Tag Archive for pollution

Beneath the Surface: Plastic Pollution presentation July 30, 2018

Beneath the Surface

As Part of Plastic Free July, All Our Energy’s Bring Your Own Bag team welcome this presentation featuring Rob DiGiovanni, founder and chief scientist at Atlantic Marine Conservation Society. Come learn about our local marine environment and how it is negatively impacted by marine debris. Marine debris, such as littered items like straws and plastic water bottles, “ghost” fishing gear, and any other foreign objects just don’t belong in these natural marine ecosystems. Come learn about the detriments of marine debris, and how you can help us save marine wildlife by monitoring our beaches! Presented in partnership with Center for Science Teaching and Learning, Sierra Club LI Group, and Long Island Community Foundation

Center for Science Teaching and Learning
Tanglewood Preserve
1450 Tanglewood Rd,
Rockville Centre, NY 11570

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/193565337897284/

Rockville Centre Bag It Screening July 23, 2018

As part of Plastic Free July, All Our Energy’s Bring Your Own Bag team present a free screening of the award winning, light-hearted, and funny movie “Bag It”. Come find out if your life is a little too plastic!

Rockville Centre Recreation Center
111 N Oceanside Rd,
Rockville Centre, New York 11570

rsvp: https://www.facebook.com/events/244832782764410/

Point Lookout Beach Clean Up July 14, 2018

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We’re teaming up with the Town of Hempstead Dept of Conservation and Waterways for this event. It’s Piping Plover season, an endangered bird that nests on our beach. Because they are protected, the town cannot use their machinery to clean up the beach during this nesting season time. So, we’re going to do a manual beach clean up to get keep things tidy, and keep the trash where it belongs, and not on our beach, where it also poses danger for those birds, and all other wildlife as well. All ages welcome with adult supervision.

Please bring your reusable water bottle to stay hydrated!

Point Lookout Town Park
1300 Lido Blvd
Point Lookout, NY 11569

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/2150085925210180/

Plastic Free July Continues

platic free july
Over 20 people have volunteered so far to share their stories and tips on our blog website.
How is your Plastic Free July going? It’s HARD! but so worth it. Our incredible volunteers are sharing their stories to help others find ways they too can be plastic free for July.. and every day.
Check out the corrected link here: liplasticfreejuly2018.wordpress.com/blog

Already a post every day so far, from Diana Ihmann, Randall Sorscher, Karin Johnson, Shelley Goldman, Jayne Paskoff, Gordon Howard, Marion Flomehaft and Nancy Levy.. so far!

What’s your story? What are your tips? Will you join our local edition of the international event and give up single-use plastic this July?

Here are our Plastic Free July events (see other posted blogs for full info):
July 14 Join the Beach Clean Up in Point Lookout
July 23 Bag It special screening at the Rockville Centre Recreation Center, and
July 30 “Beneath The Surface” event with Atlantic Marine Conservation Society in association with event hosts Center for Science Teaching and Learning at Tanglewood Preserve, and with Sierra Club LI Group and Long Island Community Foundation.

Of course, you can share the Plastic Free July Facebook event here.

 

Beach Clean Up – Point Lookout Town Park – July 14, 2018

Beach clean up
We’re teaming up with the Town of Hempstead Dept of Conservation and Waterways for this event. It’s Piping Plover season, an endangered bird that nests on our beach. Because they are protected, the town cannot use their machinery to clean up the beach during this nesting season time. So, we’re going to do a manual beach clean up to get keep things tidy, and keep the trash where it belongs, and not on our beach, where it also poses danger for those birds, and all other wildlife as well. All ages welcome with adult supervision.

Please bring your reusable water bottle to stay hydrated!

Point Lookout Town Park
1300 Lido Blvd
Point Lookout, NY 11569

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/2150085925210180/

Report: Our Undersea World- An Unnatural Danger

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Thank you to Steve Abbondandolo from The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation for braving the storm to come and give an intriguing presentation on marine debris and our undersea environment!
We learned about the biggest problems our marine life face, from pollution to entanglement to damaging human interaction.

We also learned some of the ways to help alleviate these problems and as always, if you see a stranded marine animal to stay away and call The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation at their hotline: (631) 369-9729

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Stay tuned as we partner with The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation and others for beach clean ups and documenting what is found.

NY State Department of Environmental Fracking Conservation?

 

New York Dept. of Fracking

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation officials and Fracking Interests are running hand in hand… so what about the Environmental Conservation interests of New Yorkers?

 

Disturbing news is emerging that despite public outcry, the NY State Dept of Environmental Conservation(DEC) is succumbing to intense lobbying efforts from the fracking industry,
***stop press as we just learned ***
or worse may actually already be in bed with them.

It was recently reported in this Huffington Post article “Fracking Industry Enjoyed Privileged Access to Controversial New York DEC Environmental Review” that while public and environmental groups were getting the runaround and being forced to jump through hoops to be heard (and 70,000 chimed in against!), the fracking lobby has not only had direct access to the DEC, they had:

  • several months’ (reports range from 6-10 weeks) early notification of impending regulations and recommendations so they could strategize, organize and maximize their lobbying efforts properly,
  • they have had input on tailoring upcoming regulations, and
  • may have even steered the environmental review process.
  • at best, the DEC have left all these accusations highly questionable-at worst they’re all true.

Then Came this article from Brendan Demelle at desmogblog.com: Science Trumped by Politics In Cuomo’s NY Fracking Plans?

After Governor Cuomo said the regulations would be based on science conducted (which seemed to support the public outcry) and not politics, it seems state employees and regulators may not necessarily see it that way since they allowed fracking industry:

access to drafts of the state’s permit plans,… used that information to lobby hard against testing for radioactivity in wastewater, for example.

it goes on to say

seventy New York state legislators on both sides of the aisle pointed out six major issues they said were under-addressed …
Instead of focusing on issues like these, DEC staff were busy discussing zoning questions with industry lawyers and providing drillers with a chance to weigh in on the expense of complying with environmental protections.

We love the one where the fracking industry is now talking about getting rid of fracking waste “water”- by legally spraying it on local roadways!
You must read it.

****stop press*****
As if this all wasn’t outlandish enough…
it is now coming to light that the person at the DEC in charge of all this, is being outed as a fracking and drilling proponent who also publicly supports climate change denial.

Is that who we want in charge of our state’s Environmental Conservation!!

Read about it here: Top New York Regulator Promoting Shale Gas Signed A Climate Denial Petition Stating That Increases In CO2 Are ‘Beneficial’

It begs the key question:

So is Bradley Field, the petroleum engineer and drilling proponent who can’t remember if he is a climate change denier; the holder of a singularly influential position to determine the outcome of shale gas development in New York state as the issuer of permits and the overseer of regulations — Is this Bradley Field nonpartisan? It’s a relevant question.

Not only relevant, it begs other questions:

  • should any singular unelected government official wield so much power?
  • Shouldn’t that person in charge of environmental conservation always err in favor of environmental conservation?
  • and who is watching the “watcher”?

Now, Grenpeace’s Executive Director Philip Radford has weighed in, and we need to stand with them:Why Is Governor Cuomo Letting a Climate Science Denier Regulate Fracking?  They are asking Mr Field to step down and asking you to sign the petition telling Governor Cuomo to get rid of him. 

 

We will continue to follow this story…

editors note:
Truth be told, I’ve started and stopped writing this artcle 3 times, the original story here goes back weeks…and I can’t let it go.

To now, All Our Energy has sought to remain pragmatic on political issues and it is overwhelmingly clear, we cannot. Our voice must be heard.

NY and East Coast Offshore Wind

 

View off the Long Island South Shore off shore wind farm

Our representation of what the proposed offshore wind farm will look like from the area beaches. Can you see the turbines?
Well you won’t be able to, so we didn’t even bother to photoshop them in!

Two articles floating today you need to know about.  

First up is  East Coast Could be Powered by Wind  from Jake Richardson at Cleantechnica.   It describes how the ENTIRE east coast could be powered by 100% offshore wind power.

 

Second is an incredibly well thought out and in-depth look at…

The Turning Point for Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy from Catherine Bowes and Justin Allegro at National Wildlife Federation

Check out their FULL REPORT: The Turning Point for Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy: Time for Action to Create Jobs, Reduce Pollution, Protect Wildlife & Secure America’s Energy Future (pdf)

How do we help others get it, and see it’s interconnected-

  • create jobs,
  • reduce pollution,
  • protect wildlife,
  • secure America..?

                                   your suggestions…???

Why Wind?

 

Why wind?

 

“You mean not even getting into the bigger picture issues like: why change, why renewable energy, why stop polluting, why stop causing climate change and a hundred other ‘whys’?”  I ask myself.

 

Well, let’s look at some readily checkable facts when we ask, “Why wind”?

It’s generally agreed » Read more..