GASLAND Film Director Bringing New Film to WNY

Climate Justice Coalition
of Western NY

 Free and Open to the Public

Join Josh Fox and concerned citizens in Pendleton on Tuesday, May 3rd at 6:30PM where the local community is fighting the proposed National Fuel Northern Access Project. That project would bring fracked gas from Pennsylvania through a new pipeline and into new dehydration and compressor stations that bring noise and toxic air pollution. To add insult to injury, the gas will be exported to Canada.  

Planet-warming fossil fuels are history. Nature's clean, renewable energy sources are the future. We need to let go of the past and invest in the future!

Watch the film Trailer

Interview of Josh Fox about his film and related issues HERE

Climate Justice Coalition of WNY: List of Spring 2016 Events is Here

Social Media:
Facebook.com/RiseUpforClimateJustice
Twitter.com/RU4CJBuffalo
niagarasierraclub.com/rise-up-for-climate-justice

Funded in part by grant from the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo and the Sierra Club Niagara Group

Environmental NEWS

Why solar panels won’t solve climate change 
Interview: The environmental movement should shift its emphasis from personal responsibility to political change, says activist Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org  

Economists and engineers are ahead in terms of finding solutions, according to McKibben. “Economists – left, right and centre – have been saying we need to put a price on carbon to reflect the damage it does. And engineers have said we need government effort to take advantage of new renewable technologies. Up to now we can’t have these things, because of the power of the fossil-fuel industry.”  

McKibben says that the most important thing people can do is join together with others to fight against large fossil-fuel infrastructure projects and encourage investors to stop giving money to the fossil-fuel industry.

Described by Time magazine as the planet’s best green journalist, and by the Boston Globe as the United States’ most distinguished environmentalist, McKibben made his first visit to Ireland, to speak at Meeting the Challenge of Climate Justice: From Evidence to Action.

Read more at IrishTimes.com


Pope Francis, science and government are reframing climate change
The long-anticipated encyclical by Pope Francis to the world on the environment was released mid-June. The Lancet Commission, a distinguished United Kingdom-based health body, the following week released its report on health and climate change.
 
Pope Francis has already changed the conversation in the Catholic Church by prioritizing issues of justice and mercy. He holds a unique status today as a moral leader not only of Christians but of all peoples of the world. He has used that moral authority to call for a needed moral conversion about what he considers the interconnected issues of the environment, the poor, humanity, global development and peace.

Health professionals and scientists are also changing the conversation by calling attention to the ways in which environmental destruction, such as climate change, threatens human health and well-being. We feel the effects through more severe storms, risks of infectious diseases, food scarcity and more. There is strong evidence that the world’s poor are among the most vulnerable — a common-sense, but often overlooked, fact that Lancet and the encyclical spotlight. The Lancet report shows that combating climate change is an unprecedented opportunity to advance health, equitable development and sustainability.

Read more at SeattleTimes.com

Two Years After Oil Train Disaster, Profound Scars Remain in Lac-Mégantic
Activists prepare for demonstrations across Canada and US this week to 'Stop Oil Trains'

A week of direct actions across Canada and the U.S. to stop so-called "bomb trains" began on Monday, the two-year anniversary of the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster, when an unmanned train with 72 tankers carrying 30,000 gallons of crude oil careened into a small town in the Canadian province of Quebec, where it derailed, exploded, and killed 47 people.

Decontamination work continues to this day at the crash site, but was suspended at noon for a moment of silence. Later in the day, church bells will ring out 47 times at Lac-Mégantic's St. Agnes Church.

On every level, recovery in the small community has been challenging. 

Read more at CommonDreams.org

Thousands March in Toronto, Urge Canada to Turn Away From a Fossil Fuel Economy
 Labor unions, student groups, indigenous communities, and environmentalists joined forces for the Jobs, Justice and Climate march, which activists called the most diverse climate mobilization in Canadian history.

The rally was timed to bring attention to the cause ahead of this week's Climate Summit of the Americas in Toronto, this fall's Canadian federal election, and the highly-anticipated UN Paris climate talks in November, which aim to bring together world leaders in legally-binding climate change solutions. 

Read more at VICE News


The EPA Just Banned the Chemicals That Helped Save the Ozone Layer 
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) can be as much as 10,000 times as powerful as carbon dioxide when it comes to trapping heat in the atmosphere. 

"This rule will not only reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions, but also encourage greater use and development of the next generation of safer HFC alternatives," EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said.

"Tackling HFCs is a no-brainer," said Jason Kowalski, the US policy director of 350.org, which advocates for action on climate change. To restrict them is to go after "low-hanging fruit," he told VICE News, adding that the real issue in the climate change fight is the degree to which the Obama administration is willing to battle the fossil fuel industry.  

Read more at VICE News


Letter: How we heat, cool our homes matters 
The recently adopted New York State Energy Plan recognizes that in New York, we generate more greenhouse gases heating our buildings than by generating electricity. Heating and cooling our buildings efficiently with renewable energy will become increasingly more urgent as we address the challenge of climate change.

Read more at BuffaloNews.com


NY State Tax Incentives to Heat and Cool Homes Efficiently using Heat Pumps 
The potential for widespread adoption of heat pumps (shallow ground-source, aka 'geothermal') in New York was recently boosted by the passage of bills in the State Senate and Assembly. Final approval of these important pieces of legislation is now in the hands of Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Urge Governor Cuomo to cut both energy bills and fossil fuel pollution by signing an online petition. Click Here to go to the petition.


State adds funds to budget in case of coal plant shutdown
 The allocation of $19 million in the state budget that’s designed to help communities affected by retiring coal plants was hailed Monday by the local Just Transition coalition. The coalition has been planning for the possibility of the retirement of the Huntley Generating Plant in the Town of Tonawanda.

Reduced operations at the Huntley plant have resulted in decreased tax revenue received by the town, Erie County and the Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda Schools. While environmental advocates urge the transition from coal-powered electrical generation to clean energy, it’s also anticipated that a full shutdown of that plant could have devastating economic impacts on labor and the community.

Read more at BuffaloNews.com

Treating Hydro-Fracking Wastewater at Niagara Falls: Not Now, Maybe Later

At a public meeting of the Niagara Falls Water Board on October 27, the third meeting in two months, speakers again raised concern about the Board's proposal to accept, treat and discharge hydro-fracking wastewater derived from shale-gas drilling into the Niagara River.

Wastewater from hydro-fracking (a.k.a. fracking) contains chemicals added before drilling as well as toxic and radioactive chemicals extracted from shale. Wastewater is pumped back to the surface into exposed pits [see image], and then pumped into trucks for transport to other sites for treatment. Treatment facilities in Pennsylvania, where drilling is ongoing, have proven ineffective in removing all chemicals, some of which are known to cause cancer and other health problems. Also, brine, far more salty than ocean water, can corrode treatment facility equipment and has turned up in drinking water.

The Niagara Gazette reported that Water Board Chairman Michael McNally informed the speakers at the public meeting of the Board’s position of not accepting hydro-fracking or any wastewater associated with it.

“The Board’s position is we are not accepting anything relating to hydro-fracking or any of its spoils,” he said. “But we appreciate your input as it gives us more information to work with."

In a followup report on the October 27 meeting, Water Board Executive Director Paul Drof clarified the Board's position on fracking wastewater.

“Right now, no facility in New York state is permitted to accept fracking wastewater,” he said. “Their edict is there is no one approved to take fracking water, so no one does. It’s not illegal because no one does it.”

“The treatment of trucked-in waste has been done in Niagara Falls over the last 20 years,” he said. “It’s something we do routinely. This is just another candidate for treatment. That’s all it is at this point.” Drof added that public input on the matter is appreciated as it gives the Board more insight into what actions they’ll take later. 

Canadians are also concerned about the possibility that fracking wastewater would be treated in Niagara Falls, NY, since the Niagara River borders their country and drains into Lake Ontario, which is a source of drinking water for millions of people in Canada.

The Council of Canadians sent a letter to the Water Board requesting they scrap the fracking wastewater proposal to protect the Great Lake. The Council is also advocating that the town council of Niagara-on-the-Lake take action to protect the Great Lakes Basin. A town councilor will introduce a resolution today calling for a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing and the treatment of fracking wastewater within the Great Lakes Basin.

An association of mayors on both sides of the Great Lakes is tracking the issue. "The position we've taken so far, until we get more information, is that nothing be done in terms of the hydro-fracking that could in any way contaminate the lakes, the St. Lawrence basin and the underground aquifers," said St. Catharines Mayor Brian McMullan, who chairs the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative.


A Niagara Falls Water Board spokesman said the Board is waiting for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to bring down rules on drilling shale and fracking water treatment. He added that it's not clear if the treatment plant will need costly upgrades to handle the fracking water, and it's possible the venture will be too expensive to pursue. 

Permitting by the DEC was intended originally to begin in early 2012 but it was further delayed last week. DEC Commissioner Joe Martens raised doubts that the state will be ready to issue permits next year. Martens said the Governor's Advisory Panel on High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing will miss its planned report deadline since they still have no estimates on what resources will be needed by four major state agencies: Health, Transportation, Agriculture & Markets, and Public Service. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has only just begun developing national standards for treating wastewater discharged from gas drilling. They propose to complete the rules by 2014, and the time for passage into law is uncertain. Also, the discharge of treated water into the Niagara River, and other rivers that flow into the Great Lakes, creates a need for international agreements between the U.S. and Canada, which may extend the time frame even further.

So even if treating fracking wastewater at Niagara Falls were found to be feasible, affordable and safe, and even if a massive transportation plan could be developed to move billions of gallons of the hazardous wastewater to Niagara Falls, it could be a long time before the plan is actually carried out, if ever.
 
The agencies involved should not be rushed. They need to allow plenty of time for investigations, deliberations, and input from the public. The gas will still be there. The safety of our drinking water and the protection public health must come first, and they are unquestionably worth the time.

For earlier posts about Fracking at Re-ENERGIZE BUFFALO, click here.