“The Desperate Climate Fight: Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Moment,”
Friday, Sept. 29, 8pm at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.
Bill McKibben is the author of a dozen books about the environment, beginning with The End of Nature in 1989, which is regarded as the first book for a general audience on climate change, and has appeared in 24 languages. He is a founder of the first planet-wide, grassroots climate movement, 350.org, which has coordinated tens-of-thousands of rallies in 189 countries since 2009.
Time Magazine called him 'the planet's best green journalist' and The Boston Globe said that he was 'probably the country's most important environmentalist.'
Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College, he holds honorary degrees from a dozen colleges and universities, including the State University of New York. In 2011 he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2014 was awarded the Right Livelihood Prize, sometimes called the ‘alternative Nobel.’ Bill McKibben will deliver the featured lecture of the Buffalo Humanities Festival, a three-day event featuring environmentally-themed talks, music, performances,
community debates and other activities that focus on issues of
local, regional and national environmental justice and economic
sustainability.
General admission tickets for Bill McKibben’s lecture are $20 for
the public and $15 for students. Click here to buy tickets online.
The event is non-partisan and will not endorse
any candidate. The organizers encourage everyone's involvement and education in
the process.
Indigenous peoples are one of the populations in the city that can be
invisible and marginalized in the overall debate surrounding the city.
This event will be to shift the conversation.
There will also be groups addressing issues of racial justice, environmental justice, fair
economics and other issues.
SCIENCE tells us we must stop burning fossil fuels to curb greenhouse gas pollution that causes global warming and drives Climate Change.
JUSTICE for People, Future Generations and our Environment demands that we act in earnest NOW.
WE RALLIED for Climate Justice at Niagara Square in Buffalo on Sept. 24, 2015 in solidarity with Pope Francis, a champion for the environment and social justice, who addressed the U.S. Congress on that same day.
Some highlights of the Rally shown in a 1 minute Video Slide Show with music:
Photos & Video: D.Kowalski
Photo Album of the Rally with video clips:
To open the Photo Album, Click on the image below:
HINTS for navigating the Photo Album after you open it:
- Hover the mouse pointer over a photo to see the Caption.
- Click on a photo to Enlarge it to full size.
List of Moderators, Speakers and Performers (Click image to enlarge):
- Speakers included Faith leaders, environmentalists, students, teachers, indigenous people, performers, union leaders and local politicians.
Moderators included Lynda Schneekloth, Sierra Club Niagara Group; Advocacy Chair, WNY Environmental Alliance; and,
Roger Cook, Convener, WNY Interfaith Climate Justice Community
House Passes Bill With Higgins’ Amendment Requiring
Risk Assessment of Proposed Nuclear Waste Transport
Across Peace Bridge
Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26) announced approval of HR 2200, the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Intelligence and Information Sharing Act of 2015. The bill includes an amendment, introduced by Higgins, which requires the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis to examine and share information about the risks associated with a plan to transport highly enriched liquid uranium across the Peace Bridge.
The Department of Energy has a plan to transport liquid nuclear waste from Ontario’s Chalk River Research reactor over the Peace Bridge, through Western New York and other states en route to the Department of Energy’s Savannah River site beginning next year.
Last July Congressman Higgins called on the U.S. Department of Energy to conduct an environmental review of the plan. He argued, in contrast to spent nuclear fuel, the shipment of liquid nuclear waste is far more complicated, more radioactive, and therefore a breach or contamination would be significantly more dangerous. Despite the fact that the route was approved nearly two decades ago, the DOE maintained a new Environmental Impact Statement was not necessary.
The bill approved by the House now compels a risk assessment before the plan proceeds.
“The route was approved nearly twenty years ago, and it reflects a pre-9/11 mindset with respect to the threat and consequences of terrorism,” said Congressman Higgins. “This legislation, as amended, would ensure that the Department of Energy has the information it needs to reconsider the wisdom of transporting dangerous nuclear material through high risk areas like Buffalo.”
How our transportation system discriminates against the most vulnerable.
By Corinne Ramey - Slate Magazine
Feb. 27 2015
At the easternmost edge of Lake Erie, where the lake meets the Niagara River, the Peace Bridge connects the
United States and Canada. The two-thirds-of-a-mile-long bridge is one
of the busiest border crossings between the two countries, connecting
Canada’s Fort Erie with Buffalo, New York. Every day, an average of more
than 15,000 vehicles, about 3,400 of which are trucks, drive over its
steel girders.
In the shadow of the bridge sits a small neighborhood called the West Side, where the asthma rate is more than four times the national average,
and residents report a host of other health issues. Advocates say the
thousands of trucks driving overhead spew harmful diesel emissions and
other particulates into their community. The pollutants hover in the
air, are absorbed into buildings and houses, and find their way into the
lungs of neighborhood residents, who are primarily people of color.
“It’s constant asthma problems on the West Side,” says Sharon Tell, a
local resident.
Idling trucks, with their engines running, are a regular presence on
residential streets. “You see them park on our streets now, and sleeping
overnight,” she says. “It’s so much, and we’re right there.” Tell is
one of several residents who wore an air monitor funded through an
Environmental Protection Agency grant. Her device collected more than 1.8 times
the EPA recommended limit of particle pollutants. Tell could only wear
the monitor for eight hours during a single day—the cost of conducting
the air quality test is prohibitively expensive—but the result was
deeply alarming. According to the EPA’s standards, the recommended limit
on particle pollutants shouldnot be “exceeded more than once per year on average over 3 years”.
Far from addressing the community’s concerns, plans are now afoot to
expand the Peace Bridge. A proposed expansion of the bridge’s on- and
off-ramps will further encroach into the neighborhood’s streets.
Residents say their concerns about the constant truck traffic and its
deleterious health consequences are being consistently ignored. “We have
to move past the point where your zip code determines the quality of
your life,” says Virginia Golden, a Buffalo resident and activist.
* * *
Race and transportation have long been intertwined, whether it be
federally funded highways that plowed through, or isolated, minority
neighborhoods; Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott; or segregated
streetcars and trolleys. And there has been tremendous progress within
the past century, particularly when Brown v. Board of Education
struck down “separate but equal,” leading to the eventual desegregation
of public transportation. In the 1990s, two pieces of legislation, the
Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act and the Transportation
Equity Act for the 21st Century, increased community
involvement and awareness of civil rights issues in transportation
planning. But discrimination, while certainly less overt, remains today.
Race and transportation have long been intertwined, from federally fundedhighways that plowed through minority neighborhoods to Rosa Parks and
the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Photo by Glenn Asakawa/Denver Post Staff
Sometimes, as in Buffalo’s case, communities feel cut out of the decision-making process. Those in power make decisions about transportation planning, resulting in ill-planned bus routes, transportation more likely to benefit those with cars than those without, and bleak environmental costs. In some cities, roads continue to pull apart neighborhoods, prioritizing commuters over communities. Nationally, the United States remains a country where many forms of
transportation are effectively still segregated—whites and minorities ride different kinds of transportation, resulting in an unequal ability to reach jobs, education, and a better life.
Please Sign a Petition to Protect an Existing Nature Preserve and a Public Park on the Lake Erie Shore
Extensive private development (grey buildings, above) has been proposed
along Times Beach Nature Preserve (left), an important resting area for
migrating birds, and in Wilkeson Pointe (right), the popular
wind-sculpture park built with Public Funding last year.
Times Beach Nature Preserve and Wilkeson Pointe are part of the Buffalo Outer Harbor on the Lake Erie shore, as shown below [click image to enlarge].
Developers' Building Plan
This waterfront property represents a significant aspect of our national heritage and it should be protected for public access as well as for historical, environmental, and educational purposes. Proposals to this effect have been put forward by several citizen groups, but current developer proposals still appear to be fast-tracked for approval.
Please support efforts to save this valuable property for our prosperity.
The Friends of Times Beach Nature Preserve have an urgent Rally scheduled for this Saturday, 12:30pm, at Times Beach Nature Preserve [Map]. The WNY Environmental Alliance (WNYEA) has adopted a set of principles focused on Outer Harbor development that can be found at the GrowWNY Website: Click "Covering the Outer Harbor".
The Final Plan for the Outer Harbor will probably be released early next week without further public comment. We have been informed that the final plan will be as presented at the ECHDC (Erie County Harbor Development Corporation) open house two weeks ago. It shows the development of a new "neighborhood" surrounding Times Beach Nature Preserve, including Wilkeson Pointe, the popular wind-sculpture Park built with Public Funding last year.
The Final Plan will turn the Nature Preserve into
a Condominium compound.
Final Plan[Click image to enlarge]
We want a Nature Preserve, NOT a Condo compound.
We want Public Parks, NOT Private Residences.
We need your help and support to demonstrate public opposition and support of the WNYEA principles. Please consider attending the Friends of Times Beach Nature Preserve's Rally on this Saturday at Times Beach starting at 12:30 [Map].
Bring signs, your voices, and come to learn about, talk about, and participate in what options we have left.
Join us on Friday, Sept. 12 at 6:30PM on Elmwood Ave. & West Ferry St. in Buffalo for a FLASH MOB to invite the public to Get on the Bus for the People's Climate March in NYC!
The choreography is easy and civil. Participants holding orange
buffalo cutouts (see image - we have 100 of them) will walk across the street at the intersection when permitted
by the lights for just 10 minutes. And then we’ll stop.
While
we cross the street, we’ll be handing out postcard ads for the People's Climate March to be help in New York City on September 21st.
Please come and invite your friends! It will be fun and effective!
Say NO to Fracked Gas at the NYS Energy Plan Public Hearing in Buffalo
By New Yorkers against Fracking and Food & Water Watch Our supporters are encouraged to attend the public hearing in Buffalo to make a clear statement about the draft NY State Energy Plan: New York
should invest in renewable energy and not include the use of fracked gas
in it’s energy future.
We will hold a press conference outside the
Buffalo hearing and comment at the hearing to let Governor Andrew Cuomo
and members of the Energy Planning Board know that fracked gas must be
rejected in New York and rejected in this energy plan in order to reach
aggressive greenhouse gas emission goals and fully embrace renewable
energy in the state.
The press conference and hearing are at the University at Buffalo North Campus at 9:00 a.m. on February 25th[Map]. Carpools leaving from Burchfield Penney Parking lot (1300 Elmwood Ave Buffalo NY) at 8:30 a.m. sharp.
Whether natural gas is coming from New York State or neighboring
Pennsylvania, it still contributes to climate change and perpetuates the
mining and burning of dirty fossil fuels long into the future. Instead
of increasing our reliance on natural gas, we should be planning for
greater investment in clean, renewable energies such as solar, wind and
geothermal. Join us in asking for a safer, cleaner energy future by commenting on the plan today.
Does anyone recall a song that mentions "City of Night"? It also mentions "City of Light." The song has nothing to do with the City of Night Event in Buffalo (The City of Light), but here is part of one verse:
"Are you a lucky little lady in the city of light? Or just another lost angel, city of night, city of night, City of night, city of night, whoa, come on!"
Click here for the answer and turn up the sound volume.
The City of Buffalo has been awarded three grants from the New York Department of State to undertake studies at important Brownfield Opportunity Areas.
The studies will be led by the City of Buffalo Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning, which has retained the expertise of land use, environmental, and economic consultants to formulate documents, and manage the study process.
Public Workshops will be held to discuss “Findings & Directions for the Future” for the three Brownfield Opportunity Areas (BOA) listed below:
Buffalo Harbor BOA January 25th, 2012 from
Three BOA Locations [Click image]
6:00pm to 9:00 pm Buffalo Waterfront Elementary School Faculty Entrance (North Entry) 95 4th Street Click here to download invitation
Buffalo River Corridor BOA January 26th, 2012 from 6:00pm to 9:00 pm Valley Community Center 93 Leddy Street Click here to download invitation
Tonawanda Street Corridor BOA February 1, 2012 from 6:00pm to 9:00 pm Riverside High School 51 Ontario Street Click here to download invitation
Delaware Park Parkside/Jewett Entrance near Buffalo Zoo
10/10/10 -Day to Celebrate Climate Solutions Worldwide Hosted by www.350.org
All Buffalo runners and walkers who wish to demonstrate their support for this worthwhile endeavor are invited
We will run through the park before exiting on Meadow, turning left on to Nottingham, crossing over Delaware towards the bike path then on to Hoyt Lake for one loop around, then back to the park. Distance - 4.2 miles
Walkers can opt for the 1.8 mile Delaware Park loop. Cost - FREE
Be part of a global initiative taking place in our own backyard. Participants are encouraged to set aside their political ideologies and simply agree that our planet has a finite number of resources that have begun to dwindle. If you are unable to walk or bike to the park, please carpool. No registration, no timers, no starting gun, no water stations . . . just an opportunity for a great run with friends.
National organization, Green for All, is partnering with PUSH Buffalo
Green for All, is partnering with People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH) to develop a "Green Jobs for Buffalo" Program. Green For All, headed by Green Jobs champion, Van Jones, J.D., up until March 2009, has continued to thrive under the leadership of Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, CEO.
"When we talk about a green economy, no place is pushing us more clearly forward in the right direction, than Buffalo", said Ellis-Lamkins.
PUSH has focused its efforts in establishing a Green Development Zone to create a national model of urban revitalization by concentrating strategic investments in green-design housing rehabilitation, environmental sustainability projects on vacant land, community gardens, and other urban agriculture projects.
Green Jobs for Buffalo will address community development needs and yield positive results for people, for the planet, and for profits. It will promote equitable opportunities and benefits, environmental restoration and protection, and economic growth and prosperity.
Green for All will work with PUSH to maximize opportunities for public investment in Green Jobs for Buffalo. Watch this terrific video from Green for All, feel the Buffalo pride, and support PUSH and its partners:
