A Campaign for Natural Solutions to the Climate Crisis

A natural solution to the climate disaster

Climate and ecological crises can be tackled by restoring forests and other valuable ecosystems, say scientists and activists

Letters | April 3, 2019 | The Guardian

The world faces two existential crises, developing with terrifying speed: climate breakdown and ecological breakdown. Neither is being addressed with the urgency needed to prevent our life-support systems from spiralling into collapse. We are writing to champion a thrilling but neglected approach to averting climate chaos while defending the living world: natural climate solutions. This means drawing carbon dioxide out of the air by protecting and restoring ecosystems.

By defending, restoring and re-establishing forests, peatlands, mangroves, salt marshes, natural seabeds and other crucial ecosystems, large amounts of carbon can be removed from the air and stored. At the same time, the protection and restoration of these ecosystems can help minimize a sixth great extinction, while enhancing local people’s resilience against climate disaster. Defending the living world and defending the climate are, in many cases, one and the same. This potential has so far been largely overlooked.

We call on governments to support natural climate solutions with an urgent program of research, funding and political commitment. It is essential that they work with the guidance and free, prior and informed consent of indigenous people and other local communities.

This approach should not be used as a substitute for the rapid and comprehensive de-carbonisation of industrial economies. A committed and well-funded program to address all the causes of climate chaos, including natural climate solutions, could help us hold the heating of the planet below 1.5C.

We ask that they are deployed with the urgency these crises demand.

Greta Thunberg Activist
Margaret Atwood Author
Michael Mann Distinguished professor of atmospheric science
Naomi Klein Author and campaigner
Mohamed Nasheed Former president, the Maldives
Rowan Williams former Archbishop of Canterbury
Dia Mirza Actor and UN environment goodwill ambassador
Brian Eno Musician and artist
Philip Pullman Author
Bill McKibben Author and campaigner
Simon Lewis Professor of global change science
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Presenter and author
Charlotte Wheeler Forest restoration scientist
David Suzuki Scientist and author
Anohni Musician and artist
Asha de Vos Marine biologist
Yeb Saño Activist
Bittu Sahgal Founder, Sanctuary Nature Foundation
John Sauven Executive director, Greenpeace UK
Craig Bennett CEO, Friends of the Earth
Ruth Davis Deputy director of global programmes, RSPB
Rebecca Wrigley Chief executive, Rewilding Britain
George Monbiot Journalist

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For additional details, see:

The natural world can help save us from climate catastrophe

Ecological restoration can be a powerful means of protecting the atmosphere – we need to rewild on a massive scale 

By George Monbiot | April 3, 2019 |  The Guardian

Ban Use of Styrofoam Food Packaging - Take Action!

On March 26, the Buffalo Common Council allowed for a 30 day comment period on potential legislation to ban the use of Expanded Polystyrene Food Packaging, more commonly known by the trademark name Styrofoam. The base legislation would ban the use of foam food service cups, plates, bowls, and clamshell containers. 

These products are neither recyclable nor bio-degradable. Their continued use and disposal has fouled our environment and harmed fish and wildlife.

This type of legislation has been passed around the country, with a momentum boost given by the enactment of a ban in New York City effective 1/1/19.  The City of Buffalo was nearly the first major city in the country to ban Styrofoam in 1990, but backed out when the county refused to join in on the ban. That is not the issue this time, as the City has not tied this into a wider, regional ban. However, the leadership in Erie County today would be more amenable to joining in on a ban.

TAKE ACTION to Help Ban Styrofoam Food Packaging

Mail or email Councilman Pridgen’s office (and your District Councilman’s office if you live in Buffalo) by April 25th voicing your support for a ban on Styrofoam (See a sample letter - Click here). 

Contact information:
Darius G. Pridgen, Council President & Ellicott District,
65 Niagara Sq., Rm 1315, Buffalo, NY 14202

Email: dpridgen@city-buffalo.com
Call: (716) 851 – 4980

Thank you for your help!

This effort was started as part of a campaign Bring NYC’s Styrofoam Ban to My Hometown! through the Sierra Club Niagara Group.

John Szalasny
Sierra Club Niagara Group Executive Committee
Email: sierraniagara.john@gmail.com

NOT recyclable or bio-degradable - Fouling Our Environment

Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper - Register for Annual Shoreline Sweep

JOIN US FOR THE 14th ANNUAL SHORELINE SWEEP!

Saturday, May 11, 2019 from 10:00 AM -12:00 PM

Be part of WNY’s largest single-day shoreline cleanup!

This is your opportunity to join the effort to protect and revitalize our waterways by cleaning up shoreline trash, including single-use plastics that can harm fish and wildlife.

With over 60 sites to choose from, find one close to home or explore somewhere new! Join us afterwards at the volunteer appreciation party.

To Register for both a cleanup site and the party, click here.

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Shoreline Cleanup preparations at Ellicott Creek Park in 2018

PLASTIC POLLUTION: The Need to Move Beyond Single-Use Plastic Packaging

Registration required to attend - Click Here

 

Free Film Screening: National Geographic Film on Climate Change

National Geographic Climate Change Film: 

'Paris to Pittsburgh'

Set against the national debate over the United States’ energy future — and the explosive decision to exit the Paris Climate Agreement — 'Paris to Pittsburgh' captures what's at stake for communities around the country and the inspiring ways Americans are responding.

Free Public Film Screening:

Monday, April 8, 7:00pm, Daemen College, Schenck Hall (Rm. 107), Amherst [Map]

From coastal cities to America’s heartland, ‘Paris to Pittsburgh’ celebrates how Americans are demanding and developing real solutions in the face of climate change. 

And as the weather grows more deadly and destructive, they aren’t waiting on Washington to act.

“There are now more jobs in renewable energy in the state of Pennsylvania than coal, natural gas, and oil combined.” — Bill Peduto, Mayor of Pittsburgh

View the film trailer: click here.

TALK: Diesel-Electric Locomotives and Environmental Sustainability

Environmentalist and life-long rail fan Walter Simpson will present his new information-packed, beautifully illustrated book which explains in detail:

•     How all energy-related components of a contemporary diesel-electric locomotive work

•     Locomotive fuel economy measures shrouded in secrecy by the railroad industry

•     Emissions regulation and technology

•     Railroad motive power options to address the threat of climate change

The Museum’s model railroad layout will be open and running 5-6 pm and the Singing Brakemen will sing train songs beginning at 5:30. Walter’s book will be available at special event discount price. 

Admission: Museum members free; others $5. 

For more information about Simpson’s book, see www.diesel-electric-locomotives.com. For more information about this event, email enconser@buffalo.edu

Sponsors: The Buffalo History Museum. Co-sponsored by the Citizens for Regional Transit, Niagara Frontier Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, Partnership for the Public Good, Sierra Club Niagara Group, WNY Environmental Alliance, WNY Peace Center, WNY Railway Historical Society.

Free Showing of DARK MONEY - a Documentary Film

League of Women Voters of Buffalo/Niagara 

presents the documentary film 

DARK MONEY

What role do secret donors play in our elections?

What about super PACs, whose names often obscure their intent, and whose spending is unconstrained?

The public is invited to discuss these issues and the role of money in politics after viewing the DARK MONEY film.

DATE:    Saturday, March 30, 2019

TIME:     Registration at 12:30 p.m., film airs at 1:00 p.m.

PLACE:   Harlem Road Community Center, 4255 Harlem Road, Amherst [Map]

First aired on PBS, DARK MONEY is an award-winning 83-minute political thriller that depicts how funding from secret, out-of-state sources was used to buy influence with state legislators in Montana, and how a determined investigative journalist exposed their activities. 

The program is FREE and Open to the Public.

Light refreshments will be provided.

Reservations are requested and can be made by sending email to lwvbn@lwvbn.org, or by calling the League office at 716-986-4898. 

U.S. Senator Schumer blasts Republican Denial of Human-caused Climate Crisis

By David Kowalski

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) delivered an important speech on the Senate floor (Feb. 14), standing up for the reality of a climate change crisis, its human causation, and the need for Congress to act to address the existential threat to the planet, our children, grandchildren and all of us right now. 

Schumer issued a challenge to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Republican colleagues, most all of whom deny the reality of human-caused climate change. Schumer said:

"I challenge leader McConnell to say that our climate change crisis is real, that it is caused by humans, and that congress needs to act. 

That is what two-thirds of the American people agree with, two-thirds.

I would say to our Republican colleagues this is no game. It is no joke. Climate change is deadly serious. And the time for all of us to treat it that way is now before it is too late."

Schumer's speech was a response to McConnell's plan to bring the Democrats' non-binding 'Green New Deal' resolution up for a vote so that he and Republican Senators could vote against it.

Schumer said: 

"I hope the American people are paying attention because they need to see what's going on here. The American people need to see that this is all there is to the Republican plan to deal with climate change. This is all they can muster. A political stunt, not designed to make progress, not designed to move the ball forward." 

"So when the Republican leader says he wants to bring the 'Green New Deal' up for a vote, I say go for it. Bring it on!"

Schumer concluded, "Let's see if anything is changed since 2015 when only five brave Republicans were able to vote yes on a resolution saying climate change is real and caused by humans."

The full Senate session was taped by C-span. I made a Video clip of Schumer’s climate speech. To view the Video clip on the C-span website, click here.

Below is the Transcript of U.S. Senator Schumer's Climate Speech:

NY Climate and Community Protection Act targets Renewable Energy, Jobs & Justice

Momentum grows for New York’s Landmark Climate-Equity Bill

By Greta Moran | Feb 16, 2019 | Grist

Walter Cooper, a labor union leader, stood on the steps of New York City Hall to fight for new kind of contract.

“We need a contract for a future of our state and for our communities,” Cooper said in support of the Climate and Community Protection Act, a bill making its way through the state legislature.

Cooper’s labor union is part of New York Renews, a broad coalition of 160 labor, climate, and community groups that has been pushing for climate justice since 2015. The Climate and Community Protection Act would move New York to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. The bill’s labor and justice measures have garnered it wide grassroots support. And increasingly, the attention of lawmakers.

On Thursday, as part of New York Senate’s first-ever hearing on climate change, testimonies were heard on behalf of the bill. The legislation would make its goals across energy, transportation, and buildings legally enforceable — a contract with the environment.

The hearing, chaired by Senator Todd Kaminsky, signaled the Democrats’ fresh resolve to address climate change.

It’s not the first time the CCPA has come close to becoming law: Last April, it passed in the Assembly for the third time. But the Senate’s leaders didn’t allow it to come to the floor for a vote. Now that Democrats control the Senate, the passage of the bill — or a similarly ambitious climate bill — is looking more likely.

“The CCPA is the main vehicle through which we will address climate change and these hearings will go a long way toward ensuring that all stakeholders will have input in the legislative process,” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said in a statement.

Along with mandated energy goals, the CCPA would require that state agencies consider not only climate but also equity in their decisions. It would require fair labor standards for jobs created in renewable energy and would invest 40 percent of the state’s energy funds in communities likely to be hardest hit by climate change.