Wind Energy & Public Health Forum - Join Us Tonight!

Wind Energy & Public Health Forum 

WHEN: Thursday, November 21, 2019, 6:00-8:00 PM
WHERE: Center for Tomorrow, North Campus, University at Buffalo (UB)

As wind energy development accelerates in western New York, the Alliance for Clean Energy New York, New Yorkers for Clean Power, the New York League of Conservation Voters, and the Union of Concerned Scientists have come together to co-host a public forum on the relationship between wind energy and public health. Join us tonight for a fact-based discussion on the topic led by prominent experts.

​​​​​​The panel of experts speaking as part of the event will include:

• Dr. Jonathan Buonocore, program leader for the Harvard School of Public Health’s climate, energy, and health team whose research focuses on the health co-benefits of renewable energy development.

• Michael Hankard, President and Principal or Hankard Environmental Acoustical Consultants who specializes in measuring, analyzing, and reporting on environmental noise levels relating to wind turbines and other sources. 

• Dr. Robert J. McCunney, a practicing physician in the Pulmonary Division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston whose clinical research focuses on illnesses associated with occupational and environmental hazards.

• Jason Kehl is a fourth-generation dairy farmer who, along with his wife Missy and three daughters, milk 120 Holstein cows at Kehl Farms in Strykersville, New York. Kehl Farms grows all their own forages on 450 acres of property that hosts not only the Kehl’s home, but also four wind turbines from the High Sheldon Wind Farm. Jason will offer a first-hand local perspective on what it is like to live and work near wind turbines.

• Professor Simon Chapman of the University of Sydney School of Public Health, one of the world’s leading experts on the issue of human health and wind farms and the author of Wind Turbine Syndrome: A Communicated Disease.

The forum will be moderated by Rita Graham, an independent meeting facilitator with 35 years of experience in environmental and agriculture-related issues.

The event is open to the general public and audience members will be encouraged to submit questions to the panelists. To learn more or reserve a free ticket online, visit wnywind-health.eventbrite.com.

U.S. Fossil Fuel Subsidies Exceed Pentagon Spending, says International Monetary Fund Report

Study: U.S. Fossil Fuel Subsidies Exceed Pentagon Spending

The world would be richer and healthier if the full costs of fossil fuels were paid, according to a new report from the International Monetary Fund

By Tim Dickinson | May 8, 2019

The United States has spent more subsidizing fossil fuels in recent years than it has on defense spending, according to a new report from the International Monetary Fund.

The IMF found that direct and indirect subsidies for coal, oil and gas in the U.S. reached $649 billion in 2015. Pentagon spending that same year was $599 billion.

The study defines “subsidy” very broadly, as many economists do. It accounts for the “differences between actual consumer fuel prices and how much consumers would pay if prices fully reflected supply costs plus the taxes needed to reflect environmental costs” and other damage, including premature deaths from air pollution.

These subsidies are largely invisible to the public, and don’t appear in national budgets. But according the the IMF, the world spent $4.7 trillion — or 6.3 percent of global GDP — in 2015 to subsidize fossil fuel use, a figure it estimated rose to $5.2 trillion in 2017. China, which is heavily reliant on coal and has major air-pollution problems, was the largest subsidizer by far, at $1.4 trillion in 2015. But the U.S. ranked second in the world.

The human, environmental and economic toll of these subsidies is shocking to the conscience. The authors found that if fossil fuels had been fairly priced in 2015, global carbon emissions would have been slashed by 28 percent. Deaths from fossil fuel-linked air pollution would have dropped by nearly half.

Oil, gas and coal companies — and their stooges in public office — have long argued that making consumers pay for the full impacts of fossil fuel use would cripple the economy. The IMF experts call bs on this idea, revealing that the world would, in fact, be more prosperous. Eliminating subsidies for fossil fuels would have created global “net economic welfare gains” in 2015 of “more than $1.3 trillion, or 1.7 percent of global GDP,” the study found. (These net gains are “calculated as the benefits from reduced environmental damage and higher revenue minus the losses from consumers facing higher energy prices.”)

For the United States, the $649 billion in fossil fuel subsidies exceeded even the extravagant amount of money the country spent on defense. To offer a sense of scale, Pentagon spending accounted for 54 percent of the discretionary federal budget in 2015. In comparison to another important, but less well-funded part of the federal budget, fossil fuel subsidies were nearly 10 times what Congress spent on education. Broken down to an individual level, fossil fuel subsidies cost every man, woman and child in the United States $2,028 that year.

At the opening of the IMF’s spring meetings in April, Managing Director Christine Lagarde laid out the benefits she sees in properly pricing fossil fuels. “The numbers are quite staggering” she said, referring to the savings that could be achieved “fiscally, but also in terms of human life, if there had been the right price on carbon emission as of 2015.”

Lagarde continued to rattle off the benefits to humanity of realizing these savings. “There would be more public spending available to build hospitals, to build roads, to build schools and to support education and health for the people,” she said.

For Lagarde and the IMF, the conclusion was obvious: “We believe that removing fossil fuel subsidies is the right way to go.”

Link to the article at Rolling Stone here 

TAKE ACTION: Demand a Vote on the NYS Climate and Community Protection Act

TAKE ACTION: 

Tell our State elected leaders: our Planet, our Health, and our Communities can't wait. 

We need New York State to lead on Climate Justice and pass the Climate and Community Protection Act (CCPA) this session. 

We have a Majority of Sponsors in the Senate and the Assembly. 

We demand a VOTE on the CCPA NOW!

Click Here to Take Action

NY Renews is a coalition of more than 150 grassroots, state, and national organizations. We aim to make New York State the nation’s leader in tackling the climate crisis while protecting workers and lifting up communities.

A CLEAN START - Environmental Advocates of New York

Dear Advocates,

Former President Obama once said, “Elections have consequences.” That statement might be doubly true for the election we just had in New York.

New Yorkers have elected a new majority to the State Senate. In doing so, over a quarter of the Senate chairs will be filled by new members. With these changes comes great opportunity for popular, common-sense environmental legislation to finally see the light of day in the Senate.

You know from your involvement with us that there has been environmental stagnation in Albany. Critical pieces of legislation have been blocked by leaders who refused to step up and protect our environment, strengthen our communities, or improve our health. Bills with broad backing like the Climate and Community Protection Act (CCPA) and the Environmental Bill of Rights easily passed the Assembly this year with bi-partisan support, only to be buried in the Senate. The CCPA actually had a majority of Senators listed as official co-sponsors.

Where the previous Senate Majority had failed to recognize the importance of having a right to clean air and water or the potential of good jobs in the clean energy economy, we trust the new Senate Majority will take a different path. We expect the new Senate will join the Assembly in being champions of the environment by prioritizing policies that benefit our health, our communities, and our economy. The Climate and Community Protection Act and the Environmental Bill of Rights would both be a good place to start. The incoming Majority Leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins has championed the climate bill.

Similarly, the change of leadership in the US House of Representatives holds promise for positive action on the environment. It starts with a fundamental flip of ideals—science is important again, climate change is real, and actual oversight of agencies like the EPA is necessary. While there may be scant hope for the House to be joined in their ideals by a federal government that remains hostile to the environment, they should provide a counterbalance to the dirty policies of the Trump administration.

This election does not mean our job is done. We still need to make our case—loudly—but now to more receptive ears. The opportunity to make real environmental progress is much greater today than it was a week ago. Let’s get to work.

Sincerely,

Peter M. Iwanowicz
Executive Director
Environmental Advocates of New York

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Environmental Advocates of New York strongly supports these bills:

Climate and Community Protection Act 

A.8270-B (Englebright, et al.)    S.7971-A (Hoylman, et al.)

The impacts of climate change are affecting New York’s economic security, safety, and public health. Poor air quality, which is worsened by climate change, is making our children sick and shortening the lives of seniors. Extreme weather events place people in danger, cost billions in lost production and revenue, and damage or destroy communities.

Read more here...

Environmental Bill of Rights 

A.6279 (Englebright, et al.)     S.5287 (Carlucci, et al.)

This bill establishes in the New York State Constitution a right to clean water, clean air and a healthful environment. It addresses a gap in our legal foundations, and provides an expression of values that other states have already seen fit to establish and to pronounce.

Read more here...

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UPDATE (11.14.2018):

The Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) strongly supports the Environmental Bill of Rights legislation

This proposal would amend the State Constitution's Bill of Rights to include a right to clean air and water and a healthful environment. This proposal establishes for New Yorkers the constitutional right to clean air, clean water and a healthy environmental equivalent to other basic rights guaranteed in New York State’s Constitution Article 1 Bill of Rights, such as, the right of freedom of worship and religious liberty, freedom of speech and the press, compensation for taking private property, equal protection of law, and security against unreasonable searches and seizures, among others. The basic human right to clean air and water and a healthful environment has been starkly absent from this list of constitutional protections, but recent threats to our water and air have reminded us that we cannot take for granted that these life sustaining elements will be protected. It is critical that we recognize the basic human rights to clean air and water and a healthful environment and detail these in the Article 1 Bill of Rights. 
Read more here... 


To Download the PDF document at the ADK website, Click Here

For this and other ADK Policy Positions, visit the ADK Website Here
 

Lois Gibbs, Environmental Health & Justice Activist, to Speak in Lockport

                      Photo: James Neiss

Lois Gibbs, the former Niagara Falls resident who led the fight for evacuation of the Love Canal neighborhood plagued by toxic chemical pollution 40 years ago, will return for a speaking engagement and panel discussion.

Gibbs will speak on Saturday, November 3 at the Cornell Cooperative Extension, 4487 Lake Ave., Lockport [Map], for a discussion on local environmental issues. She will hold a meet-and-greet at 9 AM, a news conference at 9:30 and a panel discussion at 10 AM. The event is sponsored by the Niagara County Democratic Committee and is free and open to the public.
 
Lois Gibbs was critical in the creation of the Superfund, a federal government program designed to fund the cleanup of toxic wastes. Gibbs is the founder of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice and lives in Virginia.

The discussion panel will include:

• Lois Gibbs, Exec. Director of the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice

• Richard Lipsitz, WNY ALF President

• Russ Quarantello, IBEW 237 Business Manager

• Diane Lemanski, Babcock Neighborhood Organizer (Clean Air Coalition)

• Bev Kinney, Grand Island Town Councilwoman

• Representative for Citizens for Responsible Government  

Nuclear Waste Must be Secured and Our Waters Protected -- Take Action!

Buffalo Niagara Region has a serious waste problem and perhaps none is so serious as the West Valley Nuclear Waste Facility 30 miles south of Buffalo.  An array of nuclear waste has been stored and some buried on an erodible plateau since the 1960s, put in place before there were any laws on the siting of such dangerous waste.  This site is managed by the Department of Energy and owned by the NYS Energy Research and Development Authority, agencies responsible for cleaning up the waste and protecting public health and our waters.

Charley Bowman, of the Sierra Club Niagara Group, points out that “the protection of fresh water supplies underpins organized existence of human beings. There are enormous amounts of radioactivity (100,000’s of Curies) buried and stored at the West Valley nuclear waste site. Some of that radioactivity is escaping beyond the site boundaries and now resides in the surrounding unstable soils, trees and creeks. Some of the radioactive elements will be dangerous for millions of years.”

The Department of Energy begins Scoping Hearings for a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on March 19, 20 and 21, to determine the final disposition of this waste site.  Joanne Hameister who has been working with the Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Wastes since the 1970s states that her group “has been involved with the decision process for four decades.  After three Environmental Impact Statements and a fourth to begin in March, billions of dollars, a lot of surveys and studies, lawsuits and many 'duct tape' solutions to problems, we might have a direction for the future of the site.  The next decision must protect the water of the Great Lakes, Erie and Ontario, drinking water for millions of people downstream and for thousands of generations that could inherit these risks of radiation if we do not 'do the right thing' now.  It is a big order: dig it up, secure the waste and do not forget it.”

 “The government scoping meetings March 19, 20 and 21 are the public’s chance to tell the Department of Energy and NY Energy Research and Development Authority that we want full cleanup of the West Valley nuclear waste site. But the only way the deadly waste will be removed from the Great Lakes watershed is if our elected officials MAKE IT HAPPEN.”  Diane D’Arrigo argues that “the Department of Energy, NYSERDA, all their contractors and other ‘regulatory agencies’ will not step up unless they are forced to do so” based on the communities experience with the 2010 Environmental Impact Statement that delayed the decision for over a decade.

Hearings will be held at three different locations: 

Monday, March 19, 2018, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
West Valley Volunteer Hose Company, Inc., Firemen’s Memorial Hall and Training, 9091 Route 240, West Valley, NY 14171, in the Main Hall.

Tuesday, March 20, 2018, from 6:00p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Erie Community College, City Campus, Post Office Building, 121 Ellicott Street, Buffalo, NY 14203, in the Minnie Gillette Auditorium.

Wednesday, March 21, 2018, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Seneca Nation of Indians Cattaraugus Council Chambers, 12837 Route 438, Irving, NY 14081

Pat Townsend of the Interfai th Climate Justice Community says that she is “already writing my comments to email them to DOE and NYSERDA during the public comment period that has just started. I remember the rainfall that caused the Gowanda flood of 2009 and the landslide it caused at West Valley. With our crazy, changing weather, who knows what erosion will do to the West Valley nuclear wastes? I've seen the maps: erosion could take radioactive waste right down the creeks to Lake Erie and Buffalo's water."

--  Submitted by Lynda Schneekloth, Sierra Club Niagara Group


More information:
Nuclear Information and Resource Service   www.nirs.org/campaigns/west-valley
Information Center   www.seiswestvalleysite.com 
Sierra Club Niagara Group   www.niagarasierraclub.com/issues/west-valley-nuclear-waste-site

COMMUNITY FORUM: Don't want Nuclear Waste in Your Water? Get Informed and Take Action!

Presentation by 

ALAN LOCKWOOD, MD
Professor Emeritus of Neurology, University at Buffalo &

Senior Scientist, Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Thursday, March 1 at 7:00 PM,
Burchfield Penney Art Center, 1300 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo. (across from Albright Knox Art Gallery) [Map]

The Presentation will be followed by a Panel Discussion 

Learn how to make comments at Scoping Hearings

For detailed information on the Scoping Hearings, 

Click Here and see Page 2 of the document. 

 

Thanks to the Burchfield Penny Art Gallery, the Western New York Environmental Alliance, Sierra Club Niagara Group
 

NY State Support for Clean, Renewable Energy will Benefit Health, Climate and Economy

Renewable Energy will Benefit Everyone

By Robert M. Ciesielski

In August, the New York State Public Service Commission established the Clean Energy Standard, a procedure to enable 50 percent of the state’s electricity to be provided from renewable energy sources by 2030. The mechanism implements the 2015 New York State Energy Plan based on a four-year study of our state’s energy system.

New York’s goal is similar to the 50 percent renewable energy by 2030 law adopted by the California legislature last year and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. The Massachusetts legislature also passed an energy bill in 2016 ensuring that by 2030, 40 percent of the state’s electricity will be provided from renewable sources, while including a major commitment to offshore wind power.

New York, California and Massachusetts comprise 20 percent of our nation’s population. If these states were considered a country, they would comprise the fourth-largest economy of the world. These states are a beacon to the United States, showing the promise of a sustainable, clean, renewable energy economy. Development of renewable energy not only counters climate change and the adverse health effects of polluted water, air and land, but offers substantial economic benefits to

The future economy is already available to us. In December, the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) announced the approval of a 90 megawatt wind farm off eastern Long Island. The project is supported by 85 percent of Long Island’s residents, including a bipartisan political coalition of workers, unions, environmentalists and business leaders. The wind project will supply electricity to some 50,000 homes. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has set a goal of 2,400 megawatts of offshore wind power by 2030, enough to power well over 1 million residences and provide for a healthy downstate economy.

Europe currently supplies much of its energy from wind and solar sources. Europeans supply over 10 gigawatts, or 10,000 megawatts, of electricity from offshore wind alone. The strength of the European economy is based in large part on the conscious decision of many of its countries to proceed with renewable energy development, stimulating investments in manufacturing and the installation of renewable energy sources.

Looking at the Earth, I am concerned about the detrimental effects of our current fossil fuel and nuclear based economy. The Paris Climate Agreement, signed by 194 countries, is a worldwide measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to prevent the global climate from increasing beyond 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) with the aspirational goal of a no greater than 1.5 degrees Celsius increase.

We have at this time the ability to help create a sustainable energy system capable of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving the life of humankind and all creatures. Let us use the means we have been given to help protect the Earth and our children.

Robert Ciesielski is chairman of the Energy Committee of the Atlantic Chapter of the Sierra Club.

This article above was originally published in The Buffalo News.

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[Click image to enlarge]

WEBINAR: Climate Change and Public Health - What Can Municipalities Do?

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

Climate Smart Communities Webinar  

Climate Change and Public Health - What Can Municipalities Do?

WHEN: Wednesday, December 7, 2016 at 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

Climate change has increased the frequency of extreme weather events. Extreme weather like heat waves and severe flooding have serious impacts on public health. Last year, the New York State Department of Health released the Climate and Health Profile report which discussed health impacts like heat-related illnesses and deaths, allergies, respiratory distress, and water-borne diseases, among others.

Attend this Climate Smart Communities (CSC) webinar on December 7th to hear speakers from the NYS Dept. of Health describe the prognosis for New York State and their research on heat vulnerability and cooling centers. Speakers will provide examples of what municipalities can do to help protect their communities from the health impacts of climate change.

Please provide us with your name and community affiliation, either via email or telephone to the Office of Climate Change at climatechange@dec.ny.gov or 518-402-8448. In the event that we cancel or postpone this webinar, respondents will be notified.

To join the webinar on December 7th, follow these steps:
First, click on this link: https://meetny.webex.com/meetny/onstage/g.php?MTID=e0212d65256f64f8ac0cb12d0314653af
Enter your name and email address.
Enter the meeting password: NYSDEC1
Click "Join".
Click “Call Me” in the onscreen “Audio Connection” box and enter your phone number to join the audio portion through your telephone.

Alternatively, call 1-844-633-8697 and enter the Event Number: 644 863 535, followed by your attendee ID (which will be displayed on your screen in the “Event Info” tab) to join the audio portion. The attendee ID is recommended but not required. It is also an option to join the audio portion via your computer speakers (provided your computer has a microphone).

Two days before webinar, test the computer you plan to use by clicking on the following link: http://www.webex.com/test-meeting.html

For assistance with WebEx, go to https://meetny.webex.com/meetny/mc and click "Support" on the left navigation bar.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This WebEx service includes a feature that allows audio and any documents and other materials exchanged or viewed during the session to be recorded. By joining this session, you automatically consent to such recordings. If you do not consent to the recording, discuss your concerns with the meeting host prior to the start of the recording or do not join the session. Please note that any such recordings may be subject to discovery in the event of litigation.

New Report: Oil and Gas Industry Pressures and Intimidates Scientists Critical of Fracking

BUFFALO, NY – A new report from the Public Accountability Initiative (PAI), a nonprofit watchdog group, finds that the oil and gas industry has been pressuring and intimidating scientists conducting research critical of fracking. 

The report, titled “Freedom Fracked?”, reviews cases where university researchers have been pressured by  – or even fired from – their institutions due to their criticism, either actual or perceived, of the drilling industry. It is the latest in a series of PAI reports bringing transparency to the industry’s role in shaping academic research on fracking.

The issue has recently made headlines in Oklahoma, where Harold Hamm, CEO of Continental Resources, obtained meetings with and apparently sought firings at the Oklahoma Geological Survey as it came closer to acknowledging a link between the disposal of fracking wastewater and the rash of earthquakes that has struck the state in recent years. David Boren, president of the University of Oklahoma (which houses the Oklahoma Geological Survey), sits on the board of directors of Hamm’s company.

PAI’s report raises questions about the Energy Information Administration’s decision to make Hamm a keynote speaker, alongside Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, at its energy conference next week.

The report notes that the Oklahoma story, while particularly egregious, is far from the only case in which academic researchers have come under extreme pressure from industry, in some cases losing their jobs as a result.

“This is a clear trend of oil and gas interests exerting their influence to quiet scientists with whom they disagree.” said Kevin Connor, director of the Public Accountability Initiative.

The Oklahoma scandal parallels that of Geoffrey Thyne, a geologist who lost jobs at both the Colorado School of Mines and the University of Wyoming, due to “pushback from alumni and trustees” at the industry-connected schools. As in Oklahoma, Bill Scoggins – the president of the Colorado School of Mines when Thyne was let go – was a paid board member of several oil and gas firms. Scoggins was also a director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association at the time, a lobbying group that Thyne said pressured his bosses into terminating his research.

A third researcher, Dan Volz, resigned from his position at the University of Pittsburgh after the school discouraged him from speaking on public health issues – and after his work came under attack by industry.

“The industry’s efforts to stifle academic criticism of fracking while promoting its own biased research shows that it is more concerned with optics than developing a sound scientific record,” said Connor. “They will resort to smears and attacks if a researcher’s work does not fit their narrative that the science is settled in favor of fracking.”

The issue of industry pressure on scientific research on fracking is timely given the release last week of the Environmental Protection Agency’s assessment of the impacts of hydraulic fracturing operations on drinking water, and reports that the industry had refused to cooperate with the investigation.

PAI is a non-profit, non-partisan watchdog group focused on corporate and government accountability issues. In addition to publishing research on critical public accountability issues, PAI maintains LittleSis.org, an involuntary facebook of powerful people and tool for power research that was used to compile data for the report.

The report is available here: http://public-accountability.org/2015/06/freedom-fracked/ 

EPA Confirms that Fracking Poses a Risk to Drinking Water - TAKE ACTION

Thursday, June 4, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the EPA released a study that confirms that fracking poses a risk to drinking water sources.

Fracking is inherently dirty and dangerous. In a review of its records, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection found that 234 private drinking water wells had been contaminated by drilling and fracking. In Colorado, more than 340 leaks or spills that contaminated groundwater have been reported. In New Mexico, state records document 743 such instances. These examples offer just a glimpse of the dangers posed by dirty fracking.  

In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement:

“The EPA's water quality study confirms what millions of Americans already know - that dirty oil and gas fracking contaminates drinking water.

“Unfortunately, the EPA chose to leave many critical questions unanswered. For example, the study did not look at this issue under the lens of public health and ignored numerous threats that fracking poses to drinking water. The EPA must conduct a comprehensive study that results in action to protect public health.

“Instead of blindly allowing destructive fracking to continue in our communities, we should extend statewide fracking bans, like the one in New York, and moratoriums, like the one in Maryland, that will keep dirty, climate-polluting fossil fuels like fracked gas in the ground and invest in truly clean, renewable sources of energy that don’t come with the threat of poisoned drinking water and climate disaster.”

Contact: Jonathon Berman, jonathon.berman@sierraclub.org

~   ~   ~   ~

Tell the EPA to Protect Our 

Drinking Water From Fracking

The EPA released a long-awaited study about fracking impacts on drinking water. The oil and gas industry cheered the results because of its skewed methodology and the pro-industry spin that accompanied its release.

While the study did acknowledge what existing scientific data and countless personal experiences have already shown – that fracking does indeed contaminate groundwater resources – its headline and conclusion misleadingly assert that we shouldn't be worried about fracking impacting drinking water.

The study falls far short of the level of scrutiny and government oversight needed to protect the health and safety of the many millions of Americans living in watersheds impacted by fracking — nearly 10 million within one mile of a fracked well, according to the study.

TAKE ACTION: Click Here to tell EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy that the American people deserve better.

Image: Ray Kemble outside US EPA holding contaminated water from Dimock, PA.

Local Residents Travel to Meeting of Coal Plant Shareholders

NRG’s Coal-Powered Business Model Holds Back

 Local Clean Energy Vision

PHILADELPHIA -  As NRG Energy shareholders prepared to meet on May 7, 2015 for the power company’s annual meeting, residents representing four of the communities where NRG operates its coal-fired power plants called on the company to be a local partner in the shift away from coal to clean, renewable energy. Many of the residents are NRG shareholders and will be attending the company’s meeting in Philadelphia.

While NRG aims to reduce carbon emissions 90 percent by the year 2050, that goal puts communities that have dealt with coal pollution for decades on the hook for more pollution and years of uncertainty. NRG has a strong track record for clean energy investments in select communities, but residents are hoping to show shareholders that the majority of NRG’s business is anchored in the company’s coal fleet.

The Waukegan coal plant in Illinois, which NRG acquired in 2014, has operated on the shores of Lake Michigan for almost 60 years. Community members have called for a clear timeline on phasing out coal at the power plant for many years, but NRG has yet to commit, leaving open questions for local community leaders hoping to revitalize the city.

 "I believe that through a partnership with Waukegan, NRG has the opportunity to invest in the clean energy future we all want, and that NRG can help us change the landscape of Waukegan," Waukegan City Council Member David Villalobos, who lives near NRG’s Waukegan Coal Plant. "I'm here in Philadelphia this week to address NRG's Board of Directors to tell them that a transparent transition from coal to clean energy can help Waukegan plan and grow."

Residents from Tonawanda, NY have a similar call for a 'just transition' away from fossil fuels at NRG’s Huntley coal-fired plant near Buffalo.

“Renewable energy and energy efficiency provide tremendous opportunities for jobs, local economic development and cleaner air,” said Diana Strablow, a retired teacher from Tonawanda, NY near NRG’s Huntley Coal Plant. “I plan to ask NRG for a plan to ensure that the vision is ‘clean, renewable energy for all,’ and not ‘clean, renewable energy for some.’

Many residents will share their experiences with pollution from NRG’s coal fleet. NRG’s Cheswick coal plant near Pittsburgh, PA is one of the single largest sources of air pollution in Allegheny County.

“We are urging NRG to be a good neighbor in our community by installing and operating the best technology available while it continues to burn coal here” said Barb Szalai, a community member from Springdale, PA who lives near NRG’s Cheswick Coal Plant. “If NRG cannot do its part to clean up its pollution, we urge the company to be a partner in our community’s transition away from coal.”

The city of Baltimore, MD experiences exceptionally high levels of pollution. Earlier this year, After more than fifteen months of intensive engagement with industry and the public health community, Maryland's Department of the Environment finalized new protections against air pollution from the state’s coal-fired power plants. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan frustrated Maryland citizens when he dropped these vital safeguards the day he took office, an outcome that NRG lobbied for.

“Every community deserves clean air, and we’re calling on NRG to be a partner in our efforts to clean up our air in Baltimore. NRG knows that the giant centralized utility model is one of the past,” said Talya Tavor, a community member and local organizer from Baltimore, MD who lives near NRG’s Dickerson and Chalk Point Coal Plants.  “We're living in an era where people value energy freedom and customer choice. That freedom and choice should extend to ALL communities; not just some.”

Press Release Contact: Emily Rosenwasser, Emily.Rosenwasser@sierraclub.org 

TALK: Climate Change, Energy Efficiency and Public Health

Fracking Waste: A Radioactive Legacy for New York?

        New York Landfills Import Hazardous Fracking Waste -- TAKE ACTION to Protect Our  Environment and Health

By David Kowalski .

Marcellus Shale contains radioactive materials, including uranium and its decay products, radium and radon. Normally, the radioactive material is safely buried deep underground. However, shale gas drilling and fracking bring radioactivity in solids and liquid wastewater to the surface, posing a risk to the environment and public health if not properly managed.

Radium and radon can cause cancer if ingested or inhaled. Radium causes leukemia and bone cancer. Radon, a gaseous decay product of radium, is the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers.

In 2009, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) found radium levels in Marcellus Shale wastewater that are thousands of times greater than that allowed in drinking water by the Environmental Protection Agency, and up to 267 times the limit for safe discharge into the environment.

Exemption from a key federal regulation allows gas industry solid and liquid waste to pass as “non-hazardous.” However, it is becoming more widely appreciated that the waste can contain radioactive materials, in which case it should be regulated as "hazardous" waste and be managed accordingly.

Drilling and fracking waste in the form of sludge from Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale has triggered radiation alarms at municipal landfills. The sludge contains flowback fluids, frack sand and other fluids. Sludge must contain at least 20% solids according to the DEC, implying that it could contain as much as 80% flowback fluid and other fluids containing soluble radioactive material.

Liquid leachate from landfills is sent to wastewater treatment plants unequipped to monitor or remove radioactive materials, threatening drinking water sources.

Waste from drilling and fracking in Pennsylvania has been imported by 6 New York landfills  (see Map at bottom of page), including one in Niagara Falls that is not permitted to receive radioactive waste.

In West Virginia, tons of waste from Marcellus natural gas wells are going to municipal landfills, and radioactivity is leaching into surface water.

In the first four months of 2014, nine loads of Pennsylvania shale gas drilling waste were rejected by local landfills because of higher-than-normal radioactivity. Some of this radioactive drilling waste was shipped from Pennsylvania to West Virginia landfills that are not required to monitor radioactivity.

The gas industry has not identified methods to safely dispose the hazardous, radioactive waste and is shipping it to municipal landfills. It would be costly for industry to properly dispose the waste at a facility licensed to handle radioactive waste, but this is exactly what must be done to protect the environment and public health.

The industry is also failing to cleanup the hazardous, radioactive material in fracking wastewater. A peer-reviewed scientific paper reported radium levels of 200 times background in Pennsylvania’s Blacklick Creek sediments downstream of a specialized fracking wastewater treatment plant. A large portion of the radioactivity in the fracking wastewater appeared to have been removed before discharge into the waterway, but it is not clear where that radioactive material was disposed.

Avner Vengosh, the Duke University researcher who led the scientific study, said that "once you have a release of fracking fluid into the environment, you end up with a radioactive legacy." Contamination by radium, which has a half-life of 1602 years, will persist in the environment for many thousands of years.

Radioactive materials are present in a variety of gas-bearing formations, not just the Marcellus. Radioactivity can be present in the wastewater not only after high-volume fracking, but also following low-volume fracking, which is currently permitted in New York.

The DEC permits spreading fracking waste called 'brine' (salty wastewater) obtained from low-volume fracking wells and gas storage facilities on roads for de-icing, dust control and road stabilization as well as on land for dust control. Spreading applications of fracking brine have been approved for use in portions of at least 23 municipalities in 7 western New York counties: Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Genessee, Wyoming, and Seneca. Also, the New York State Department of Transportation Region 6 received approval to spread brine from natural gas storage on State roads in portions of Steuben, Allegany, Chemung, Schuyler, and Yates Counties.

Spreading of any fracking wastewater on roads or land should not be permitted without first testing for radioactive materials. If radium and radon are present, aerosols and dust containing radium could be inhaled along with radon gas. Radium in liquid runoff that makes its way into drinking water and fish could be ingested.

Radium and radon in waste from shale gas drilling and fracking pose a serious threat to the environment and public health. Cancers induced by ingestion or inhalation of these radioactive materials can take years to develop.

Regulation of radioactive waste in gas drilling is just as lax now as it was shown to be in investigative reports of 2011. The public should demand that the New York State Legislature pass laws to protect our water, land, air and health from the dire consequences of long-lived radioactive contamination.

NY State Senator Tkaczyk sponsored a common-sense bill to ban transportation of fracking waste from Pennsylvania and elsewhere into New York and ban disposal. However, the bill was defeated in the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee in a straight party-line vote (7 Nays by Republicans to 6 Ayes by Democrats).

A key bill sponsored by Senator Avella (S674), and the 'same as' bill sponsored by Assemblyman Sweeney (A1046), would close the loophole that allows fracking waste to be designated as "non-hazardous," despite the fact that it can be hazardous in ways described above. Fracking waste needs to be monitored. If it contains radioactive or toxic materials, it should be regulated as "hazardous" waste and be stored, transported, and disposed in ways that protect the environment and health. As stated in the bill, "If not treated properly, hazardous waste can, among other concerns, lead to contaminated air, drinking water, soil, and food."

TAKE ACTION: Contact your NY State Senator (Click Here) and Assembly Member (Click Here) and ask them to co-sponsor the bills (S674 and A1046) to protect our environment and health.

Public input is more important than ever given heavy campaign contributions to state legislators from the natural gas industry.

In the absence of New York State laws, the public has little choice but to call for municipal bans on fracking waste in order to protect our environment and health.

An abbreviated version of this article was published in The Buffalo News on May 29, 2014.

Sources of Pennsylvania drilling/fracking waste disposed at 6 New York landfills
Credits: Karen Edelstein, NYS Coordinator for FracTracker Alliance

Gov. Cuomo: Protect our Health and Safety from Fracking

Governor Cuomo has promised to complete the "most comprehensive health review ever done" on the potential public health risks of fracking before making any decisions regarding whether or not to allow the practice in New York State.

Over two dozen environmental and public health organizations have launched www.callcuomo.com to remind the Governor of his promise to put the health and safety of New Yorkers first.  If you have not already done so, please take a moment to show your support and let the Governor know that you haven’t forgotten his words.

Take Action: Call Governor Cuomo today at (866) 584-6799 and tell him that he must keep his promise to protect our health and safety, and wait for the science and facts from critical health studies before making a decision about whether to move forward on fracking.

Sierra Club Launches Statewide Renewable Energy Campaign

Event in Buffalo kicks off Renewable Energy Week Asking Governor Cuomo: “Let’s Turn, Not Burn.” 

Buffalo, NY: On Tuesday, April 16, the Sierra Club Niagara Group will join with Western New York Council on Occupational Safety & Health, WNY Drilling Defense, WNY Peace Center, Clean Air Coalition of Western New York, PUSH Buffalo, Re-ENERGIZE Buffalo, Riverside-Salem United Church of Christ, Wind Action Group, and Residents for Responsible Government to hold a press conference on the Buffalo waterfront at Dug’s Dive to launch the “Let’s Turn, Not Burn” campaign. It kicks off Sierra Club’s Renewable Energy Week, which includes events across the state and a robust advertising campaign in Buffalo, Rochester, Binghamton, Auburn and Albany calling on Governor Cuomo to take administrative action to create jobs and grow the economy with renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power.

WHAT:  Press conference to launch Renewable Energy Week in New York State

WHO:

• Prof. Robert Howarth of Cornell University
• Mayor Paul Dyster of Niagara Falls
• Bob Ciesielski Energy Committee Chair, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter and Niagara Group
• Erin Heaney, Director, Clean Air Coalition of Western New York
• Lynda Schneekloth, Chair of Sierra Club Niagara Group

WHEN: Tuesday, April 16 at 10:00 a.m.

WHERE:  Buffalo waterfront at Dug’s Dive, 1111 Fuhrmann Boulevard, Buffalo, New York 14203

VISUALS: Fully operational wind turbines visible from the location, banners, people with signs

Background:

At a time when the state’s remaining coal plants are increasingly uneconomical, the “Let’s Turn, Not Burn” campaign is asking the Governor use his administrative power to bring job-creating renewable energy online to replace outdated coal, gas and nuclear plants, and meet and extend the state’s renewable energy goals. Upstate New York is well positioned to benefit from a renewable energy economy because of its potential for both wind and solar power and ready work force. Developing these sources would cut dangerous pollution and fulfill the Governor’s commitment to economic development in upstate.

Update 4.16.2013, 1pm:  Click here to see photos of event and full page Buffalo News ad.

Incomplete Health Review Delays NY Fracking Decision

Health review needs “additional time”; Fracking deadline expected to be missed (UPDATED)
By Jon Campbell
February 12, 2013

The state’s top health regulator on Tuesday signaled he would need more time to complete his review of large-scale hydraulic fracturing, but the head of the Department of Environmental Conservation says it may delay a decision on fracking for weeks, not months.

State Health Commissioner Nirav Shah wrote in a letter Tuesday that his review of the health impacts of fracking will “require additional time to complete based on the complexity of the issues.”

With Shah’s review still incomplete, the DEC will not be able to issue a dense, lengthy environmental impact statement on Wednesday—a requirement if the agency wishes to meet a Feb. 27 deadline for its regulations. If the DEC misses the late-February deadline, it would have to reintroduce the rules and open them to public comment for at least 45 days.

But in a separate statement issued Tuesday, DEC Commissioner Joe Martens indicated his agency would move forward with issuing fracking permits without regulations in place—if the health review doesn’t turn up any major issues.

“If the DOH Public Health Review finds that the (Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement) has adequately addressed health concerns, and I adopt the SGEIS on that basis, DEC can accept and process high-volume hydraulic fracturing permit applications 10 days after issuance of the SGEIS,” Martens said. “The regulations simply codify the program requirements.”

Shah wrote that his review will be completed “within a few weeks.”

Shah’s review was launched in late September, when he was tasked with determining if the DEC’s planned guidelines for fracking are adequate to protect public health.

In his letter to Martens Tuesday, Shah said his team is reviewing three outside, health-related studies that have been underway or are just being launched, including one by the University of Pennsylvania and another by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

He also revealed that he has extended agreements with three academic health consultants who have been assisting with his review. Last week, the three consultants revealed that their work had been completed several weeks ago.

“My team and I will be in Pennsylvania and Washington in the coming days for first-hand briefings on these studies and their progress, which will assist in informing the New York review,” Shah wrote in his letter to Martens.

Here is the Shah Letter to Martens

The original article was posted at Politics on the Hudson. 

Shale Gas Drillers Fail to Comply with Regulations Protecting Health and Environment

The PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center released a report  entitled "Risky Business: An Analysis of Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling Violations in Pennsylvania 2008-2011" on February 8, 2012.

Using records obtained by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP), the Center identified a total of 3,355 violations of environmental laws by 64 different Marcellus Shale gas drilling companies between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2011.  Of these violations, the Center identified 2,392 violations that likely posed a direct threat to our environment. These were not reporting or paperwork violations. 

Moreover, the PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center believes these numbers offer a conservative view of environmental violations taking place across the Pennsylvania by Marcellus Shale gas drilling companies. These data only include violations discovered by PADEP’s enforcement staff. Yet based upon the number of wells drilled and limited PADEP enforcement staff, further violations that have gone undetected are likely.

The greatest numbers of environmental violations were related to improper erosion and sedimentation plans: 625 (26% of all violations likely to impact the environment). The second greatest number involved faulty pollution prevention techniques: 550 (23% of violations likely to impact the environment).

Between 2008 and 2011, on average, Pennsylvania saw more than two violations per day uncovered by PADEP, roughly 1.5 of which had the greatest potential to impact the environment.

PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center identified 963 violations (29% of all violations) that seemed less likely to directly endanger the environment or the safety of communities. Their report focuses on the violations that have the greatest potential for directly impacting Pennsylvania’s environment.

The report concludes that "Marcellus Shale gas drilling companies are either unable or unwilling to comply with basic environmental laws that have been put in place to protect the health and environment of Pennsylvanians."

PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center recommends in the report that "certain policy handles must be implemented in order to stop the rampant rate of environmental violations that drilling companies commit in Pennsylvania each year."

Visit the PENN Environment Web site to download the report and to see information about the author and sources of foundation support. 

Commentary ~ by David Kowalski 
It's interesting to compare the PENN Environment results with those in a new report by the University at Buffalo (UB) Shale Resources and Society Institute (SRSI). The latter report is entitled "Environmental Impacts during Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling: Causes, Impacts and Remedies" (released May 15, 2012 and revised June 6, 2012). Both reports analyzed PADEP data but they arrived at very different conclusions.

Global Day for Climate Action: LOCAL EVENT TODAY

Today, all around our planet, people will connect the dots between fossil fuel extraction, global warming, health and the extreme weather that has reshaped so much of the American landscape this year. The global event is being coordinated by 350.org, a climate action campaign that advocates a transition to clean energy.

LOCAL EVENT

WHAT: RALLY: Move beyond fossil fuels -- Shift to clean, sustainable energy
WHERE: In front of the Coal-fired power plant at 3500 River Rd, Tonawanda [Map]
WHEN: 1pm - 3pm on Saturday, May 5, 2012
WEAR: Black if possible

SPEAKERS:

•  Alan Lockwood, accomplished Emeritus Professor of Neurology and Nuclear Medicine at UB, Director and Co-Chair of the Environmental Health Committee and member of Physicians for Social Responsibility

• Rita Yelda, anti-fracking rockstar, of Food and Water Watch. She's also the founder of WNY Drilling Defense

• Subhashni Raj, 350.org organizer from the Pacific Islands of Fiji, which are being impacted by rising sea levels, flooding, and loss of coral reefs

• Bill Nowak, a well-established pillar in the community, on behalf of the Sierra Club's Clean Energy Campaign

• Henry Raess, cycling visionary at Green Options (GO) Buffalo, to talk about green transportation alternatives

• Andrew Randazzo, organizer for 350.org's Buffalo Chapter and advocate for local citizens affected by the coal-burning plant

The event is hosted by Teresa Watson and Andrew Randazzo.

Link to a cool flyer is HERE. 

Announcement of the event in The Buffalo News.
 

HydroFracking News Briefs

Excerpts from articles in the news and blogs

NY State Won't Fund Hydrofracking Health Impact Study
By David Kowalski
April 4, 2012 

The $132,600,000,000 budget passed by New York State last week did not include funds for a $100,000 study intended to protect the health of NY residents from the fallout of high-volume hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) already seen in other states. 

Many lawmakers, as well as the governor and the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), seem bent on moving forward on unconventional shale-gas drilling. Sadly, they ignored sound advice from 250 physicians and healthcare/scientific experts who recognize the lack of a Health Impact Assessment as a major flaw in the DEC’s draft hydrofracking regulations. 

Senator Mark Grisanti said "It's very difficult to do a health study on high-volume hydraulic fracturing in NY state when it's not occurring here."

Read the full article here and see a video by Dr. Sandra Steingraber entitled "Will NY Regs on Fracking Protect Our Health?"
 
Another Voice / Hydraulic fracturing
New Yorkers have a right to know the health impacts
By Lois Marie Gibbs and Larysa Melnyk Dyrszka
April 10, 2012
 
New York State may be on the verge of allowing fracking on a large scale across the state. Yet, despite all of the information indicating that there will be negative impacts on our communities and public health from fracking, our elected officials have not yet studied the potential health impacts to identify the risks involved.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has stated repeatedly that science will drive New York’s decision on whether to proceed with this extreme form of fossil fuel extraction. But on the issue of health, the science hasn’t been done. The New York State Assembly has called for an independent health impact assessment on fracking by including an appropriation in its budget proposal. The State Senate and the governor should follow suit and ensure that this critical study is funded in the final budget.

As chairman of the Senate’s Environmental Conservation Committee and member of the Budget Conference Committee, Buffalo’s own Mark Grisanti has a critical role to play. He can and should fight for this appropriation in the Senate and the governor’s office.

Read the full article at BuffaloNews.com

Grisanti proposes fracking safeguards
Bill would prohibit treatment of water at public facilities
By Charlie Specht
April 7, 2012

State Sen. Mark J. Grisanti on Friday announced legislation that would prohibit treatment of water from hydraulic fracturing at public facilities statewide, create a tracking program for the waste and enact other environmental safeguards.

But Grisanti, chairman of the Senate Committee on Environmental Conservation, said he would not support or oppose the controversial gas drilling process until the state completes its final environmental impact study.

“It’s preliminary,” he said. “It’s too early to tell.”

As Grisanti was confronted by environmental activists demanding a complete ban on fracking, his chief political opponent called for more education on the issue before any action is taken.

“We need to see the full scope of their final draft of regulations before we rush to start the drilling,” former Erie County Legislature Chairman Charles M. Swanick said as he urged consideration of alternative energy methods.

Read the full report at BuffaloNews.com and see a video of Sen. Grisanti's presentation and the reactions of fracking opponents including Rita Yelda of Food & Water Watch.

Links to Press Releases

Senator Grisanti announces legislative package aimed at protecting our environment with regards to hydrofracking
By Mark Grisanti  - April 4, 2012 
Contains links to the proposed legislation.

Coalition Urges NY Sen. Grisanti to Support Statewide Fracking Ban 
By New Yorkers Against Fracking - April 5, 2012  

New Yorkers to Senator Grisanti: Ban Fracking
By Rita Yelda - April 6, 2012