Accelerating the Implementation of Renewable Energy

 7:30 p.m., Monday, November 26

 Daemen College, 4380 Main Street, Amherst, Room 336, 

Duns Scotus Hall

Free and Open to the Public

Keynote Speaker:

• Bill Nowak, Sierra Club Energy Committee member, Author of Clean Energy –FIT Report

Panelists 

• Dave Hahn Baker, Environmental and Political Consultant 
• Ellen Banks, Professor, Psychology, Daemen College 
• Sarah Carpenter, Sustainability Major, Daemen College

Moderator

• Walter Simpson, energy educator, Daemen College Instructor (www.energyreallymatters.com)

Printable Flier and Map: Click Here

Scientists have been telling us that global warming is likely to result in increasingly devastating extreme weather events as we continue to burn fossil fuels and add more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.  Superstorm Sandy is a horrific example of the type of extreme weather that is in store for us. But how can we respond effectively and achieve a clean energy economy with all due speed?  While renewable energy resources like wind and solar are said to be our future, the deployment of these technologies has been painfully slow despite existing government programs and incentives.  This public discussion will examine how a Feed-in Tariff (FIT) could speed up the transition from fossil fuels to renewables within a timeframe consistent with addressing climate change and providing needed green jobs.  In the last three years a Clean Energy FIT program has created more than 22,000 green jobs in Ontario!  Why not in New York?!

This panel discussion is presented as part of the Alternative & Renewable Energy Issues course in Daemen's Global & Sustainability program.  For information on this exciting new major and minor, visit www.daemen.edu/sustainability.  For more information about the panel discussion, wsimpson@daemen.edu or 839-0062.
 

Public Forum on Promoting Clean, Renewable Energy

Good Jobs, Good Business & Clean, Renewable Energy:

A Perfect Fit* for Western New York!

The League of Women Voters of Buffalo/Niagara and the Sierra Club-Niagara Group are presenting a forum to discuss FITs* (Feed-in-Tariffs). The forum will explain how FITs work, and why they are the best method for rapidly bringing new business and new jobs to a region along with promoting renewable energy. The forum will also include a panel with representatives from labor, business and environmental groups. A demonstration project for a FIT in WNY as proposed by the Sierra Club Niagara Group and the United Steel Workers will be discussed as well.

Come find out why a growing coalition of labor, business, environmental and community organizations are joining forces to bring a FIT (or Feed-in-Tariff) to WNY and how a FIT would work.

The forum will be held:
Wednesday, November 14  from 4:30 pm - 6:15 pm at the
Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo State College Campus
1300 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo

This event is free and open to the public.

Parking is free in the adjacent Burchfield Penney lot, and in the Psych Center lot next door, which is accessible from Elmwood Ave.

A printable flyer is here.

*A FIT, or Feed-in-Tariff, provides a fair and long-term price for renewable energy production, providing a stable market for investment in the renewable energy business and industrial supply chain. The Fixed price reflects the cost of producing the energy plus a reasonabile rate of return and the long term market stability has proven to generate good jobs in over 80 jurisdictions worldwide. A FIT was successfully implemented in Ontario and to date has created more than 22,000 jobs and attracted more than $20 billion in investment. A FIT provides an incentive for anyone - from homeowners to farmers to schools to large energy producers - to invest in wind, solar, biomass and/or geothermal.

Petition for Renewable Energy & Green Jobs in NY

The Sierra Club Niagara Group Energy Committee and the United Steel Workers union have been spearheading an effort for a Western New York Feed-In Tariff program for renewable energy. 

Click here for a flier that explains the program.

The Governor's $1 billion offer to stimulate the local economy, if used wisely, is a great opportunity to jump start our transition to a stable, sustainable green economy.  

Please read the flier, sign the petition, and talk this project up wherever you go.

There will be  three opportunities this week to further encourage Governor Cuomo to shift toward renewable energy. Public workshops on a WNY Sustainability Plan will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, in the Buffalo area, Jamestown and Cuba, respectively. For details of meeting locations and times, click here.

If you're part of an organization that could endorse this initiative, or if you have some spare time to volunteer, please give a call to Bill Nowak at 716.316.7674.

If you'd like a more in-depth description of feed-in programs and how they work, click here to download the free report.

Let's Bring Clean Energy to WNY!

By Bill Nowak

I am writing to let you know about a local clean energy initiative.

The Sierra Club Niagara Group Energy Committee has been looking at places that have been successful at bringing wind, solar and other renewables on line.

I was commissioned to write a paper on the subject. The paper is called "CLEAN-FIT - A Program to Unleash Renewable Energy and Create Jobs in New York State." It's available on line.

I really hope you'll download this paper and look though it.

We will presenting much of this information as part of a forum on Saturday, April 21st at the Burchfield Penney Art Museum on Elmwood Avenue next to Buff State from 2 to 4 PM. A flier on the forum is here.

The forum is presented as part of Peace on Earth Month (POEM).

While the paper is on renewables for NY State, we have designed an innovative campaign to make WNY a demonstration project for creating green jobs in the solar, wind and other clean energy sectors.

We'll be unveiling it on the 21st. Please save the date.
We're hoping you'd like to be part of this campaign and whether or not you're able to make it on the 21st.

Please save the date of Monday, April 23rd at 6:30pm when we'll be holding a information/training session on the WNY demonstration project.  If you want to volunteer to help or just learn more, please attend:

• WHAT: Public Information Campaign on Renewable Energy -- 'CLEAN-FIT'
• WHEN: April 23, 2012 at 6:30pm
• WHERE: TriMain Building Rm.401, 2495 Main St, Buffalo

SEE: "CLEAN-FIT - A Program to Unleash Renewable Energy and Create Jobs in New York State." It's available on line. 

Please save the date of the 23rd and think about joining us to bring more green jobs and clean energy to WNY.

Bill Nowak, Energy Committee, Sierra Club Niagara Group
882-9237