Environmental news - Rochester, NY

Rochester, Washington, the World Environment

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 17:38:00 +0000

While we wait for Washington and the world to shape major climate strategies this summer, maybe it is time to look at our own area to get a sense of our own commitment to our environment. Are we expecting others to clean up and render sustainable our biological underpinnings, or are we playing a role in the most significant issue of our times? For, unlike the media’s attempt to assess the impact of Michael Jackson and Robert McNamara roles in recent days, future generations won’t simply be idling away in a classroom pondering the cultural and historical importance of our generations actions on our environment. Our children’s world will be the one we leave them.

Interestingly, involvement of our area’s residents in our area’s environment seems to coincide with the rise of the Internet and the decline of local mainstream media. The last decade has witnessed the effectiveness of over eighty environmental groups in our area. And for the moment (while the specter of net neutrality, which mainstream media tries to bury under the assumption that because they have ruled the airways in the past they will do so in the future) environmental groups with a presents online have a level playing field to compete for the public’s attention.

Our Environmentalists [http://www.rochesterenvironment.com/enviromentalists.htm] have taken it upon themselves to monitor and report on various aspects of our environment, oftentimes contrasting or embellishing governmental programs. Or, they have picked up the ball where it has been dropped by the media. Consider the groups monitoring the plight of area birds that not only color our fields and skies but help us monitor our environment in ways we never could: Olga Fleisher Ornithological Foundation, Inc., RochesterBirding, Birding Western New York, The Cayuga Bird Club, and The Bird Coalition of Rochester.

Or, those groups highlighting the environment issues of specific areas: Save Auburn Trail, Friends of the Montezuma Wetlands Complex, Honeoye Valley Association, Henrietta Neighbors United, Save our Sodus, Bergen Swamp Preservation Society, Friends of Irondequoit Bay, Allens -Creek/Corbetts Glen Preservation Group, Parks Preservation in Monroe County, NY, and The Committee to Preserve the Finger Lakes.

All told, our local environment is covered by many groups that educate us on food, transportation, our area’s Climate, Wetlands, Air Quality, Parks, Urban Sprawl, Brownfields, Plants, Wildlife, Great Lakes, Pesticides Use, Water Quality, Recycling, Genesee River, Transportation, Food, Invasive Species, Energy, Wind Power, and Environmental Health.

And while I view these groups as critical to a complete monitoring of our local environment, and as much as I disparage local media coverage of environmental issues, I do not believe these groups can supplant a healthy, thriving media. Only, the media has the breath of public engagement, editorial objectivity, and journalistic expertise to properly convey to the public the threat that an unhealthy environment portends.

Good Well Water

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:55:00 +0000

Everyone has the right to clean, potable water. Even people in the United States using well water. This is not a fact, or ideology, or belief, or some mental quirk or disposition of mine. No reasonable person can argue this point reasonably.

However, “There are no statewide or county laws that require testing of wells in Monroe County, and no enforceable water-quality standards that apply to private supplies.” (6/03/ 09 Democrat and Chronicle) So, the issue about getting clean, potable drinking well water from a well is somehow different from drinking municipal waters, which do have an enforceable standard. There, as it seems, is the rub.

Several assumptions apparently provide the basis for the state of New York allowing one set of residents to be under the regulatory umbrella for clean drinking water and another who are on their own. Caveat emptor: or rather, let the drinkers beware if they aren’t hooked up to public waters.

Assumption One: “Water gotten from the ground is more pure, tastes better, and toxin free.” But, that view is outdated. “More than 51,000 private wells in New Jersey have been tested since this first-in-the-nation law went into effect in 2002, and 12 percent of them were found to be contaminated with at least one pollutant, according to state officials.” (6/08/09 Democrat and Chronicle) There’s no reason to think that New York State wells would not produce figures just as grisly. Let’s test all our wells and find out.

Assumption Two: “There are already plenty of recommendations and guidelines for well users, so there’s no need for another litigious intervention into our lives.” That’s true; there is no lack of information provided by state officials on guideless for safe, potable, drinking water from New York State wells. Find out about New York State guidelines on Drinking Water Protection Program and especially Appendix 5-B: Standards for Water Wells and Supplemental Information and also, from the DEC Water Well Program - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation. But, there were guidelines for lead poisoning in homes and they were largely ignored until laws for lead abatement came about. Millions of children grew up poisoned by lead.

Assumption Three: “If your well water is not potable, simply buy bottled water.” The bottled water industry, which grows exponentially as our wells fail, loves that. They are reaping the benefits of this assumption by taking your water (from our lakes and streams) and selling it back to you at a far higher price that you are paying for gasoline. Related is the issue that most bottled water comes in plastic containers that get land filled and leach into our ground water because the bottled water people spend millions lobbying against recycling laws that would include these plastic containers.

Assumption Four: “If you pass a law that every well must be regulated by the state, then there will be a great confusion as to who pays for cleaning up the bad wells.” Of course, in our country the burden of proof is put on the victim, therefore it seems obvious that well users should just put up with the risk. However, in a world of manmade pollution (pesticides, agricultural overflows, landfills, brownfields we aren’t cleaning up, gasoline additives, old dumps, old orchards that were heavily sprayed with chemicals) and natural contaminants (heavy metals and arsenic) it’s an unrealistic and unfair burden to place on well users. We have for too long allowed the practice of using our planet as a dump. We stopped the practice of throwing our garbage out the windows into our streets as we did until recent times, and we can stop allowing dangerous waste into the very ground we get our water.

Assumption Five: “It’s too expensive.” That’s not an argument, that’s a detail for economists. Bankers since all those deregulations figured out how to make billions from nothing: they can use their big brains to figure out how to get all our wells tested. Besides, think of the wonderful database that would be available about the true picture of our ground pollution if we regulated wells as we do our municipal drinking water.

There are probably a lot of other assumptions as to why we don’t regulate well water. But, at the end of the day, they’re bad assumptions. By not regulating our wells and mandating that they we tested thoroughly and often we blind ourselves to the extent of our pollution. That may please our present polluters; but it only ratchets up the amount of toxins in our water. Like with many other environmental issues, we are confusing our past ideas of individual rights and the specter of Big Government lording over our lives with what we are learning about the wholesale effects of our way of living on our environment. Pollution eventually goes somewhere—into our air, our ground, water, our children, and our future—it does not just magically disappear. If we don’t start understanding that a sustainable environment is not only a right, but the foundation of our existence, we are going to go the way of the dodo bird.

Critical Feedback Requested about our community:

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:50:00 +0000

Critical Feedback Requested about our community: We here at RochesterEnvironment.com wish to remind you again of an important website that has been launched in our area.

ACT Rochester has been a long time in the works and is modeled on other cities who have worked on this concept of provide communities of important indicator that will determine among other things Education, Environment, Technology, Transportation, Health, Public Safety, etc. This site is an on-going, long-term project to provide not only community groups and governmental bodies, but you the citizen who cares about your community, with critical data (not opinions and news, but expertly acquired data).

Please take a moment to get the facts about the state of Rochester, New York’s sustainability prospects and most importantly get engaged. Answers to surveys and comments are asked at this site and this is important because feedback from these people who are actually collecting the data about our community is critical. It’s not like blogs, or newspapers who want to know how important Michael Jackson is to your life, but what kind of information do you or your group need to know to begin project, complete grants, clean up your neighborhood. So, please get engaged with this special website in our community and encourage your employer, you friends, your groups that you belong to of this unique and important resource for our area.

It’s not just the usual stuff, trust me: ACT Rochester "Changing the Culture of Public Discussion and Debate The mission of ACT Rochester is to stimulate community solutions to our most critical challenges by changing the culture of public discussion and debate. This will be achieved through focused, independent and objective measurement of key community indicators, through diverse and timely dialogue and by promoting results-oriented actions. ACT Rochester is a collaboration of Rochester Area Community Foundation and the United Way of Greater Rochester. We developed the Website together, along with assistance from the Center for Governmental Research, and plan to sustain and update it as a central component of ACT Rochester. We hope that the comprehensive data and other information contained here will serve as a focal point for formal and informal community forums and inspire you and others in the community to share comments and participate in polls, which will be added to the Website in the coming months. In addition, we will be scheduling a variety of community discussions and activities beginning in the fall of 2009. The name ACT Rochester urges action, specifically in response to the issues highlighted by the data. The name also stands for Achieving Community Targets, which signals the potential to establish specific targets or goals for improvement. These targets will be the result of the community involvement process, and will form the future development of ACT Rochester. ACT Rochester currently covers a seven-county region: Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Wayne and Wyoming. This Website contains indicators, analysis of trends, summaries of community efforts to address issues and numerous listings of community resources.

Green Jobs: Position Yourself!

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:51:00 +0000

Much of the news and information about green jobs (still) seems like hype: Lots of cheerleading, but few actual green ‘shovel-ready’ work opportunities. As one who has been following this thread myself for some time, it does seem like a highly inflated exuberance over an employment market that has yet to be. But, I believe ‘seems’ is the operative word here.

Despite more talk and less jobs, there is hard evidence that green jobs are the real deal. Witness the passage of the climate bill just passed in the house and Obama’s Stimulus package promising new jobs. Things are radically changing, but how will new attitudes towards climate change and green technology translate into actual jobs in our area?

Presently, you search for green jobs on all your favorite search engines and you come up with: cardiology, electrophysiology, oncology/hematology, systems key operator, Sr., pathologist, podiatrist, electrical test technician ITT, spot welder, registered nurse/RN, speech-language pathologist—you get the picture. These jobs are great if you have the credentials, but what’s especially ‘green’ about them? People looking for green jobs now need to get the proper training to get the credentials for actual jobs that exist today.

At a green job forum last Thursday, sponsored by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Monroe County many were hoping to learn just that—where do I go, what do I do? I’ve listed and organized much of that material on this page: Green Business. [http://www.rochesterenvironment.com/Green%20Business.htm] It is worth your time to learn about this emerging market, and while I may not be able to point you that perfect job tomorrow, I’ve got some ideas on how you can position yourself for the green-job tidal wave. There’s no lack of energy in industry, government, and non-profits as they ramp up getting the public ready for these new jobs.

Quickly, here’s what you do: 1. Get educated and trained. We are lucky to live in a community with many institutions for higher education and an official green attitude. Our community colleges are able to find out what local industry needs and ramp up training for those green jobs. Not to mention we have some of the best universities in the country offering degrees in environmental studies, while researching cutting-edge environmental technology and medicine.

2. Stay informed on green jobs and act: Some local and national web sites are devoting special attention to the latest companies providing green jobs and what industries are best positioning themselves to compete in this new economy. When bills come up that favor green jobs, contact your representatives. Also, align yourself with groups petitioning the government for more green jobs, like The Center for Working Families and Green For All Next, press your government for more green jobs now by letting them know it matters to you. Check this site often: Recovery and Reinvestment Act

3. Frequent specific green job search engines and post your resumes: Without a doubt, online search engines are where you go to find employment—newspaper classifieds are history. Yes, sites especially focused on the green market are rampant. However, most have yet to be really useful and won’t be until they stop the misleading ads, drill down to actual green jobs, and not simply list blue-collar jobs painted green. Admitted much of the green job future will be engineers, installers, designers, etc. but to be accurately labeled ‘green’ they will need to be retrofitted to increase energy efficiency and decease pollution and stop waste. So, until this green search market gets more sophisticated you’ll see the jobs without the training. But eventually, by reputation the sites that actually get people jobs will prevail. (Google took over the search engine market because it took you where you wanted to go, not where those who paid the most to search engines wanted you to go.)

4. Volunteer and branch out: To best position yourself in fields (web designers, grant writers, project managers, environmental educators, etc.) that have the most promise in the new economic world, get yourself volunteered. With the Recession plunging our present job market into a freefall, many green oriented businesses or non-profits need help: interns, volunteers, grant writers, clerks, drivers, you-name-it.

Don’t focus on one employment thread and don’t waste this crisis. Don’t give up. Position yourself for the change that has to come. Don’t just wait for something to happen, make it happen. OK, so this cheerleading thing is hard to control, and many anxious to see this new market happen now engage in it. But really, green jobs are coming. If they weren’t, we wouldn’t be adapting to change. Get ready.

Hope for a Messy World

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 13:41:00 +0000

One would think that the days of a monolithic weltanschauung are over, where singular views of religion, culture, ideas, even prejudices, once ruled. Now, it’s not only unfashionable, but positively Neanderthal to be continually captivated by a single view of life. Makes you look stodgy.

Yet, I tenaciously hold (despite many discussions to the contrary) that Nature rules. Moreover, it will do so even in Rochester. This seems to be an unpopular single-mindedness because in this Recession the “World is Flat” view means keep changing or you’ll get run over by new ideas, new economic models, and especially the Internet. The prevailing thinking seems to be: in this modern world, you had better streamline your operation. Better just paint yourself green and not go the whole hog. And, quite frankly, harping on environmental issues bores and annoys a lot of people—though given the wholesale consequences of environmental collapse (Think Easter Island in that chapter in Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared M. Diamond) not obsessing on our environment at this moment in history seems foolhardy.

Mainstream media seems convinced that pandering to a cornucopia of issues rather than zeroing our attention on environmental changes will sell better. Some news outlets ignore the environment altogether. As I read the news, it seems more profitable for the media to report on stories about impeding or cobbling legislation like the Climate Energy-Bill or the Bottle Bill. Seems to make more sense for the media to go with the flow, that is, tone down environmental stories and balance our environmental concerns with our other preoccupations: job loss, wars, or Eliot Spitzer’s comeback—which given his brainpower and good work on behalf of our environment, may not be a bad idea.

The world, I maintain, really is flat, not just because of the Internet and zippy broadband Wi-Fi’s. It’s flat because Nature rules China, Hong Kong, Timbuktu, Rochester and everything living on this planet. Global Warming will not only change this pale blue dot, it’s going to have some very peculiar changes—according to this week’s release of the US Global Change Research Program—on the Northeast—which is where, as we all know boys and girls, Rochester, NY resides. Too, that pandemic is wreaking havoc not only on the Third world with fewer economic resources; it’s straining our health system here in Monroe County.

This week alone we learned that the Emerald Ash Borer crossed into NYS, promising to kill or affect 7% of our state’s trees. This invasive species issue was somebody else’s problem. But due to a changing environment, it’s now in our backyard. Also, a recent environmental study (something we should be doing continually) points out that all those PCB’s we’ve been dumping and allowing to be dumped are changing us. But, not in a good way.

Ok, enough doom and gloom. This week had some bright spots in our movement here in the Rochester area towards sustainability: steps are being taken on curbing pharmaceutical pollution, a new group forming to fight for water quality, our very own U of R is finding ways to save the incandescent bulb by requiring less energy, more green energy, a forum on green jobs is coming up this week, boating courses by the DEC to teach boaters how not to pollute our waters, help to green up our auto shops, and articles describing how that high-speed rail project everyone is talking about might help our cities.

So, there is a lot of hope in this messy world that that has one ruling power: the laws of Nature—not man’s wishes or his economic models (which, are presently in a tailspin). However, hope does not hinge on deluding ourselves that we are getting greener when we are not. Hope depends on putting environmental issues squarely before us, not cherry-picking the hopeful stories, as our local media too often does. The hope is that our media will switch gears and get the environment so in our collected faces that we all feel compelled to make the changes that will make our way of life sustainable.

Free Yourself from Lawn Pesticides

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 13:25:00 +0000

From our friends over at Rochesterians Against The Misuse of Pesticides (RAMP), we learn more about how our modern idea of a oil and pesticide intensive lawn have come about. But, you can free yourself from your pesticides and tractors. Read RAMP: You can join RAMP, one of the most effective environmental organizations in Rochester, by writing to 10 Landing Road South, Rochester, NY 14610.

Meanwhile, check out this way to reduce your lawn and go natural: LessLawn : information about landscape design for nature lovers... shrink your lawn and grow your pleasure!Want a low-maintenance, ecologically friendly landscape? Chemical free? Want to do it yourself? Find information and inspiration here at LessLawn. We'll help you shrink your lawn and grow your pleasure!

It's Not Just Good for the Environment; It's the Law

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 13:23:00 +0000

Reducing our dependency on those ubiquitous plastic bags littering our roads, trails, up in the branches of our trees, down our drainpipes, across our lawns and just about everywhere is not just a good idea – it’s the law. Mostly, these laws pertain to large stores, but it’s a sign that times are a’changing. Think of taking a reusable bag around with you when you shop and buying less stuff.

NYS Plastic Bag Reduction, Reuse and Recycling Law - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation * Title 27 - Plastic Bag Reduction, Reuse and Recycling Section 27-2701. Definitions. 27-2703. Store operator responsibilities. 27-2705. Recycling program requirements. 27-2707. Manufacturer responsibilities. 27-2709. Department responsibility. 27-2711. Regulations. 27-2713. Preemption. * NB There are 2 Title 27's

What the Heck are you Eating?

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 13:21:00 +0000

Find out what you are eating and what chemicals may or maynot have gotten in your food: What’s On My Food? Pesticides …on our food, even after washing; …in our bodies, for years; …& in our environment, traveling many miles on wind, water and dust. What’s On My Food? is a searchable database designed to make the public problem of pesticide exposure visible and more understandable. -- More on Food and our Environment here...

Put Hazardous Waste in its Place

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 13:18:00 +0000

Recycling - Do you need to dispose of hazardous household waste? Please note: Monroe County's Hazardous Household Waste (HHW) Appointment Scheduler (includes Pharmaceuticals) http://www.monroecounty.gov/hhw

Paying Taxes on Bottled Water? Good Grief!

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 13:06:00 +0000

Considering that the Rochester area has some of the best and cleanest municipal drinking water in the country and bottled water companies are privatizing our public waters and the plastics from zillions of water bottles is un-depositable (at least until the Bigger Better Bottle Bill gets going) are filling up our landfills, which have limits, why are we the taxpayer paying for bottle water—which ultimately undermines our faith in our municipal water and undermines our tax monies that could be going to support our public waters? We need an attitude change about water.

Taxpayers Billed for Bottled Water at City Events - 13WHAM.com (Rochester, N.Y.) – Rochester area leaders often brag about the quality of our water supply. But taxpayers spend thousands of dollars a year on bottled water and water for dispensers. The city purchased water for catered events such as the 175th Anniversary party, Sister Cities receptions, and Clean Sweep. (June 15, 09) Home - 13WHAM.com

New Environmental News

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 12:13:00 +0000

Oftentimes the news isn’t ‘new’, though it might seem so because we look at it anew. Or, some refinement to an occurring story comes along, and so it becomes ‘new’—again. Or, something new actually does occur. This is especially sizzling stuff to the media because they love new news. Old news is not only bad, it’s non-profitable. Old news only gets reported when it is repackage, as something new—like some rumored tidbit coming out about Marylyn Monroe. That’s too bad for our environment.

Take this week’s Rochester-area environmental news, for example. White-nose syndrome, a year-old bat disease that possibly sprung from a bat cave near Albany that the press hasn’t paid much attention to has gotten some new press because we are looking at it anew: it’s spreading like wild-fire out West. A nasty fish disease, Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS), which also might have sprung up around these parts (though it arrived here via Europe from ships’ ballast tanks), was new here in 2006. But now, even though it’s ripping through the Great Lakes, it isn’t all that new any more. It hasn’t done anything new lately. It’s just doing the same old thing--devastating fish populations in the Great Lakes. So, you’ll have to wait until something fresh comes up to hear more about it.

Ok, here’s something really new, a refinement of a previously existing news story: the swine flu is now a full fledged pandemic. That gets headlines, though it has struggled awhile for that placement because even though this flu is spreading human-to-human, it isn’t yet as lethal as the 19-18-19 flu. The pandemic is dangerously losing its press appeal. It’s got to start doing something new or the media will drop it altogether.

Here’s a repackaged news story this week, the second coming of the Digital Signal change. This story was new back in February, until it was learned thousands were not ready for those rerun “I Love Lucy” episodes, or whatever they’re doing on network media nowadays. So June 12th became the new deadline. And that makes news, but the media forgot the news that the old TVs replaced by our new TVs will begin filling up our landfills. That will only become news when new toxins created by this techno-avalanche get leached into our ground water and soil creating a new problem.

And, being a busy week for environmental stuff, there was more new stuff: new transportation stimulus monies coming to our area. Several new news stories on how our area will be affected by Global Warming—an increase poison ivy, shifting Great Lakes fish populations, and (if you can believe it) slower wind speeds across our area. (Seems that if the poles are not as cold as they used to be because of global warming, there won’t be as much loss in air pressure between continents.) That will mean less wind for wind turbines—that’s new and adds fire to the loony wind turbine debate going on in the media.) ACT Rochedser, a new web site which includes old environment indicators for our local environment, newly arrived this week. Moreover, oil drillers fracturing their way through the Marcellus Oil Shale among other areas may have to reveal the chemicals they use to force oil to the surface. So if these chemicals end up in our water, we’ll know who to blame. Now, that sort of disclosure would be very, very new—maybe even some exciting court cases and wild allegations that could generate weeks of news.

That’s the way it is, folks. New news drives our media, drives media competition, and that drives us to want more new news—a wonderful profit model for the media. Sadly this paradigm, this way that our media operates both to get our attention and support itself financially, has absolutely nothing to do with staying ahead of environmental issues before they become problems. Our present media construct that is failing is a mirage, a delusion of our times that we can package information about our environment to the pubic the way we report on politicians shooting themselves in the foot. Because, by the time environmental news stories become ‘new’ and thus get our attention, they’ve often wreak such havoc that we cannot recover from them. By the time pollutions, warmings, extinctions, and diseases percolate up through our present media and make news, they’ve long since metastasized into a permanent disease we have to live with—which can get very old.

New transportation route, New carbon-free transportation route in Rochester.

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:50:00 +0000

More ways to get around in Rochester than driving that gas-guzzler: Rochester Greenway "a revolutionary all-weather alternative-energy transitway for bikes, e-bikes, joggers, and skaters connecting RIT, U of R, MCC, downtown Rochester. http://tinyurl.com/RochesterGreenPaper A straight-line fair-weather bikeway already connects downtown Rochester with the University of Rochester, and RIT1. By turning this scenic five-mile path into a year-round asset, we can create a revolutionary all-weather alternative energy transitway  for bikes, e-vehicles, joggers, and skaters that will reduce road traffic and parking pressures on our campuses, create a year-round recreational attraction for locals and visitors from around the world, and put us at the forefront of the new energy economy. By merely endeavoring to pursue this vision, we can help revitalize Rochester's reputation for technological and social innovation, stimulate collaboration and synergy between our urban and academic communities, create jobs, and attract funds to the region. As documented at our new website http://RochesterGreenway.org, this is an early-stage vision. But we could begin to act immediately and incrementally.

Don't Curb that old TV with New Digital TV Signal Change

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:46:00 +0000

A preventable environmental problem can be avoided when the new TV signal changes, if you recycle your new TV. But, you don’t have to buy a new TV, get a digital converter coupon and stay with what you’ve got. June 12 TV signals change to digital and for those still using the antenna, instead of cable and satellites, your going to have to do something. That’s if you still watch TV.

But, if you still watch TV, Check this out: The Looming E-Waste Tsunami - Television Recycling What Should You Do With Your Old TV Sets: Unlike leading computer manufacturers, the television industry has been, with the exception of Sony, very reluctant to take responsibility for their products at the end of their useful life. Televisions present all of the same disposal issues as computer equipment and other e-waste (TVs, computers, monitors, phones, etc.), from leaded glass to brominated fire retardants. However televisions contain much less valuable materials to offset the cost of recycling than most electronics, discouraging e-waste collectors and processors from handling them. "

Digital TV age dawns Friday democratandchronicle.com Democrat and Chronicle While the analog signals to your television may end on Friday, at least one Rochester-area television station is keeping a "night light" on for people slow to make the switch to digital. democratandchronicle.com Democrat and Chronicle Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York

Monitoring our Environment:

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:44:00 +0000

Though a lot of indicators need to be monitored to assess the healthiness of one community, arguably one of the most important is our environmental health. Without a sound environment, everything else loses its foundation.

This new project, which includes many specific environmental indicators for our region is especially welcome. Take a moment to check out the various environmental indicators like (Prevalence of Pesticides, Air Quality, Clean Water, Population Density, Recycling Rate, Beach Contamination, Toxic Chemical Release, and more…) that suggest whether or not we are living sustainably—here in the Rochester area. Don’t form a critical opinion about the state of our environment without getting the facts.

This site works towards that: ActRochester : Environment From the rolling slopes of the Finger Lakes and the broad Genesee Valley to the spectacular Lake Ontario coast, nature has provided a splendid setting. Preserving our great natural resources is the goal of the many people who work to protect our environment. --from ACT Rochester : The goal of ACT Rochester is to build on community strengths to help solve our critical problems. ACT Rochester will achieve this through community debate, discussion and engagement based on objective, timely and independent data that can reshape our approach to community problem-solving.

The Bottle Bill Ban Battle

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:22:00 +0000

This heralding by the media of environmentalists unhappy with the latest ban on the deposit law just passed strikes me as an odd way to look at the halt in the NYS bottle bill that was supposed to go into effect on June 1st, and an odd way to see environmental issues in general by the media. Because, of course, shouldn’t everyone be miffed that the battle to remove discarded bottles from our streets, urban forests, our roadways (you-name-it, bottles are everywhere) via a popular measure (most New Yorkers are for this bottle bill) has been squelched by a judge, bottling companies, some politicians, grocery and convenience stores? [Note, local recycling newslinks: http://www.rochesterenvironment.com/recycling.htm]

The media sees a battle, not an environmental problem where an incredible amount of waste is piling up around us. For, the press cannot see the forest because of the trees: the forest--our environmental issues that jeopardize the sustainability of our way of life; the trees--the myopic way mainstream media frames environmental issues. Mainstream media see environmental issues as a series of battles, oftentimes only with those opponents willing to step up to the microphone. Allegedly, the rest of us are dozing on the sidelines. It is as if while their train is plummeting off a cliff, passengers watching a fight in the aisle between the brakeman and the engineer believe they have no stake in the events about to unfold.

In this story about the ban on this bill, what is missing is the incredible amount of trash littering our world, the loss of natural resources, and the needless use of energy making our stuff that is polluting our planet. It’s not about squabbles going on by groups of angry people remote from our existence: It’s about how we (every one of us) conduct our business (economics) and whether or not we can keep doing that—without depriving our children of a future.

At present, our environment is failing, pollution is building, our energy sources are warming the planet…, and the list goes on and on. The tragedy of this bottle bill ban is that solving the larger problem of the trash build-up in our environment is on hold because the media cannot conceive of a way to report on it other than framing it as a long battle interspersed with a few good verbal whacks on each side.

Here’s some recycling matters our media could be reporting on until April of 2010 if they weren’t so dysfunctional: instances of volunteers taking the initiative and cleaning up our parks and trails in this Recession; seeing that our county enforces existing laws on haulers land-filling recyclables; making sure that televisions taken to the curbside because of the signal change on July 12th do not go into landfills; finding out if we in Rochester have recycling audits like Buffalo to see how many of us are actually recycling; finding out why our county doesn’t recycling beyond #2 plastics like Ontario County does; finding out how the recycling market affects recycling locally; find out where recycled products get recycled properly; finding out about programs to develop community composting programs that might remove some 10% of our food waste from landfills and sell as compost; finding out what local entrepreneurs are doing to create jobs in this area to keep trash from landfills; and maybe even compile a list of local recycling places for our residents to recycling properly—like this list: Donate, Recycle & Reuse

Our Chemicals, Our Environment

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Sat, 30 May 2009 13:57:00 +0000

This kind of analysis, checking to see what new chemicals we produce are having what effect on our health provided by the federal government, is what our government should be doing. We cannot rely, as we usually do, on industries to self-monitor their pollution and certainly we cannot depend on them to proactively seek out the possible repercussions of their new chemicals on our health and environment. In this country, as opposed to other countries, the burden of proof of the toxicity of industrial chemicals is on those whose complain, not on those who produce them.

So, having our government ramping up their studies on the relationship between manmade chemicals and their health ramifications is right on. ToxCast™ Program National Center for Computational Toxicology US EPA In 2007, EPA launched ToxCast™ in order to develop a cost-effective approach for prioritizing the toxicity testing of large numbers of chemicals in a short period of time. Using data from state-of-the-art high throughput screening (HTS) bioassays developed in the pharmaceutical industry, ToxCast™ is building computational models to forecast the potential human toxicity of chemicals. These hazard predictions will provide EPA regulatory programs with science-based information helpful in prioritizing chemicals for more detailed toxicological evaluations, and lead to more efficient use of animal testing. --from National Center for Computational Toxicology US EPA

How Does that Drilling for Natural Gas Thing Work?

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Sat, 30 May 2009 13:55:00 +0000

Might want to think twice or three times about drilling for natural gas in our state. Some communities have not fared so well Check out this regional environmental issue from investigative reporters who have done their homework Officials in Three States Pin Water Woes on Gas Drilling - ProPublica "But a string of documented cases of gas escaping into drinking water -- not just in Pennsylvania but across North America -- is raising new concerns about the hidden costs of this economic tide and strengthening arguments across the country that drilling can put drinking water at risk. " (April 26, 09) ProPublica - Journalism in the Public Interest

Energy A Moral Iissue:

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Sat, 30 May 2009 13:52:00 +0000

As we turn on our lights, run our air conditioners, and charge our gadgets we do so mostly by burning coal. Coal pollutes and adds dramatically to manmade global warming. So, when we decide not to conserve electricity or not to allow a renewable energy source near our home, we condemn many to the hazards of mountain top removal. That wind turbine won’t be in our backyard, but that blasted mountain top which tailing will pollute that wants and disfigure the lands will be in somebody else’s backyard. Morally, though, we all live in the coal fields because we use the power of coal and won’t allow a better power source to run our lives.

"We All Live in the Coal Fields": West Virginians Step Up Protests as EPA OKs New Mountaintop Removal At least thirty people were arrested in West Virginia Saturday as protesters marked a new phase of Operation Appalachian Spring, a campaign to end mountaintop removal mining. The protests came just a week after the Obama administration gave the green light for forty-two more mountaintop removal permits in a major victory for the coal industry. We speak to journalist Jeff Biggers, author of the book United States of Appalachia: How Southern Mountaineers Brought Independence, Culture and Enlightenment to America. Biggers says mountaintop removal is a national issue, not a local one, as many perceive." (May 29, 09) Democracy Now! Radio and TV News

Going Green:

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Sat, 30 May 2009 13:41:00 +0000

We all have to go, but there are a lot of us: People out thinking out of the traditional coffin and ways that won’t harm our environment. This might seem preposterous and heretical to a fundamental right of us all to be buried with dignity, but with 6.5 billion of us wanting our own space—forever—is going to get crowded and its unsustainable. Better that we think ahead and get some new ideas on traditional burying methods:

Here’s one: Dirt: Dying Green in NY on Vimeo "Natural Burial is a rising trend within the green movement. Already quite popular abroad and in California, Natural Burial is fast making its way to the east coast. "Dying Green" isn't just for hippies anymore. Motivated not only by ecological concerns, but also economic and emotional ones, "Dirt" explores the ideas behind green burial itself, its availability in NYS, and a host of the quirky movers-and-shakers behind the cause."

High-Speed Rail Through Rochester

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Wed, 27 May 2009 22:54:00 +0000

If high-speed rail runs through the Rochester area, our transportation modes would change dramatically. Find out more about this issue and make comment to the government: FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION : PASSENGER RAIL"President Obama proposes to help address the nation's transportation challenges by launching a new and efficient high-speed passenger rail network in 100-600 mile corridors that connect communities across America.
The Strategic Plan outlines the President’s vision that would transform the nation’s transportation system by rebuilding existing rail infrastructure while developing a comprehensive high-speed intercity passenger rail network through a long-term commitment at both the federal and state levels. This plan draws from the successful highway and aviation development models with a 21st century solution that focuses on clean, energy-efficient rail transportation. "

See Climate Change:

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Wed, 27 May 2009 22:52:00 +0000

If you’re from Missouri, you probably want us to ‘show you’ the effects of climate change, instead of listing article after article. Because of the nature of large-scale, long-term changes inherit in climate change this proved a challenge for the public who didn’t own their own intergalactic satellite.

Well, now you can borrow NASA’s satellites and watch them watch our planet’s ice move, water levels rise, and storms move. So, before leveling an opinion about whether we can witness climate change happening, check this amazingly assessable data from NASA and see for yourself—even if you just from New York. Climate Change: NASA's Eyes on the Earth "Eyes on the Earth – Earth-orbiting spacecraft and instruments developed my NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory currently study all aspects of our planet – oceans, land, atmosphere, biosphere and cyrosphere. They provide critical data about the rate and extent of global climate change."

Green Jobs – We’re Hearing Things...

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Mon, 25 May 2009 11:24:00 +0000

You can discuss all day long about what a ‘green job’ is and some have (Green Jobs - A GLOBE-Net Perspective), but mostly it’s an occupation that employs while making our way of life sustainable. Let’s not get too ivory tower about this notion as people are desperately looking for job now and, as a concept in progress, it matters little if today’s blue collar job, with a little retro-fitting, becomes tomorrow’s green job. Bigger changes to the job market are coming.

The proposed high-speed rail (TRANSPORTATION: Fast-tracking high-speed rail ) might create a lot of blue-green collar jobs if the public can get their heads around a new system that would compete nicely against vehicles and planes for longer trips. We are hearing that a high-speed rail system connected with bus rapid transit could reduce carbon dioxide emissions and increase efficiency and safety. Not all change is bad.

We are hearing about people thinking out of the box: starting businesses with new green products that only need some public education to generate interest. We’re hearing about a climate change bill in Congress coming up in June that could level the playing field so new forms of energy can complete with the old.

We are hearing about educators wanting to get their high-school students ready for a new green economy by including new training for teachers. And we are hearing about growing renewable energy companies that are creating new jobs nearby--Wind turbines becoming growth industry in Ohio. We know that the Internet is exploding with new databases for finding green jobs (Green Business Jobs Rochester, NY environmental jobs Rochester RochesterEnvironment.com) and new recycling business opening up and newly trained interns looking for green jobs, or maybe even just helping out and spicing up that green resume. (Take on an intern with a degree in the environmental field and green up that business of yours this summer.) People designing new Killer Aps (GoodGuide Ratings of Natural, Green and Healthy Products Green iPhone Apps ZapRoot 086 ZapRoot) are emerging as high-tech eco-problem solvers. So, we are hearing a lot of hints that the green job thing is real.

No, we are not hearing about a magical green gate that has suddenly opened and anyone wanting a green job merely has to walk though it for financial security and a clean planet. But, things are certainly stirring. All sectors of the economy, workers holding on to their old jobs, workers out of a job looking for a new one, kids coming out of college, and adults going back in, are all talking greening up the business world. So, we’re hearing more about how the time is ripe for a sea change in our economy and our planet’s health and we are following more threads that seem to be leading to more green job opportunities.

Maybe it’s why we are not hearing a lot of despair—because there’s a change a’ coming to the job environment and there’s hope that this time around we’ll get it right. Products and services that afford us a living on a planet that is thriving-it’s the way it should be.

The Recovery | Green Jobs

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Wed, 20 May 2009 00:26:00 +0000

This just in from NYS. Good service to subscribe to if your interested in the road ahead for the formulation of green jobs.

Economic Recovery "Governor Paterson and New York's Economic Recovery Cabinet are pleased to announce the start of a new service. Beginning today, and continuing on a regular basis, the Economic Recovery Cabinet will provide compiled reports with Stimulus-related news, announcements, and grant opportunities. The first issue is attached at the bottom of this e-mail. Subsequent issues will follow by e-mail, and will be available for download from our website, www.recovery.ny.gov from a dedicated archive page."

Not Like Sports News

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Sun, 17 May 2009 12:57:00 +0000

Unlike sports news coverage, where the lead unwinds quickly delivering a slow ball or a fast ball down the base line towards an awaiting teammate to complete a play that either mesmerizes or infuriates a crowd of enthusiasts, environmental news coverage is by comparison often droll and leaves the reader with the haunting sense that they’d been complicit in a world-wide conspiracy they did not desire or even contemplate beforehand.

However in both, sports and environmental coverage facts are not enough. In both, facts are critical; their accuracy should not be in dispute. But, facts alone don’t tell the whole story. In sports coverage there’s the daily drama, the bad boys beating the impossible odds and their wicked opponents must be whipped into such a sublime pitch of fervor that those opposed and fans enthralled near swoon. There are clear winners and losers. The winners must be goateed to gloat and the loser must retain enough dignity to come back and fight another day. Makes for exciting reading. Makes you want to follow up and tune in the next time these warriors get together. Makes for good media sales.

Environmental news coverage treats facts differently. Yes, the facts must be there, accurate and testable, but their intent must be to get the reader to see the importance of the big picture. Often not that fun. It’s not a game of winners and losers (or shouldn’t be); it’s important feedback about whether or not our way of life is working. And while environmental news coverage may never get the vast readership sports coverage does, with little of the drama and heaps of those dire consequences, here are some tips that might make environmental coverage, which some editors insist on inserting into an otherwise palatable chunk of daily reporting, more interesting:

Ask yourself, is the environmental news new? (Both sports and environment news share the burden of teasing something new out of the same old field of play.) Does it indicate a growing trend or an ebbing one—a condition where we are striving towards a solution or one threatening to come back and bite us? Does the news come from a credible source? (Even so, you should cross check it with other sources, maybe even data sources at a university or a reputable institution.) Does the story provide sufficient background to understand its import, its relevance to the overall health of the planet? (In sports, a come-back kid is bit more tantalizing that the same ole competent outfielder catching the same ole fly ball.) Does it have enough facts or so many facts that you cannot see the forest for the trees—the trees being the larger picture of our planetary environmental health? Is the story objective or biased by ideology, political, or economic zealotry?

I should mention one big difference between sports and environmental news coverage that may not be immediately obvious those wondering how the media will look after the Recession. If our local media failed altogether, someone would probably pick up the ball and deliver a blow by blow account of any game large enough to attract a crowd—by radio or podcast if necessary. If the bottom drops out of local coverage of environmental news, no one might pick up the ball at all. If you haven’t taken your eye off the ball of the media’s plight in this Recession, then you know that this is almost the case.

Love Canal - A new online resource

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Frank J. Regan) — Tue, 12 May 2009 21:39:00 +0000

One of the most notorious Brownfields, Environmental history was made nearby at Love Canal. Now you can view an expertly constructed web site that documents the tragedy with photos and records. Love Canal Collections - University at Buffalo Libraries