s life and ideas and marking the 35th anniversary of the publication of his landmark book, The Unsettling of America.

Berry lives and works on the Kentucky farm where his family has tilled the soil for 200 years. He’s a man of action as well as words. In 2011, he joined a four-day sit-in at the Kentucky governor’s office to protest mountaintop mining, a brutally destructive method of extracting coal.

Moyers explores Berry’s views on civil disobedience as well as his strong opposition to agribusiness and massive industrial farms. They also discuss Berry’s support for sustainable farming and the local food movement.

“My belief is that the world and our life in it are conditional gifts,” Berry tells Moyers. “We have the world to live in on the condition that we will take good care of it. And to take good care of it we have to know it. And to know it and to be willing to take care of it, we have to love it.”

New Programs at Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve

Programs Explore Writings of Aldo Leopold; Power of Animals    

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will be hosting two special programs at Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve in Cheektowaga.

On Saturday, November 9 at 1:00 p.m., Reinstein Woods Naturalist Intern Ben Carpenter will host "Axe in Hand: An introductory discussion of Land Ethic." The program will start with an introduction to the written work of Aldo Leopold, considered by many to be the father of wildlife management and of the United States’ wilderness system. The round table discussion will explore excerpts from his historic text on conservation, A Sand County Almanac. 
Group members will be discussing Leopold's essay, Land Ethic, and what its implications are for the contemporary sustainability movement. In 1949, Leopold called for a land ethic that “enlarges the boundaries of the [moral] community to include soils, water, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land.” 
The dialogue will be followed by an interpretive walk through Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve, with discussion and reflection on themes from the book set in the local and regional contexts. Light refreshments will be served.

On Sunday, November 17 at 1:00 p.m., families are invited to attend “The Power Animals of Reinstein Woods: What Does the Fox Really Say?” This family-friendly tour of Reinstein Woods will explore local Native American traditions that relate to wildlife. Many native beliefs include the idea that animals can teach us important lessons to guide us through our lives. Using animal Medicine Cards, participants will receive insight and life lessons from the local animals that live at Reinstein Woods.

Both programs are free, however registration is required. To register, call (716) 683-5959.
Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve is located at 93 Honorine Drive, off of Como Park Boulevard in Cheektowaga [MAP]. 

VIDEO: True Climate Stories

 

This is just a movie, but climate change is very real. We’re already seeing the impacts all around us with more intense wildfires, droughts, floods, and extreme weather events. And scientists tell us if we don’t take action, things are only going to get worse.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We already have many of the solutions we need to solve the climate crisis and we’re developing new technologies every year. By taking action together, and pressuring our politicians to stand up to the fossil fuel industry and push for real climate action, we can help prevent the worst impacts of climate change.

Climate change is a true story, but the ending is up to us.

~ ~ ~

Remember the impacts of Superstorm Sandy in New York City, New Jersey and elsewhere?

Learn about impacts of climate change in Western New York. Attend a film screening of "Comfort Zone" on Tuesday, October 29 at 7:00pm. 

For more information, Click Here.

Screening: "Comfort Zone" -- Climate Change Impacts in WNY

~ In commemoration of Superstorm Sandy ~

Sierra Club Niagara Group will show “Comfort Zone” -- a one hour film on what climate change will do to Western New York.

“Comfort Zone” brings the global issue of climate change to a local and personal level. It's the story of what happens when we try to translate this global problem to our individual lives. What is at stake? What can I do about it? What if dealing with this problem asks things of me that I'm not yet ready to give? The climate is already changing. Now what about us?

       

Date: Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Time: 7:00pm

Place: Schenck Hall at Daemen College, Main Street in Snyder across from Amherst Central High School [Campus Map]

The program is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

For more information on “Comfort Zone”, visit www.comfortzoneproject.com

FORUM: Shale Gas Potential in NY State [Update: 10.26]

[Click image to enlarge]

Printable Posters are Here

Map to the Presentation at Cornell University is Here

UPDATE - 10.26.2013: How much Shale Gas could be Produced in NY State?
Video - Chip Northrup interviewed on Capital Tonight 

Tell Governor Cuomo to Lead on Clean Energy

A clean energy economy is the future New Yorkers want and deserve. But investment is not moving fast enough under Governor Andrew Cuomo.

The governor committed to solar energy with the NY SUN initiative, but his administration no longer plans to deliver the promised 30% renewable energy portfolio by 2015.

Wind energy in NY lags far behind states like Iowa. New York will be unable to meet our renewable energy goals without wind power.

These delays are denying New Yorkers job opportunities in manufacturing, installation, and maintenance of clean, renewable energy.

Tell Andrew Cuomo that New York State should be a national leader and not take a backseat to Iowa, South Dakota and Texas. Demand a major, enforceable wind energy commitment from him today.

TAKE ACTION: Please endorse the Petition. Thank You!

NY Public Health Expert Urges Fracking Ban

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Health experts ask Governor Andrew Cuomo to ban hydrofracking in the state of New York on Thursday. The main concern of the speakers in Albany was air contamination.

According to representatives from the Environment New York and Policy Center, fracking has the potential to release harmful gases and carcinogens capable of causing respiratory problems. Speakers say we can afford to wait until a safer process is developed to harvest New York's natural gases.

"I am convinced that industry in New York could develop ways where we wouldn't contaminate the air, we wouldn't contaminate the water and we would not cause major threats to human health. But until those methodologies and those technologies are in place, I strongly urge Governor Cuomo to not allow fracking in New York State," said David Carpenter, UAlbany School of Public Health Former Dean.

Another speaker said hydrofracking created 280 billion gallons of waste water last year alone. The group says in order to completely understand public health impacts, we need to measure the amount of pollution hydrofracking creates.

For more information on the new report from Environment New York, visit www.environmentnewyork.org.

Full report at YNN: Fracking pollution report released  

VIDEO: Buffalo - America's Best Designed City