Buffalo Premier of "Dear Governor Cuomo" with Filmmaker

A Documentary Film on the 
Anti-Fracking Movement in New York State

• WHAT: "Dear Governor Cuomo..." film and Q&A session with filmmaker Jon Bowermaster and expert panelists.
• WHEN: Friday, December 14, at 6:30 PM
• WHERE: Daemen College, Rm.107, Schenck Science Building, 4380 Main St., Amherst [Campus Map]

FREE ~ Please invite your friends

 

Join us for the Buffalo premier of “Dear Governor Cuomo…”  
The film documents the diverse coalition of New York citizens, scientists and musicians fighting for a state ban of fracking to protect our water, air and land. The film highlights advocacy actions at the State Capitol and an accompanying concert by prominent artists to demonstrate their concern for our environment. 

If you're new to the topic of fracking, the film also works as a great introduction.

The film was written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Jon Bowermaster, who will be present at the screening. It includes footage directed by Academy Award-winning director Alex Gibney, and features biologist Sandra Steingraber, actor Mark Ruffalo, actress Melissa Leo, and musicians Natalie Merchant, Joan Osborne, Citizen Cope, Medeski Martin and Wood and The Felice Brothers.

Film trailer:

Download Posters: An 8x11 here and an 11x17 here.

Sponsors: Food & Water Watch, Daemen's Local & Global Sustainability program, and WNY Drilling Defense.

Happy Father's Day -- Sunday, June 19th

Hey Dad, what was your favorite song back in the day?
NPR came up with a fun idea for Father's Day on their blog, "All Songs Considered". They asked listeners to contact their Dad or Grandpa and ask him what his favorite song was when he was their age.

To find out about the popular picks and hear some short music clips, listen to the NPR report here.

To hear to the full versions of some of the popular songs in music videos, visit the NPR website.

One thing that I do on Father's Day with my Sons
For the past several years, one or two of my sons (depending on who's in town) and I have gone to the "Jog for The Jake", a 5K Father's Day Run/Walk in Delaware Park. "The Jake" refers to the late Dr. Lawrence D. Jacobs. The event honors his accomplishments and is a fundraiser for The Jacobs Neurological Institute in Buffalo.

The event also provides a special day for fathers, including a great post-race Father's Day Brunch provided to all runners (register on site) and kids fun runners as well as guests and spectators ($5 donation). For more information, visit the Jog for The Jake website.

What will you do on Father's Day?
Post a Comment.

Happy Father's Day!

Fun Friday: Shamrockin' Rap

VIDEO: Shamrockin' Rap

Goin' Green for St. Patrick's Day - "Do One Thing" (DOT) for the Environment.

Fun Friday: Canvas, Not Plastic

VIDEO - "Canvas Bags": Tim Minchin, comedian, actor and musician, is a self-proclaimed rock star in this satirical music video, imploring us (more than once) to bring eco-friendly canvas bags to the supermarket and reject those disposable plastic ones which are not bio-degradable and can harm wildlife.



Cutting back on disposable plastic bags will also reduce our need for oil, the source of chemicals used to make plastic bags.

Fun Friday: "COOL IT" by Raffi & Friends

The Global COOLING Song, by Raffi, known for singing songs for children. Raffi performs here along with his friends, including scientist David Suzuki. [mobile link is here]

Fun Friday: Empire State of Mind

Music Video: Alicia Keys sings her heart out about NEW YORK.
Stephen Colbert joins in with a rap...suburban style!
Keys and her group are moving. Colbert is hilarious.

Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down
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Lyrics to Colbert rap are here.
Lyrics to Empire State of Mind are here.

Jamestown Coal Power: Stay or Go?

Opinion in The Buffalo News
Scuttling the coal plant - 8/21/2009
Jamestown project draws questions, Praxair shifts sites to Michigan

The U.S. Department of Energy has questioned whether Jamestown is the rock upon which someone should build a so-called clean coal power plant. So Praxair, the industrial gas company trying to cook up the technology, and earn a share of the $2.3 billion the Energy Department has available for such experiments, has shifted its focus from the city in Western New York to another proposed project in western Michigan.

Politics cannot be absent, with big names in the Democratic Party lobbying a Democratic administration for the money and the jobs that follow. But the reason for Praxair's shift is about as reasonable, scientifically speaking, as can be imagined. And it demonstrates that the Jamestown Board of Public Utility's (BPU) long-time belief in the project is on shaky ground indeed.

The Jamestown BPU and Praxair, a Connecticut-based company with a plant in the Town of Tonawanda, have had their heads together on a plan to reimagine the coal-fired power plant Jamestown has wanted to build for six years as a demonstration for carbon capture technology. That is something that could, if it works, go a long way to mitigate the environmental damage done by the burning of coal.

The problem with letting Jamestown call its 50-megawatt plant a clean-coal facility is that there is, so far, no assurance that the technology will work. If it doesn't, Jamestown would be sitting there with an expensive, pollution-belching power plant that will cost town residents a lot more money than they would have spent on a similar level of greener power from any of a number of existing or possible alternative sources. Read the full Editorial in The Buffalo News.

But Jamestown isn't quitting. They're scutlling Praxair and applying for Federal funds! See the article below.

A Calculated Long Shot - 8/22/2009
BPU, OxyCoal Alliance To File Funding Application Without Praxair

The Jamestown Board of Public Utilities and members of the New York OxyCoal Alliance have decided to file their own funding application for an oxycoal project at the BPU's Samuel A. Carlson generating plant on Steele Street.

The Post-Journal learned of the decision Friday afternoon, just days before the Monday application deadline for funding through the U.S. Department of Energy's Clean Coal Power Initiative.

The decision comes two weeks after Praxair, in a stunning move, decided to demote Jamestown to the alternate slot for an oxycoal project behind Holland, Mich. Praxair said its decision - which came just 12 days before the DOE's application deadline - was made because the Michigan location has ''better geological formations and a more solid financial position.''

Thanks to a boost from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, the DOE has over $1 billion to spend on clean coal projects. It has already agreed to spend $408 million on two carbon capture and sequestration projects - an existing power plant in Beulah, N.D. and a new facility in Kern County, Calif. - that use different technology than the BPU's proposed project.
Read the full article by Kristen Johnson in the The Post-Journal.

[UPDATE: 8/25/2009]
Council Backs Project
City Promises $145 Million For OxyCoal Plant

The Jamestown City Council has thrown its weight behind the funding application filed Monday night by the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities and members of the New York OxyCoal Alliance for an oxycoal project at the BPU's Samuel A. Carlson generating plant on Steele Street.

Council members voted unanimously to approve a resolution that not only expressed the council's firm support for the project but also promised that - should the U.S. Department of Energy fund the Jamestown project with Clean Coal Power Initiative funds - the city would either issue $145 million worth of municipal bonds or guarantee the repayment of $145 million in revenue bonds issued by a special purpose entity. Read the full article by Kristen Johnson in the The Post-Journal.

Earlier articles, viewpoints and letters to the editor:

• Hopes rise for coal plant in Jamestown - 3/15/2009

• Seek sustainable energy, not more coal plants - 3/21/2009

• Jamestown coal plant project is good investment - 7/28/2009

• Jamestown coal power plant is both costly and unneeded - 8/03/2009

• Carbon storage is unproven, too costly for Jamestown - 8/04/2009

• New coal plant will increase electric rates in Jamestown - 8/05/2009

• Schumer should drop plans to pursue ‘clean coal’ plant - 8/20/2009

What do you think about proposed coal power plant in Jamestown...
Should coal stay or should it go?

Ponder this question while listening to The Clash:

Help Him Change the World

"We can choose hope over fear, unity over division; the promise of change over the power of the status quo. I’m Barack Obama. If you give me your vote on Tuesday, we won’t just win this election – together, we will change this country and Change the World." -- Senator Obama, Democratic Radio Address, Nov. 1, 2008

The Buffalo News will cover the election live on the Web. Following the election on Tuesday, Nov. 4, Barack Obama will appear in Chicago's Grant Park to deliver a speech. Hopes are high among many Americans, including me, that election day will end with a victory speech in Grant Park and a real celebration. If we want it, we can make it happen by getting out the Vote for Obama!

The possibility of an election day celebration in Chicago's Grant Park reminds me of a song from the early 70's, "Saturday in the Park", by the rock group that bears the city's name, Chicago. It's an upbeat song mixed with some politically-charged phrases of the day, like "listen children, all is not lost", and "will you help him change the world". I hope that the celebratory feeling of the song will reflect the election outcome. Check out the song and video here.

Help him change the world...vote for Barack Obama on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

The Buffalo News has endorsed Obama. The News has a Web page for voters that provides a convenient comparison of Obama's and McCain's stands on a variety of policy issues. The Web page is here. It also shows the News endorsements for local election contests including Congress, State Senate and Assembly, District Attorney and State Supreme Court. Check it out, and get out and vote on Tuesday!

Polling Place Finder and Map: click here
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