Global Warming/Energy Committee

     Addressing climate change is Sierra Club’s number one priority.

Addressing climate change is Sierra Club’s number one priority.  

Find the 2% Solution: "The world's scientists agree: Global warming is real, here, and happening faster than anyone predicted. But scientists also say we can curb global warming and its consequences -- if we take bold, comprehensive action now that adds up to at least an 80 percent cut in carbon emissions by 2050, or 2 percent a year. "

By Bette Heger

Chair, Global Warming/Energy Committee

SOME GOOD NEWS

1.  Purdue University has cancelled plans for a new campus coal plant, making the plant the 150th to be defeated or abandoned since the beginning of the coal rush in 2001. Thanks in part to the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, in the last two years no new coal plants have started construction and the industry has announced the phase out of over 50 plants.  Purdue was the only university in the country planning to build a new coal plant. At the same time, nearly a dozen other schools have committed to ending their dependence on campus coal plants by switching to cleaner sources of energy.

“The way people, businesses, governments and schools think about energy has shifted. The dirty coal status-quo is no longer acceptable,” said Mary Anne Hitt, director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. “It is clear that clean energy technologies—ones that don’t spew life-threatening pollution into our air and water—are the way to a prosperous, secure energy future.”

“The pollution from these coal plants is making us sick, worsening asthma, stifling childhood development and cutting short thousands of lives. Phasing out coal is essential to cleaning up our air and water, and protecting our families,” said Verena Owen volunteer chair of the Beyond Coal Campaign. “Making the switch to clean energy, like wind and solar, is good for our health, but it will also create jobs, which makes it good for our economy too.”

2.  The EPA announced its decision mid-January to protect mountain communities and the health of Appalachian citizens by vetoing the largest single mountaintop removal coal mining permit in Appalachian history, the Spruce No. 1 Mine in West Virginia.  It couldn’t have happened without the grassroots efforts of many organizational members throughout the region and the country as the EPA reviewed 50,000 comments from concerned citizens.  EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is showing a strong commitment to the law, the science and the principles of environmental justice. She deserves enormous credit for changing policies to protect Appalachia’s health, land and water.  (But stay tuned to the current efforts in Congress to restrict the efforts of the EPA to enforce the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts.)

BUT BAD NEWS AS WELL

1.  Mountaintop Removal (MTR) coal mining is a crime against America’s environment and people. Every day MTR coal corporations literally blow the tops off of Appalachia’s mountains: clear-cutting forests, wiping out natural habitats and poisoning rivers and drinking water. Not only are these mountains lost forever, but also the heritage and the health of families across the region are sacrificed.

Last week, mountaintop removal mining company Alpha Natural Resources announced that it was purchasing Massey Energy, formerly the largest and most nefarious mountaintop removal company in Appalachia. Together, Massey and Alpha are responsible for more than 26 percent of all mountaintop mining in Central Appalachia.  Citibank is responsible for funding this toxic merger despite their prior commitment to a robust MTR Environmental Due Diligence Process.  For more information about MTR, visit www.ilovemountains.org  or contact Bette Heger, the Global Warming/Energy Committee chair, at

bteheger@juno.com

2.  Read the Democrat and Chronicle’s February 6th article on Rochester’s Air Quality:   The majority of Kodak’s toxic atmospheric releases to the air are related to the coal burning Building 321 in Greece.  “The plant is the state’s second-leading emitter of toxic acid compounds that come from burning coal, and is New York’s single latest source of sulfur dioxide.”

Global Warming/Energy Resources

• For the National Sierra Club's Energy Page go here: Energy Main - Sierra Club
• For Atlantic Chapter's Energy Committee
• New York Energy Smart The New York Energy $martSM program is designed to continue energy efficiency, low-income services, research and development, and environmental protection programs during the State's transition to electric retail competition, and is a key element in the restructuring of New York's electric utility industry. In 1998, to ensure that these kinds of programs continue to benefit New Yorkers, the State's Public Service Commission (PSC) named the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) administrator of these programs, which are paid for by a System Benefits Charge (SBC) on the electricity transmitted and distributed by the State's investor-owned utilities. The New York Energy $martSM program is being implemented in those utility territories. Some 2,700 projects in more than 30 programs are funded under New York Energy $martSM.
• For Rochester-area news on energy and energy resources go to RochesterEnvironment.com's Energy page. 
• To find a solar energy dealer near you, see NYSERDA - Eligible PV Installers under PON 716

What we're up to:

• Wednesday, May 4, 7 PM Jewish Community Center, 1200 Edgewood Avenue, Brighton, 14618 Thursday,
• May 5, 6:30 PM Chili Public Library, 3333 Chili Avenue, Chili, 14624 Wednesday,
• May 11, 7 PM Penfield Public Library, 1985 Baird Road, Penfield 14526 Monday,
• May 23, 6:30 PM, Pittsford Library, 24 State Street, Pittsford, 14534 Tuesday,
• May 24, 6:30 PM Brighton Public Library, 2300 Elmwood Avenue, Brighton,

To talk (or type!) with one of us about the Committee, please leave a message on our voicemail 585-234-1056, or contact Bette Heger bteheger@juno.com

What you can do:

Global Warming/Energy Committee Needs You

• Please help get the word out about the dangers of hydrofracking in New York.  We have copies of Gasland and we are scheduling showings at area Town Halls, Community Centers and Libraries.  If you know of a group that would like to show the film please contact bteheger@juno.com  The Monroe Ave, Winton, Highland and Penfield libraries also have copies of Gasland.   Consider holding a house party yourself—we will loan you a copy of the DVD.  
  •  We are gathering an email Action Alert list of folks who are willing to contact the Governor and State Legislators to ensure that we maintain a moratorium on drilling permits until the "Science" is known about the impacts and the regulations are in place to ensure safety to our communities, families and the environment in New York's Marcellus and Utica shale areas.  To add your name to the e-mail list, send a message to lci_msw@hotmail.com. 
  •  Short and informative fracking video: Walter Hang's Comments Regarding Executive Order No. 41 | Toxics Targeting