WORKSHOPS added to WNYEA Environmental Congress Event on Dec. 8

We've added afternoon WORKSHOPS to the program of the WNYEA's 9th Environmental Congress on on Tuesday, December 8. Join us!

We will be taking a deeper dive into some of the topics that the membership has put forward. Alliance members will be leading four simultaneous working group sessions in the Buffalo Museum of Science classrooms from 4:00 - 5:30pm.


Email antonina@timbreconsultants.com if you plan to attend, and include the title of the workshop you would like to join.

WORKSHOPS:

NY Renews: Building a strong and just coalition for a winning legislative campaign
In December, a broad coalition of labor, environmentalist and social/economic justice advocates are releasing a climate justice and jobs campaign – NY Renews. The aim of this campaign is to win progressive policy reform in the 2016 NYS legislative session and beyond. The platform calls for (1) mandatory and legally enforceable greenhouse gas emission reduction and renewable energy procurement; (2) a reinvestment fund for low income and vulnerable communities to support energy democracy; and (3) mandatory job standards on publicly supported projects and funds for just transitions for workers and communities displaced by the energy transition. The workshop will discuss the underlying values of the campaign, the Jemez Principles,the three platforms and their relevance to WNY, and to seek appropriate ways of engagement for the Buffalo Niagara region.
- Facilitated by: Meghan Maloney de Zaldivar, Energy Democracy Organizer, PUSH Buffalo

Engaging Youth in Climate Justice Action
This workshop will be a working session to bring together climate justice partners and potential partners working with youth, to get to know one another and learn how our groups engage K-12 youth in climate justice efforts. We hope to learn from each other about various participatory climate justice education activities, and determine if there’s interest in continuing to work together to involve more youth in climate justice work in a meaningful way.
- Facilitated by: Derek Nichols, Program Manager, Grassroots Gardens of Buffalo, and Rebekah A. Williams, Youth Education Director, Massachusetts Avenue Project

Environmental Justice and the Campaign for Green Jobs
A workshop on the who, what, where and how of energy based economic development in Buffalo. Using the Home Energy Conservation Kit (HECK) project case study as the basis for conversation, project leaders will present and facilitate a discussion about initiatives, impacts, partnerships and the role of worker owned cooperatives in the just transition to a clean and inclusive economy.
- Facilitated by: Johnnie Fenderson, Workforce Development Coordinator, PUSH Buffalo, and Art Wheaton, Director of Western NY Labor and Environmental Programs, The Worker Institute at Cornell

Our Buffalo, Our Outer Harbor "seeking pathways to a sustainable future.”
The Western New York Environmental Alliance has been fully engaged in discussions about appropriate steps to take regarding the development of the Outer Harbor. We argue against "sprawl" and for "smart growth". We advocate for appropriate development around the Times Beach Nature Preserve and Tifft Nature Preserve. We push for financial accountability from the State of New York and the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation. We advocate for the protection of critical natural resources such as Lake Erie and the Niagara River strait. We have stood behind our members that are working to make sure that decisions about our common and publicly owned waterfront are made by an informed community. We believe in the Public Trust.
- Facilitated by: Jay Burney, co-founder of GreenWatch, the Learning Sustainability Campaign, and chair of the Friends of Times Beach Nature Preserve.

Naomi Davis, Celebrated Chicago Environmentalist, to Speak

WNYEA AND "THE GET THE RUST OUT" SPEAKER SERIES PRESENT: NAOMI DAVIS

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2012 (1:00PM - 2:00PM)

The University at Buffalo Clinical and Translational Research Center

875 Ellicott St.
Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Fifth Floor Atrium
Buffalo, NY

Celebrated Chicago Environmentalist, Naomi Davis serves as a bridge and catalyst among communities and their stakeholders in the design and development of green, self-sustaining, mixed- income, walkable-villages within black neighborhoods. She is author of The 8 Principles of Green-Village-Building™ -- a whole-system solution for the whole-system problems common to black communities everywhere – which she presents in lectures, workshops around the country, and teaches at the University of Chicago Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture. Together with its precursor Grannynomics,™ green-village-building addresses the terrible triplets of pollution, poverty, and plutocracy.

For more information, please contact info@growwny.org .

In the NEWS

Great Lakes, Great Wind bring great Federal Investment
But not in Western New York...see Map

DOE-funded wind energy projects: Great Lakes Region

The Great Lakes region will receive nearly a third of the $8.5 million federal officials recently set aside for wind energy development. The region will see $475,929 to study wind energy environmental impacts, $100,000 for development of small turbines, $1,446,942 for wind energy education and training and $587,029 to bring wind energy to market. The projects are aimed at challenges identified in the Department of Energy (DOE) 2008 report, which sets a goal of using wind to supply 20 percent of the country’s energy needs by 2030. The full report is here.

Donn Esmonde: Future jobs are blowing in the wind - 7/22/2009
The problem, as I see it, is the usual one around here: plenty of talk, not much action. The gap between rhetoric and results in Western New York is as wide as Lake Erie. All of the hot air blown by various officials and politicians would make those eight Lackawanna windmills spin like pinwheels.
We have what it takes—rail and roads, water access, work force, cheap power—to grab a piece of an industry of the future. Manufacturing windmill parts here means, in a word, jobs. The jobs will not come if we just talk about it. Commentary by Donn Esmonde in The Buffalo News.

But look at what's going on in Michigan. More than 30 Clean Energy Manufacturers have established new production facilities in the last 20 months, generating more than 3,000 new jobs! See the blog post here.

Environmental alliance launches bid to increase groups’ impact - 7/17/2009
A group of 150 Western New York organizations launched an initiative Thursday to restore and preserve the region’s natural environment. The Western New York Environmental Alliance is a collective effort that wants to increase the impact of local environmental efforts.
“The health and enhancement of our region’s natural assets is crucial to the revitalization of this area and to the well-being of its residents,” said Clotilde Perez-Bode Dedecker, president and chief executive of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, which helped convene the 150 groups. Read the report by Jake May in The Buffalo News.

Central Terminal is not out as Rail Hub - 7/24/2009
DOT officials reverse stand
State transportation officials did an about-face Thursday, saying it’s premature to rule out Buffalo’s Central Terminal as a train station if New York receives federal stimulus money to build high-speed rail.
The state Department of Transportation said it’s too early to preclude the Central Terminal from being considered. A group that has been working to revitalize the sprawling complex praised the modified stand, as did Rep. Louise M. Slaughter. She called the old train station a “jewel.” “The purpose of bringing high-speed rail to upstate New York is to strengthen and re-energize our region, and if it’s possible, the Central Terminal should be part of this effort,” Slaughter said in a prepared statement.
Skip Carrier, the DOT’s communications director, made it clear Thursday that the Central Terminal has not been ruled out. “It’s premature to be talking about a decision on a passenger rail station,” he said, noting that the looming challenge involves securing $8 billion in federal funds. “When we get to the station issue, we can look at [Central Terminal],” Carrier continued. Read the report by Brian Meyer in The Buffalo News.

State seeks money for Falls Train Station - 7/23/2009
Among 37 rail projects DOT proposes for use of federal stimulus funds A new train station in Niagara Falls and upgrades to the Amtrak passenger station in Depew are among 37 projects for which the state is seeking federal stimulus funds as part of a sweeping plan to upgrade the state’s rail system. The state Department of Transportation next month will submit applications seeking $22 million for the proposed Niagara Falls train station and $573,000 for the Depew station, according to pre-applications that have already been submitted. Read the report by Denise Jewell Gee in The Buffalo News.