Sep 5
2013
Environmental News Network reports that the Clean Air Act’s regulations combating acid rain have brought life back to forestland in the Central Appalachian Mountain in West Virginia. Researchers chose this area because it is downwind from Ohio River Valley coal plants.
Aug 30
2013
Can a New York town or city ban hydrofracking? Buffalo and 61 other municipalities already have passed bans. But the state’s highest court will decide if towns and cities have the power to do so. A report from Bloomberg.
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[...]
Aug 1
2013
The Niagara Gazette reports community residents are questioning the Department of Environmental Conservation’s oversight of Covanta Niagara’s expansion plans. The plant has already begun construction of the project without the required air permit. Covanta spokeswoman says it took the risk with DEC’s “knowledge and concurrence.”
Aug 1
2013
The Department of Environmental Conservation has ordered Covanta Niagara to stop construction of a natural gas boiler and a 190-foot smokestack in Niagara Falls because it hasn’t obtained the required air permit. Covanta, which has spent more than $820,000 over the past three years in campaign contributions and lobbying expenses, started construction months before the public comment period on the project closes on Monday. The notice of violation came less than 48 hours after three Niagara County residents raised concerns about the the DEC’s oversight of the Niagara County waste-to-energy plant’s $30 million expansion project, as first reported by the[...]