Sep 18
2013
Two small steps to bolster Buffalo’s lackluster recycling efforts: Recycling totes have been placed throughout City Hall, and UB law students are poised to draft legislation that would bring city’s recycling mandates into compliance with state law. A report by Investigative Post’s Dan Telvock.
Sep 17
2013
As few as 10 Asian carp can wreak havoc on the ecosystem and the economy of the Great Lakes, according to research published in the Biological Invasions journal. The abundance of algae and zooplankton in Lake Erie makes it a suitable spot for the invasive species, said University of Waterloo Professor Kim Cuddington, the lead researcher. “Therefore the carp are more likely to find enough food, and to have faster development times, and thus early age at first reproduction,” she said Tuesday. The concern is that Asian carp devour the same food supply of native fish without any known predators. Therefore, Asian[...]
Sep 13
2013
If you drove to work above the speed limit would you call the police to report that you were speeding? What if all laws were enforced only through such self-reporting? Sounds crazy, right? In essence, this is largely how the Department of Environmental Conservation operates, especially after drastic staffing cuts that have limited the agency’s ability to enforce environmental laws, according to a new report from Environmental Advocates of New York. The report is critical of the DEC’s recent track record on inspections and enforcement. The nonprofit’s report shows how environmental enforcement in New York is on the decline because of staffing[...]
Sep 11
2013
Buffalo residents have recycled for more than 20 years. But only until recently have employees in City Hall. These new recycling containers appeared in City Hall about a month ago. Investigative Post examined the city’s anemic recycling program with this story in February. Since then the city has made several moves to improve the program. Most notably, Public Works on May 2 hired Susan Attridge as the recycling coordinator, a position that had sat vacant since 2009. The new recycling containers are on each floor of City Hall.
Aug 27
2013
NRG’s CEO David Crane believes the utility system as we know it today faces a “mortal threat” from green microgrids, political pressure and cheap natural gas. And that may not be a bad thing if it translates into cheaper and more sustainable energy for the end consumer, which may or may not be the case. New York has some of the highest electricity prices in the nation. Nonetheless, Bloomberg Businessweek has this fascinating article that offers some rare insight into Crane’s mind. Why does this matter in Western New York? NRG owns the coal-fired power plants in Tonawanda (Huntley) and[...]
Aug 27
2013
Like in Buffalo, Detroit’s combined sewer system is spewing billions of untreated sewage and storm water into local waterways each year with little immediate relief in sight because fixing the problem is expensive to ratepayers. About 800 communities still use combined sewer systems, many of which are in the Great Lakes region.
Aug 16
2013
There’s enough greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere to raise the sea level in North America by more than 4 feet and flood hundreds of coastal cities and towns at high tide. When the submersions could happen is unclear but that’s the conclusion of Ben Strauss, a scientist with Climate Central, a nonprofit group of scientists and journalists who report on the world’s changing climate. Strauss predicted the sea level rise using a study from Anders Levermann, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, who found that every degree of global warming caused by carbon pollution equals 4.2 feet of sea level rise in[...]
Aug 14
2013
H2 Oh No! from the Center for Urban Pedagogy on Vimeo. I’ve blogged on GreenPost about a dozen times on combined sewer overflows here in Buffalo, but what has been more challenging is coming up with a way to visually show you the problem. Thanks to the Center for Urban Pedagogy, I can now feel at ease because they’ve done it for me with this short video showing how a combined sewer system works. The Buffalo Sewer Authority has 52 permitted combined sewer overflow points into various local waterways. According to the Alliance for the Great Lakes, the city’s combined[...]