Aug 29
2013
Jim Heaney examined the words and numbers expressed by Byron Brown, Bernie Tolbert and Sergio Rodriguez regarding the local economy during Wednesday’s mayoral debate. The bottom line: Tolbert and Rodriguez were generally accurate, while Brown made several claims that were unsubstantiated.
Aug 28
2013
Mother Jones reports on the FBI’s ruthless response to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech. Wrote a top FBI official: “We must mark him now, if we have not done so before, as the most dangerous Negro of the future in this Nation from the standpoint of communism, the Negro, and national security.”
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 26
2013
Aug 19
2013
The state had promised to cut back on the practice of sending mentally ill prisoners to solitary confinement. Instead, the number of inmates diagnosed with severe mental illness dropped by more than half – and solitary confinements continue. A report from ProPublica.
Aug 18
2013
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[...]