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 Rochester
Sierra Club Blog
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Eco-logue
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Here are some of the former programs the Rochester Regional Group of the
Sierra Club:
-
 SIERRA CLUB TENTH ANNUAL ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM
- Transportation Alternatives for Rochester A
Vision for the Future - At this 10th annual event we will hear how Rochester’s
transportation planners are considering a leaner greener future. Our plan is to
have the panel moderated by RIT Professor James Winebrake, Chair of the
Department of Public Policy and director of the Energy Partnership Program.
Richard Perrin, Executive Director of the Genesee Transportation Council (GTC)
will tell about the TIP plan, which is a $517million dollar federal and state
initiative planning a “staged, multi-year program” of transportation projects
including bicycle and pedestrian paths. The GTC is responsible for
transportation policy, planning and investment decisions for our nine county
region. They make recommendations on millions of dollars of transportation
costs.
-
-
 8
Environmental Forum:
Global Warming Solutions
that Work - This year’s
environmental forum combines three major themes: global warming, renewable
energy and sustainable business. Hence the title: Global
Warming Solutions that Work. We are fortunate this
year to have as our speakers, our Atlantic Chapter Conservation Chairperson
speak on
Global
Warming and two highly gifted, successful and committed
Upstate New York business leaders who run sustainable companies that are
highly involved with renewable energy. It is gratifying to see that given
the complete and total denial on this issue by our country’s so-called
leaders in Washington, that business leaders, as well as state governments,
are stepping up to the plate to provide some much-needed support to try to
get both our country and the global economy on a sane and sustainable track
before it is too late.
-
A Focus on
the River Region by Friends of the Genesee - October 17th, 7:15 pm,
Third Presbyterian Church, corner of Meigs & East Ave. Do you only think of
the Genesee River as just a muddy waterway? Are you looking for somewhere
else to canoe? Or perhaps you'd just like to learn more about this beautiful
river. It's a resource that is often overlooked. Come to our October
membership meeting and be prepared to be surprised at the lovely and lively
water of this remarkable resource which exists right in our midst. Then
you'll have all winter to dream of getting out to enjoy the river next
Spring. There are many ways to enjoy the river. And there will be more in
the future.
-
 4th Environmental Forum
-- If
you were able to attend the Rochester Regional Group of the
Sierra Club's Fourth Environmental Forum, then you got to see
and hear two great environmentalist, Mayor William Johnson, and
Aaron Maier, chairperson for the
Atlantic Chapter (all of New York) Sierra Club and the twenty or so
environmental groups promoting their projects. If not, then check out these
great shots by our resident photographer, Raymond Nelson.
-
5th Environmental Forum --There is no question this country is facing an environmental crisis, but in
every crisis there is opportunity for change and betterment. This year Sierra
Club has asked three environmental experts to comment on what they see as the issues we face in 2003 on a national,
state and local level AND what we can do to ameliorate these problems. We are
fortunate to have recruited the help of Elizabeth Thorndike from the
Center
Environmental Information (CEI), who will focus on
national issues, David Higby of
Environmental Advocates (Albany), who will focus
on State issues, and Jack Bradigan Spula, award winning reporter for
City Newspaper,
who will focus on local issues.
-
6th Annual Forum - The
Rochester Sierra Club Group has recruited Peter Lehner, JD, to be
our keynote speaker. Mr. Lehner is a major environmental attorney
with a national reputation as head of the NYS Attorney General's
Environmental Protection Bureau. Formerly he was senior attorney
for the Natural Resource Defense Council and director of the New
York Clean Water Project.
Peter Lehner, JD is Chief of the Environmental Protection Bureau
in the New York Attorney General's office. The Bureau enforces
state and federal environmental laws, defends state agencies when
sued on environmental matters, and recovers the costs incurred in
state hazardous waste cleanups. Recent initiatives include
lawsuits against coal-fired power plants, to protect community
gardens, to clean up the Bronx River, Hudson River and New York
City watershed, and to improve energy efficiency.
-
 November 15, 2004)
Global Warming and the
Northeast - Monday, Nov. 15th,
7:00-9:30 PM
Brighton Town Hall, 2300 Elmwood Ave.,
Climate Change and
Northeast Agriculture: Developing an Education Outreach
Agenda.
There will be a one-hour presentation on the specific
ramifications of Global Warming on our area. The speaker will be
David W. Wolfe from Cornell University.
-
-
 Smashing Success at
7th Annual Environmental Forum
-This spring Rochester Sierra Club members
organized their biggest regional gathering
of environmental and government groups in
seven years. Thirty-one groups set up
booths and drew an audience of
approximately 300 people to network, tell
their environmental story, and hear an
outstanding talk by Distinguished
Professor Joseph Makarewicz titled, "Our
Threatened Lakes: Getting Involved". This
year's theme focused attention on the
multiple issues confronting the Great
Lakes, particularly centering on New
York's Lake Ontario near-shore pollution
problems which come largely from farm and
suburban non-point sources. These
pesticides and phosphates floriate the
bays and streams of the region Dr.
Makarewicz calls "New York's North Coast".
In coordination with the Chapter the
Rochester Group has set up a Great Lakes
Committee to study issues related to the
Great Lakes and make recommendations on
how Sierra Club can get involved with
solutions.
-
-
 Eastern Coyotes. The Sierra Club membership program on Nov 15,
2005, brought out a crowd of people to learn about the habits and habitat of the
wily eastern coyote. The speaker was Elise Able of Fox Wood Wildlife Rescue,
located in East Concord NY. During the next week, the Rochester club got
information about a town of Irondequoit photographer who was at the right place
at the right time to take a photo of a coyote in the Rochester region.
-
-
 Environmental
Landscaping:
Restoring the Ecology of Our Own Backyards. Invite birds and
butterflies into the home garden! Program & Talk, Thursday, February 16,
2006 7:00 to 9:00 PM Brighton Town Hall auditorium, 2300 Elmwood Ave.
Can your yard become a sanctuary for birds and butterflies? Would you like
to convert a traditional yard to a wildlife habitat? Would you like to “give
back” to the earth some of what has been taken away?
-
 Solutions
for Global Warming The Heat Is On - What You Can Do To Turn It Down
General Meeting - 7:00pm, Tuesday, November 14th Brighton Town Hall -Al
Gore’s documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, has been hugely successful. By
now, the case for global warming is established as a fact in most people’s
minds. But the film is not strong on what we can do about global warming.
Our Rochester Group invites you to a showing of positive answers described
on other DVD’s and a discussion of solutions to this mega environmental
problem.
-
 Winter Solstice 2006 Most Sierra Club members love
“Our Feathered Friends”
and now we can visit them “up close and alive.” Ron Walker will be there
with his Tufted Screech Owl, his Barred Owl and his Red Shouldered Hawk
for our annual Winter Solstice Celebration. This is a program which
Rochester Group families with children will particularly enjoy. We also
hope to greet many new members of Rochester Group.
-
9th_environmental_forum -PRESERVATION OF THE HEMLOCK-CANADICE WATERSHED IN A NATURAL
STATE -Read "Hemlock
and Canadice Lakes, a Watershed Conservation Issue?" by Laura Arney -The fate of over 7,200 acres of pristine semi-wilderness
Finger Lakes will be decided this year. Sierra Club and most other conservation
and environmental groups in the region are vitally concerned about the
preservation of Hemlock & Canadice Lakes including the Upland Watershed owned by
the City for over 125 years. A new water sharing agreement between the Monroe
County Water Authority and the City is now being negotiated behind closed doors.
These discussions include the possibility of selling Hemlock & Canadice to the
Authority and/or (as reported in the Democrat & Chronicle) possible commercial
sales of Hemlock lands by the City.
          
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