Gov. Patterson Extends Fracking Moratorium

NY Gov. Patterson did not approve the legislature's moratorium bill on gas drilling by hydraulic fracturing, also called hydrofracking or fracking.

The governor went one better: he extended the moratorium by executive order on Saturday.

He also restricted the type of fracking that would be included in the moratorium.

Gov. Patterson restricted the moratorium to a controversial method of hydrofracking that uses high volumes of water and employs horizontal drilling from a deep well. Landowners in nearby Pennsylvania and in other states claim this method is responsible for contaminating their well water, polluting the air and land, and causing illnesses.

Excused from the governor's moratorium is more conventional vertical drilling, as explained in a statement from Peter Kiernan, Counsel to the Governor:

The Governor vetoed legislation that would have placed a moratorium on high-volume, horizontal hydraulic drilling and more conventional vertical drilling. The Governor's order obviates the need for a moratorium on high-volume fracking. However, vertical drilling has been a fact in this State for 40 years without demonstrable environmental damage. Permitting for such drilling will continue unless the DEC's comprehensive review requires it to be stopped.

The executive order bans high-volume, horizontal, hydrofracking until at least July 1, 2011, while the NY Department of Environmental Conservation continues its ongoing review of its effects in the Marcellus Shale region.

This is a huge victory for NY residents concerned about the quality of their drinking water, air, land and public health. [However, see UPDATE, below].

In addition, the moratorium may have national consequences. New York is the first state in the nation to confront the powerful gas industry with a moratorium on their drilling methods, which have been the subject of controversy in many states.

Read a report about the executive order here, and a CNN report that preceded the Governor's order here.

UPDATE, 12/13/2010:
"Expert testimony submitted for a government hearing next month challenges long-held assumptions about the safety of deep vertical drilling and exploratory wells, which operate in many states with limited regulatory oversight," according to a report by ProPublica. The administrative hearing will be held by the Delaware River Basin Commission, a federal agency that regulates a variety of water and land activities in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Delaware.

Environmental groups opposed to fracking are unhappy that the Executive Order does not impose a moratorium on vertical drilling.

Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy stated:

Unlike the bill he vetoed, the Governor's Executive Order will allow the ongoing drilling and fracking of vertical wells. Although vertical wells utilize only a fraction of the toxic fluid used in high-volume horizontal wells, they are responsible for numerous pollution incidents, including the contamination of nine square miles of aquifer in Dimock, Pennsylvania where some residents have been living with poisoned water wells for the past two years.

Frack Action shared a public event on FaceBook. Today at the Governor's NYC office, Mark Ruffalo, NY State Senator Liz Krueger, and Craig and Julie Sautner of Dimock, PA will be there to tell the Governor to close the "Paterson Loophole" for vertical wells NOW.

A Press Conference will be held on Monday, December 13, at 12 noon, at the NYC Office of Gov Paterson, 644 3rd Ave. (bet. 41st & 42nd).

NYS Assembly enacts Ban on Fracking

The New York State Assembly enacted a temporary ban on hydraulic fracturing which will remain in effect until May 15, 2011.

The bill, A11443B/S08129B, was approved by the Senate last summer and is now on its way to Governor Paterson, who is expected to sign it into law.

Please phone Governor Patterson's office today at 518-474-8390. Let his office know that you want the Governor to sign the moratorium bill.

The people have spoken through the Senate and the Assembly, but they also need to speak to the Governor's office to help ensure that the bill becomes a law.

See other Re-ENERGIZE BUFFALO posts on 'Fracking', Click Here.

Who's looking out for NY State's Environment?

Environmental Commissioner Fired

NY Gov. Paterson's administration fired Pete Grannis, Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation (D.E.C.), after a dispute over cuts to the department’s budget.

Earlier, Mr. Grannis sent a memo to the administration spelling out the negative effects that more layoffs would have on the agency, and the memo was leaked by an unknown source to The Times Union of Albany. The secretary to the governor, Lawrence Schwartz, asked Grannis to resign, but he refused.

In an interview, Mr. Grannis said, “We were asked to provide an analysis of how these layoffs would effect our agency’s operations, which we did, and somehow that got out.”

“We’ve taken a terrible hit over time,” Grannis said. “We’ve lost 600 people in the last 18 months, and this would be 200 more.” The agency’s workforce, now under 3,000, is at its lowest level in two decades, Grannis said.

"These staff cuts couldn't come at a worse time for the fight for clean water," stated Paul Gallay, Executive Director and Hudson Riverkeeper. "This also confirms that the agency will not be equipped to provide the necessary regulatory oversight to prevent the type of industrial pollution that has already ravaged much of the Marcellus Shale region due to gas drilling operations. Now more than ever, it is crucial for the DEC to work synergistically with Riverkeeper and other watchdog groups to make sure our environmental laws are enforced."

“The future of hydrofracking in New York State is really the most important environmental issue that we face, and we need a strong D.E.C. to protect New York State drinking water,” said James Gennaro, a New York City councilman. Mr. Gennaro was among the campaigners who successfully lobbied the D.E.C. to impose strict restrictions on drilling in the upstate watersheds that supply water to New York City.

The leaked memo was ominous in tone, warning of “potential serious risks to human health and safety and environmental quality” from the proposed staff cuts.

Environmentalists and public health experts from 16 organizations called upon Mr. Paterson to reinstate Grannis. Some said Mr. Paterson’s successor should reappoint Mr. Grannis and make fixing the agency a priority.

Laura Haight, senior environmental associate for the New York Public Interest Research Group, said: “When someone like Pete Grannis, who worked at the D.E.C. in the early 1970s and championed environmental laws in the State Legislature for 30 years before serving as commissioner, says that the agency is at its weakest point in history and that critical environmental programs are ‘hanging on a thread,’ people ought to listen. Instead, Governor Paterson fired him.”

So a movement is under way to have Mr. Grannis reinstated. There’s no chance of that in Governor Paterson’s remaining days before the November election, administration officials said.

But advocates like Rob Moore, executive director of Environmental Advocates of New York, is hopeful. “We’ll be urging the next governor to replace Pete Grannis with Pete Grannis,” he said.

For additional information, see the following articles:

• Paterson Fires Top Conservation Official

• Cuts in State Agency Are Troubling, Environmentalists and Gas Drillers Agree

• Groups Rally Behind Grannis

• Governor Fires NY's Top Environmental Cop for Release of Internal Memo Revealing How Budget Cuts Will Impact Air, Water & Land Protection

• Green Groups Call out Governor Paterson for Decimating NY's Environmental Agency

Restoring and Greening the Neighborhood

PUSH Buffalo, Homefront Inc., and the Massachusetts Avenue Project are restoring vacant and abandoned houses on Buffalo's West Side and re-energizing them using environmentally-friendly solar and geothermal heating systems. In addition to these green rehabilitation efforts, their strategy focuses on job creation and urban agriculture, and it is being looked at by NY State as a model for neighborhood redevelopment.

NY Gov. David Paterson recently proposed the Sustainable Neighborhoods Project to revitalize vacant homes across the state by using existing state resources to create long-term affordable city housing. He said that he would start with Buffalo’s 23,000 vacant houses, and that the Sustainable Neighborhood Project will invest in environmentally-responsible projects that develop blighted property, vacant land, community gardens and urban agriculture.


In The Buffalo News:
State looks at West Side as model for redevelopment
Developers using environmentally friendly strategies to curb vacant housing
PUSH Buffalo activists view Paterson's pledge and a subsequent visit by the governor's aide as an indication the state may be nearing a decision to help fund their multimillion-dollar neighborhood development.

I think they're assessing our work," said Aaron Bartley, executive director of PUSH, one of the groups spearheading the development. "The level of interest they've shown tells me they're interested in what we're doing."

What PUSH and its partners, Homefront and the Massachusetts Avenue Project, are doing is overseeing a redevelopment strategy that emphasizes more than just housing rehabilitation. It also focuses on job creation and the environment.

The plan targets a 25-block area directly south of West Ferry Street and west of Richmond Avenue, with an eye toward rehabilitating abandoned homes and revitalizing vacant lots and public spaces.

The primary focus is on housing, with plans for a green-designed rehabilitation of about 200 housing units, three-quarters of them vacant.

"If we really want to make a dent in the housing problem on the West Side," Bartley said, "we have to hit at least 100 vacant housing units."

If this development has an edge over others, it may be the proven track record of the three community groups leading the effort. Each of them has had success in redeveloping vacant properties.

Together, they have completed a green-designed rehabilitation of six vacant housing units and are working on 17 other units right now.

Read the report by Phil Fairbanks in The Buffalo News.

In the NEWS

Steel Winds project will add six windmills
Six new windmills will be built on the old Bethlehem Steel site this year. According to First Wind spokesman John Lamontagne, the new towers will be about 240 feet tall, and with the blades, the windmills will be about 400 feet tall, the same as the eight turbines that the company operates along the Lackawanna shoreline.

The Thruway Authority will seek proposals from the wind turbine industry to assess the feasibility of constructing smaller windmills at six Thruway sites in Western NY: Batavia, Eden-Angola, Silver Creek, Dunkirk, Westfield and Ripley.

The plan is part of Gov. Paterson’s objective of meeting 45% of NY electricity needs through energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Read the report in The Buffalo News.


Water-focused group tries to steer government money to clean up Buffalo

BUFFALO, New York – When the state of New York and this post-industrial city don’t have the resources to seek government funding for water preservation projects, Julie Barrett O’Neill’s staff step in.

“There is a lack of capacity at the state and city level,” said the executive director of nonprofit group Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper, which works to promote, preserve and protect the environments of the Buffalo and Niagara rivers. “There’s not a lot of infrastructure so we have to step in.”

So far the 20 or so staff at Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper have brought up to $12 million in funding to Buffalo, with another $50 million to come over the next two years.

The group is now looking at ways to access some of the $475 million set aside by the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama as part of the Great Lakes Initiative, aimed at restoring the Great Lakes. Together the Great Lakes contain 22 percent of the world’s fresh water.

Read the full report at Reuters.com.


Report finds region ripe for green economic future

Buffalo Niagara Enterprise on Tuesday rolled out what it called “third-party validation” that the alternative energy industry can hold the key to turning this part of the Rust Belt green.

“With its diverse manufacturing heritage and skilled work force, the region can become a key asset in U. S. efforts to expand its competitive presence in emerging green industries and technologies,” wrote consultant Keith W. Rabin, president of KWR International.

The 162-page report, commissioned by Buffalo Niagara Enterprise and funded by a grant from the electric utility National Grid, argued that such factors as idled industrial facilities, skilled work force, varied educational institutions and strategic location should position the region to respond to the nation’s call for renewable, secure and environmentally friendly energy sources.

Beyond the idled factories and the underemployed worker base, Rabin said, Western New York offers the climate and resources necessary to generate wind, solar and water power, plus the transportation network necessary to ship products that could be manufactured here.

Read the report by George Pyle in The Buffalo News.

For a Buffalo Niagara Enterprise Summary Report on the green economy and Western New York’s alternative-energy manufacturing potential, click here.


US Department of Labor announces $150 million in ‘Pathways Out of Poverty’ training grants for green jobs
WASHINGTON — Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis announced $150 million in green jobs training grants, as authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). The "Pathways Out of Poverty" grants — as the group of funding awards is known — will support programs that help disadvantaged populations find ways out of poverty and into economic self-sufficiency through employment in energy efficiency and renewable energy industries.

"These Pathways Out of Poverty grants will help workers in disadvantaged communities gain access to the good, safe and prosperous jobs of the 21st century green economy,"said Secretary Solis. "Green jobs present tremendous opportunities for people who have the core skills and competencies needed in such well-paying and rapidly growing industries as energy efficiency and renewable energy."

Through the 38 grants awards announced today, targeted populations will receive recruitment and referral services; basic skills, work-readiness and occupational skills training; supportive services to help overcome barriers to employment; and other services at times and locations that are easily accessible. Through these programs, participants will receive certifications and on-the-job training that will lead to employment.

The press release is here.

NOTE: A search of grant recipient cities in upstate NY found Rochester and Syracuse, but not Buffalo.

In the NEWS

Revitalizing upstate neighborhoods
By NY Gov. David A. Paterson

For too long, your government has stood by and watched as the jobs of tomorrow never arrived and upstate New York slipped further and further into economic decline.

We must begin by addressing the surfeit of prime housing stock that lies vacant in so many of our great cities.

To tackle both of these problems efficiently and effectively, I have proposed the Sustainable Neighborhoods Project. This effort will revitalize vacant homes across the state by using existing state resources to create long-term affordable city housing, and we are going to start with Buffalo’s 23,000 vacant units.

Additionally, the Sustainable Neighborhood Project will invest in environmentally-responsible projects that develop blighted property, vacant land, community gardens and urban agriculture. State agency experts will work with community development officials in each upstate city to facilitate these projects, and each partnership will establish clear goals for each new sustainable neighborhood.

But if we are going to rebuild New York’s economic might and create the jobs of the future, we must also renew the strength of our manufacturing base and keep our commitment to the people who carry its legacy into the 21st century.

That’s why we are going to support clean energy retrofits for businesses that otherwise would be unable to afford them. We are going to create a network of industrial assistance centers to educate businesses on alternative manufacturing approaches. And I will submit legislation to reform the Power for Jobs program, so that businesses will have the certainty they need to make long-term investments in our state.

We must also use existing infrastructure to re-energize our traditional manufacturing sector and attract the manufacturing jobs of the future. That is why I am proposing a new state program that will support public-private partnerships to inventory each region’s unique manufacturing assets and develop plans to restore and market these sites.

Read the full report in The Buffalo News.

[UPDATE: 01/10/2010] Paterson sets public meeting here
Gov. David A. Paterson will conduct a town meeting at the Buffalo Museum of Science at 2 pm on Tuesday, January 12.

According to The Buffalo News, it will be the governor’s first in a series of appearances around the state, aiming to build public support for the legislative program he announced in his State of the State message.

Read the report in The Buffalo News.


New smog rule could be a surprise to some counties

Stricter rules proposed Thursday by the Obama administration could more than double the number of counties across the country that are in violation of clean air standards. That would likely have a big impact on other parts of the nation since California already sets stringent standards for cars, ships and trucks.

Smog is a respiratory irritant that has been linked to asthma attacks and other illnesses. Global warming is expected to make it worse, since smog is created when emissions from cars, power and chemical plants, refineries and other factories mix in sunlight and heat.

Read the full report in The Buffalo News.


End this bad idea
Jamestown power plan lacks support, board should drop the project

The dream of turning its otherwise unnecessary coal-fired power plant into a shining example of a new way to burn America’s abundant coal without wrecking the world’s weather certainly sounds attractive. But, as the many critics of the plan have convincingly argued, it is less attractive than trying it out on a power plant that is already belching out tons of climate-changing gases.

If the carbon-capture technology doesn’t work, or if making it work is so expensive that nobody can afford to operate it, running the test on an existing power plant leaves us no worse off than we were before. If Jamestown builds a new plant only to find out that the carbon can’t be economically captured, then the city is left with a new coal-burning plant that it either has to operate in order to make back its investment, or shelve as a way of stanching the flow of money and the release of soon-to-be banned or heavily taxed carbon.

Read the Editorial in The Buffalo News.


Experts: Cold snap doesn't disprove global warming

Beijing had its coldest morning in almost 40 years and its biggest snowfall since 1951. Britain is suffering through its longest cold snap since 1981. And freezing weather is gripping the Deep South, including Florida's orange groves and beaches.

Whatever happened to global warming?

Such weather doesn't seem to fit with warnings from scientists that the Earth is warming because of greenhouse gases. But experts say the cold snap doesn't disprove global warming at all - it's just a blip in the long-term heating trend.

"It's part of natural variability," said Gerald Meehl, a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. With global warming, he said, "we'll still have record cold temperatures. We'll just have fewer of them."

Read the full report in The Dallas Morning News.

NY State Green Jobs--No Training Corps in Buffalo?

Governor Signs The Green Jobs/Green New York Bill
Gov. Paterson signed a bill to establish a program to create green jobs and stimulate investment in weatherization and energy efficiency improvements for residential and commercial buildings. The program is designed to create jobs, lower energy costs for households, not-for-profits and small businesses and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Press release is here.

To fund the weatherization loan program and establish the Statewide green jobs training program, NYSERDA will use a portion of $112 million from the auction of carbon emission credits through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The seed money from the RGGI fund will be used to leverage private investment, which will move us toward a goal of retrofitting one million homes over the next five years.

The Green Jobs bill will allow the State to increase its existing and successful weatherization efforts that are already underway. The Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) will eventually administer $394 million in funds under American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. By the end of October, $190 million in 64 contracts, representing every county in New York, will be executed as part of the WAP program.

Governor Funds Green Jobs Corps, but None in Erie County
Gov. Paterson also announced that $7 million from the State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) has been awarded to 11 counties and New York City to launch the new Green Jobs Corps programs. This funding will allow local departments of social services to provide job skills training and subsidized employment opportunities in “green industries” for public assistance recipients and low-income individuals. Participants in the Green Jobs Corps program will develop occupational skills that will enable them to get jobs in addition to supporting their ability to remain employed and advance in their careers.

Half of the money will go to NY City, and the remainder is divided among 11 counties, which do Not include Erie County, home to Buffalo, the third poorest city in the Nation. WHY NOT Buffalo?

Green Career Web Site Announced
To help connect job seekers with the opportunities being announced today, Paterson also announced the launch of a new web site to assist those seeking to enter the new green job sector. The site – greencareersny.com – is designed to make it easy for individuals, businesses and workforce professionals to find the State’s local training programs and green job opportunities.

Stimulus money flows to clean NY water

Last March, the NY State Environmental Facilities Corporation solicited projects to identify green infrastructure opportunities in need of funds. The selected projects were then submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for final approval. New York received $432 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and $86 million for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.

Western New York recieved $9.8 million for innovative water quality projects through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The funds were awarded to 10 different projects through a new State initiative known as the Green Innovation Grant Program, which promotes sustainable, environmentally sensitive water infrastructure and technologies.

Monroe County, Jamestown, and Medina received the largest grants:

• $3.2 million to Monroe County for the construction of a highly visible and educational green roof on part of the plaza level of the Monroe County Civic Center.
• $2.55 million to the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities, Chautauqua County, for the upgrade of existing digesters at the wastewater treatment facility, restoring the bio-solids process to allow the facility to effectively use the methane gas from the sludge digesters for power generation.
• $1.7 million to the Village of Medina, Orleans County, for the installation of green infrastructure at the wastewater treatment facility to achieve greater energy efficiency, while creating renewable energy and managing stormwater. Green improvements include rainwater harvesting, a green roof, solar units, and energy-efficient lighting.
  

The report on the funding announcement from Gov. Paterson is here.

On August 31, the Governor announced $15.4 million in federal funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for three projects in Western NY:

• The Town of Caneadea in Allegany County will receive $8.3 million to support the planning, design and construction of a project to address various drinking water quality issues. Treatment will be constructed for the existing source. A new well source will also be provided to conform to current standards for supply capacity. The project also includes a new transmission main, replacement of aged water mains and the provision of public water to areas presently served by poor quality private wells.
• The Town of Erwin in Steuben County will receive $6.3 million to support the planning, design and construction of a drinking water supply interconnection with the Town of Erwin Morningside Heights Water District as a primary source of water. Funding will support the installation of a new storage tank, distribution system, a secondary/emergency interconnection to the existing Village of Painted Post water system, and the provision of public water to areas presently served by private wells of insufficient quality and/or quantity.
• Chaffee Water Works Company, Inc. in Erie County will receive $800,000 to support the planning, design and construction of the project, which will address drinking water quality issues and includes improvements to the existing well source, the addition of a new backup source, replacement of an existing storage tank, upgrades to the hydro-pneumatic system, automated treatment controls, tank level alarms, and the replacement of the aged inadequate distribution system.
  

The report on the funding announcement from Gov. Paterson is here.

In the NEWS

Paterson's solar power plan envisions 50,000 jobs - 05/15/2009
Gov. David A. Paterson will announce today that the state’s two power authorities will purchase up to 150 megawatts of solar power through a program aiming to make the state the nation’s second-biggest solar power producer.
Paterson chose a solar power conference in the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center attended by about 3,000 people from around the nation to unveil the plan, which his staff says eventually could create not only a new source of electricity but also 50,000 jobs in an entire new manufacturing industry. Read the report by Robert J. McCarthy in The Buffalo News.

Paterson backs local sharing of NYPA hydropower profits - 05/16/2009
Governor opens possibility for economic development
Western New York’s long-standing argument that profits from unused hydropower generated at Lewiston should remain in the area gained Gov. David A. Paterson’s preliminary approval Friday, setting the stage for a potentially significant influx of money for infrastructure and economic development projects.
Paterson’s promise to reassess what many Western New York officials have long considered an injustice marks a major victory for Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, who filed a bill last month requiring the Power Authority to turn over future proceeds from the sale of unused power to a locally controlled economic development corporation. That agency would use the money to fund infrastructure work and capital improvements for public facilities in Erie and Niagara counties.
The congressman said late Friday he is pleased with the new developments, but also promised to continue to monitor the situation. Read the report by Robert J. McCarthy and James Heaney in The Buffalo News.

State OKs low-cost power for Yahoo! facility - 05/20/2009
Gov. David A. Paterson announced Tuesday that Yahoo! would bring a new data center and more than 100 jobs to Western New York, but the Internet company said it is still considering other states.
Paterson said Tuesday that Yahoo!, one of the world’s best-known Web sites and search engines, will spend $150 million to set up a new East Coast regional data center here, with at least 125 new high-tech jobs. As an inducement, the company will receive low-cost hydroelectric power from New York State. No other state taxpayer dollars will be spent on the project, officials said. The company has not chosen a site, but it is looking at two locations, one in Niagara County and one in Genesee County, Paterson said. Read the report by Jonathan D. Epstein in The Buffalo News.

Power deal would save Yahoo! $101.2 million - 05/21/2009
Subsidy package is one of the richest ever offered by the NY Power Authority.
The deal state officials are offering Yahoo! to entice it to build a data center in Western New York would provide about $810,000 in power discounts over the lifetime of the subsidy for every $50,000 job created, a Buffalo News analysis has found.
The discount would save Yahoo! an estimated $53,996 per job per year over the 15-year life of its proposed contract with the New York Power Authority. The average subsidy for companies given new power allocations in recent years is less than a quarter of that—$12,446. The offer, which Yahoo! officials are considering, represents one of the richest subsidy packages ever offered by the Power Authority. Read the report by James Heaney in The Buffalo News. Post comments on his News blog at Outrages & Insights.

Renewable power mandate overcomes hurdle in Senate - 05/21/2009
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A measure requiring utilities to generate a certain amount of electricity from renewable sources, such as wind and solar, overcame a legislative hurdle in the U.S. Senate on Thursday.
The proposed committee bill would mandate that power plants meet targets to gradually produce more renewable power, beginning with 3 percent of their output between 2011 and 2013 and rising to 15 percent between 2021 and 2039. Utilities could meet about a quarter of their renewable requirements through energy efficiency gains.The full report is here.