Dan Telvock

Dan Telvock is Investigate Post's environmental reporter. A native of the Finger Lakes region, he was an award-winning newspaper reporter in Virginia for 13 years, including stints at The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg and The Winchester Star, before joining Investigative Post. He founded and operated The Landry Hat, a blog that covered the Dallas Cowboys, from 2005 to 2008, while also working as a reporter.

Nov 19

2012

UB pulls plug on Shale Institute

The dark cloud is dissipating over the University at Buffalo and its short-lived Shale Resources and Society Institute. UB President Satish K. Tripathi announced Monday he has closed the institute. The decision comes seven months after the institute released a controversial study that claimed instances of pollution related to the process of natural gas drilling called hydrofracking declined 60 percent from 2008 to August 2011 because of regulation in Pennsylvania. As a result, the Marcellus industry cut incidences of environmental violations by more than half in three years, the study claimed. Artvoice exposed the institute before the university ever announced its existence, raising questions[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Nov 15

2012

Breaking down the idling story

Yes, it’s true that diesel truck engines run cleaner than they did a decade ago. But it doesn’t mean you should go ahead and inhale the fumes from thousands of trucks on a daily basis. There’s a law in New York that prohibits heavy-duty diesel engines from idling for more than five minutes under normal circumstances and that law is not being enforced, especially on the Lower West Side, where there is a long history of respiratory problems. That’s the basis of my report published on investigativepost.org and broadcast on WGRZ TV. The lack of enforcement here is not a[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Nov 15

2012

DEC idling on enforcement

Diesel fumes permeate the air near the gate to the Peace Bridge Duty Free store as nearby trucks idle in traffic and parking lots. The idling trucks are a sore spot for residents of the West Side that borders the bridge and its plaza on the American side. Diesel fumes contribute to air pollution believed to be partly responsible for health problems – including asthma rates nearly four times higher than the national average – among residents on the city’s lower West Side, according to Dr. Jamson S. Lwebuga-Mukasa, a leading researcher of air quality in the neighborhood. The World Health[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Nov 15

2012

Perfect day to start recycling

Today is the perfect day to start recycling if you haven’t already. Why? Because it is America Recycles Day. This morning, the Buffalo Recycling Alliance gave an award to the Community Charter School on Edison Avenue, which I mentioned in this article about the city school system’s challenges with boosting recycling in all of the schools. About 25 students were in attendance for the award and then there was an assembly on recycling at the school for all elementary students. There was a lot of excitement in the room as the students realized they were being recognized for recycling. “Not everyone[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Nov 12

2012

Lennon wants Cuomo to imagine no fracking

Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon and their organization “Artists Against Fracking” are using a large billboard off a New York City highway to put pressure on Gov. Cuomo to “imagine there’s no fracking.” The Rolling Stone magazine says the Major Deegan Expressway, where the billboard is situated in the skyline, is well traveled by the governor. Sean Lennon, the only son of John Lennon and Ono, was also critical of the natural gas extraction process in an op/ed in the New York Times. His family farm is under threat from hydrofracking interests, he says. The governor and the state Department of Environmental[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Nov 8

2012

Trash is worth something

The New York Times Green blog has an interesting story about what a market in Mexico City does to increase recycling efforts. Here’s a snippet of the blog post: Part bottle depot, part farmers’ market, part family outing, the Mercado de Trueque, or barter market, promotes recycling in a region with serious waste management and water issues. Problems range from a lack of landfill space to litter that plugs storm sewers and results in flooding. The barter market’s coordinator, Paola de María y Campos, describes it as an educational project. “We’re trying to show people that trash is worth something,” he[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Nov 7

2012

Obama finally mentions global warming

Although it only lasted about a second, the president finally mentioned global warming outside of the MTV interview he did last month. In his victory speech this morning after defeating Mitt Romney, Obama may have signaled that he’s going to end his silence on global warming during his second term. Here’s what he said early this morning in Chicago: “But despite all our differences, most of us share certain hopes for America’s future. We want our kids to grow up in a country where they have access to the best schools and the best teachers. A country that lives up[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Nov 6

2012

Being more sustainable…

Sustainability is the new big thing. Although it is a long-term approach, sustainability makes a clear connection with the environment, the economy and how we live in the world. What level of social responsibility do you take to live a more sustainable lifestyle? To see sustainability on a local level, check out this interview that Kristen Kaszubowski, the social media assistant for GrowWNY, did with Aliesa Adelman, a sustainable design coordinator at Wendel Companies. One portion of the interview that struck me was when Kaszubowski asked how one could be more sustainable in their daily practices. Recycling is one way to live[...]

Posted 12 years ago