Action - Rochester, NY area Environment
RochesterEnvironment.com
Take Action for your area's environment. These actions come for non-profit and governmental (many in the form of public input forums) on issues that will affect our particular environment.
Page Contents: Actions with Specific Due Dates | On-going actions | Contact your Representatives in Government |
Often,
I receive request to pass on alerts, petitions, Public Comments on
local developments, and environmental items needing action by the
Rochester Community and around the world.
This page is designed to bring all these requests under one roof so the Internet can facilitate these requests by various groups for aid. Look for the due date for each of the action items. I try as much as possible (because there are so many environmental online actions) to limit my listings to items that will influence the Rochester, NY area
SEARCH: Use search engine below to find anything posted since 1998.
RochesterEnvironment.com supports Occupy Rochester
RochesterEnvironment.com
supports the mission
of the Occupy Rochester
movement. We as a nation are moving rapidly towards a more
and more unsustainable future that cannot be resolved under the
present Plutocracy
that has become America—where money dominates our politics, our
environment, and even our morality.
Climate Change is upon us and will have many
Likely Changes in the Rochester, NY region. Some actions are
being address in our area to comeback Climate Change but not enough
and not quickly enough. The prevailing notion of our present
business/government set up is that we can adapt and mitigate Climate
Change by accomplishing ad hoc measures—like changing light bulbs.
But to reduce our concentration of greenhouse gases (GHG), in
particular carbon dioxide, from its present level of 385 parts per
million (ppm) to the optimum of 350
ppm, and change something as incredibly large as our atmosphere, we
have to move faster and with everyone’s participation. Occupy
Rochester describes the kind of upheaval in conventional thinking
and practices that will be needed to put our environment on a
sustainable path.
Top Ten Things You Can Do for Rochester
Sure there are lots of top ten lists around. So why not one on the things you can do for your local environment—that system that keeps us alive and thriving? But, this list is different from the usual stuff. It’s not one of those really easy, warm and fuzzy lists of fun activities you can do in your spare time. It’ll be transformative.
This list assumes you are ready to take responsibility (as a member of the only species capable of doing so) for your presence at this critical time in our planet’s history. And, it isn’t about just your personal fulfillment thing—our environment isn’t politics, religion, a fad, or a cause; it’s science all the way down. Pollute the planet, stuff happens. Finally, in order for the effects of this list to be effective a lot (I mean billions) of humans need to do them too. In the deepest practical sense, everything you do (where you live, what you eat, what you buy, what you throw away) matters to our environment. Ready folks, here we go:
- Be engaged with the issues surrounding our local environment by monitoring the media, books, reports, and the Internet using the laws of Nature as your guide to monitor how our lifestyle is affecting our environment.
- When you consume anything--food, water, cars, gadgets, whatever—do so as though you were demonstrating how to consume for the rest of the world—considering the lifecycle of the products you buy, how they are made, how they are used, and how you get rid of them.
- When you have someplace to go, consider
all your options in order of their affect on our environment:
walking, biking, car-pooling, mass transit, and lastly a
personal vehicle.
- Conserve energy until we find a non-polluting, renewable energy source.
- Vote. If you’re doing good for our environment and your representative in government doesn’t get it, you’re just making yourself feel good without much effect.
- Recycle, reuse and encourage your local government to create a place where recycling just about everything is the norm.
- Think twice before using toxic chemicals that make your yard look like a golf course and your house like a hospital.
- Consider other species (plants and animals) and their role in sustaining our environment. Some are annoying and critical. Some are cute and a burden.
- Adopt green business practices: your business will save our environment and be able to compete with the rest of the world.
- Communicate your concerns about the state of our environment to everyone. Sustainability isn’t going to work unless everyone gets on board quickly.
- Encourage all your news sources to have an environmental section daily and help move environmental investigations and news to mainstream media.
Rochesterians Concerned About Unsafe Shale-gas Extraction R-CAUSE was created by Rochester citizens who treasure New York State and want its waters, land and air to remain clean and its communities to remain viable. R-CAUSE's goal is to inform as many people in the Rochester area as possible about the risks associated with high-volume, slick-water, horizontal hydraulic fracturing.
Actions with Specific Due Dates:
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ACTION: Due Date February 9th, 2012
- Chime in on helping to identify ways to reduce packaging waste, increase recycling, and reduce the overall impact of packaging materials on the environment—by February 9th, 2012. Dialogue on Sustainable Financing of Recycling: Dialogue Report on Consumer Packaging | Resource Conservation | US EPA "Stakeholder Dialogue Report The participants in the dialogue were tasked with producing a report that discusses multiple strategies for financing municipal recycling systems focusing on consumer packaging. While the report is a result of an EPA-convened dialogue, the report is a work product of the dialogue participants, and not of EPA. Reference to any specific company or commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation or favoring by the United States Government. EPA invites you to review and comment on the report. Final Report of the Dialogue on Sustainable Financing of Recycling of Packaging at the Municipal Level (PDF) (128 pp, 872K) How to Submit Comments EPA will accept comments on this report for until February 9, 2012 . The docket for this rulemaking is EPA-HQ-RCRA-2011-0912 and can be accessed at Regulations.gov. Comments on the report will be collected into a companion document, and made available here. EPA will review all comments received and consider them in any future actions, but does not plan to formally respond to comments on the final report. Related Materials Issue Assessment: Sustainable Financing for Recycling of Packaging Materials (PDF) (20 pp, 119 K) Dialogue Meeting Summaries and Presentations "
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ACTION:
Due Date Now
- Request from the DEC for some help on keeping our Great Lakes healthy: "Your Observations Can Help the Health of the Great Lakes! If you spend time around the Great Lakes shoreline, please consider sharing your observations of injured or dead animals, or algal blooms by using the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative - Wildlife Health Event Reporter (http://glri.wher.org/) (GLRI-WHER). Scientists working in state, federal and non-profit agencies are looking for your help to identify events that are important in research of avian botulism and algal bloom outbreaks, in the interest of protecting wildlife from this disease as well as algal neurotoxins. For a healthy Great Lakes ecosystem, do your part and share what you see by setting up a reporter account (http://glri.wher.org/users/add) on the GLRI-WHER website. E-mail any questions regarding reporting to botnet@wdin.org. For more details on avian (type E) botulism (http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/28433.html), visit the DEC website. "
- ACTION: Due Date: March 5, 2012
- NFWP Climate Adaptation Strategy "The Public Review Draft of the National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy is now available for public review and comment. To ensure that we are able to consider your comments, we must receive them by March 5, 2012. You can submit your comments through the web, by mail, or in person. Learn how to submit your comments here. Public workshops will be conducted at several locations around the country to provide additional opportunities for public comment and discussion of the draft. Please visit our Public Workshops page for more information. In addition, a free, public online web conference or webinar will also be held. Learn more and sign up here. "
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ACTION: Due Date: Now
- Sewage Pollution - Citizens Campaign for the Environment "Many communities in New York State, Connecticut, and throughout the nation are served by aging and dilapidated sewage infrastructure. When our sewage infrastructure is not properly operated or maintained, billions of gallons of untreated raw sewage can be released in to the environment before reaching a treatment plant. Sewage is primarily discharged into the environment through Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSO) and Combined Sewer Overflows (CSO). Separate sewer systems carry only wastewater such as domestic sanitary waste and commercial and industrial waste to a sewage treatment plant. Separate sewers are not designed or intended to carry water such as storm water. SSOs occur in separate systems. Combined sewer systems are built larger than separate sewers so that they can carry two components: wastewater, carried continuously, and runoff, carried after storms. How you can help: Email your state representatives. Urge them to support a Sewage Pollution Right-to-Know law. Sewage overflows put our environment, economy, and health at risk; and we deserve the right to know when they occur. "
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ACTION: Due date:
Now
- Take action for our Great Lakes "Speak Out Now to Set the U.S.-Canada Strategy for Protecting our Great Lakes The health of our Great Lakes is threatened by new challenges — including invasive species, climate change, habitat loss and emerging contaminants. The United States and Canada are now completing negotiations on an updated version of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, a binational agreemet to address Great Lakes threats. " from Alliance for the Great Lakes
- Action: Due Date - Now
- Join a new local Hydrofracturing Action Alert email list by contacting Anna Sears asears@rochester.rr.com. Also the local Sierra Club's Global Warming & Energy Committee has been addressing the topic of Hydrofracturing. They meet the 2nd Monday evening of the month. Contact bteheger@juno.com for more info. Also - you may wish to review this coalition letter Coalition Letter to Governor Cuomo Regarding Executive Order No. 41: Requiring Further Environmental Review of High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing Combined With Horizontal Drilling | Toxics Targeting and Governor Cuomo issued a "continuation" of Executive Order No. 41 on his first day in office, as he earlier signaled he would. See: No. 2 REVIEW, CONTINUATION AND EXPIRATION OF PRIOR EXECUTIVE ORDERS | Governor
We
Can Solve It The We Campaign is a project of
The Alliance for Climate
Protection -- a nonprofit, nonpartisan effort founded by Nobel
laureate and former Vice President Al Gore. The goal of the Alliance
is to build a movement that creates the political will to solve the
climate crisis -- in part through repowering America with 100
percent of its electricity from clean energy sources within 10
years. Our economy, national security, and climate can’t afford to
wait.
On-going Action sites for our environment
Many local, national, and international organizations take action for our environment and make it easy for you to do so also.
- How you can help monitor our local environment: Help Lab Researchers Develop The YardMap Network! — eBird "At eBird we love when birders submit data from their backyards. Your backyard can provide excellent habitat for birds, and when many backyards are put together, an growing network of green space becomes available for birds. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is developing a new project called the YardMap Network, which will allow you to describe in great detail the habitat and conservation practices happening in your backyard. Please take 15 minutes to tell us what you think about the YardMap Network by taking this survey. Your input will be valuable for developing the project, and will help ensure that we can learn more about how birds are using your yard! "
- Union of Concerned
Scientists The Union of Concerned Scientists is the
leading science-based nonprofit working for a healthy
environment and a safer world. UCS combines independent
scientific research and citizen action to develop innovative,
practical solutions and to secure responsible changes in
government policy, corporate practices, and consumer choices.
Action Center | Union of
Concerned Scientists
- OMB Watch | Promoting open government, accountability, and citizen participation since 1983 OMB Watch exists to increase government transparency and accountability; to ensure sound, equitable regulatory and budgetary processes and policies; and to protect and promote active citizen participation in our democracy.
- 350.org 350.org is an international campaign dedicated to building a movement to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis--the solutions that science and justice demand. Our mission is to inspire the world to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis—to create a new sense of urgency and of possibility for our planet.
- Regulations.gov Regulations.gov is your online source for U.S. government regulations from nearly 300 federal agencies. Regulations.gov is your source for U.S. government regulations and related documents. On this site you can find, read and comment on documents. Share your knowledge and make your voice count.
- Citizens Campaign for the Environment ACTION ALERTS -from CCE - Water Protection Public Health Energy Renewable Policy Toxic Wildlife Chemical Contamination Subscribe Newsletter Jobs Calendar Pollution Air Quality Advocacy Farmingdale White Plains Albany Syracuse Buffalo
League of Women Voters Rochester Metropolitan Area "The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy."
- Espeically useful is the LWV's yearly "A Guide to Your Elected Offi cials for Monroe County 2009 "
Report
an Environmental Violation Online "Report an Environmental
Violation Online The New York State Environmental Conservation
Police values the watchful eyes and ears of citizens concerned with
our environment. Use this form to report suspected violations
of New York State environmental conservation laws. Submitted forms
are immediately forwarded 24/7/365 to DEC dispatchers. If an
immediate response is needed, file your complaint by phone by
calling the DEC Turn in Poachers and Polluters (TIPP) hotline at
1-800-TIPP-DEC (1-800-847-7332). Caution: never put yourself at risk
to get any of the information. Gather whatever information you can
without trespassing or exposing yourself to harmful materials or
situations. " from New York State
Department of Environmental Conservation
Contact Your New York State (Senator) and (Assembly) Representatives--from http://newyork.sierraclub.org/legislative/
You'd be surprised how influential a letter or phone call from a constituent can be to a State Senator or State Assembly Member.
- To find your State Senator's Contact Information: Go to http://www.senate.state.ny.us, click on "Senators", click on your Senator, click on "contact." To identify your State Senator: Go to http://www.senate.state.ny.us, click on "Senators", click on "search by zip code", enter your zip code.
- To find your Assembly Member's Contact Information: Go to http://www.assembly.state.ny.us, scroll to your Assembly Member, click "go", click on "contact". To identify your Assembly Member: Go to http://www.assembly.state.ny.us, click to "click here to search by zipcode", enter your zipcode, and click "search".
Need help choosing an environmentally friendly elected official? NYLCV - New York League of Conservation Voters | Educating and Electing for the Environment - NYLCV is a non-partisan, policy making and political action organization that works to make environmental protection a top priority with elected officials, decision-makers and the voters by evaluating incumbent performance and endorsing and electing environmental leaders to office in New York State.
100
Months: Technical note "We calculate that 100 months
from 1 August 2008, atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases
will begin to exceed a point whereby it is no longer likely we will
be able to avert potentially irreversible climate change. 'Likely'
in this context refers to the definition of risk used by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to mean that, at
that particular level of greenhouse gas concentration, there is only
a 66 - 90 per cent chance of global average surface temperatures
stabilising at 2º Celsius above pre-industrial levels.1 Once this
concentration is exceeded, it becomes more and more likely that we
will overshoot a 2º C level of warming. This is the maximum
acceptable level of temperature rise agreed by the European Union
and others as necessary to retain reasonable confidence of
preventing uncontrollable and ultimately catastrophic warming. We
also believe this calculation to be conservative. "