In Monroe County, anti-fracking activists have struggled to get government officials to take fracking-related issues seriously. In particular, they’ve asked the county to pass a law banning its water treatment facilities from taking fracking waste, but their requests have fallen flat. Erie County is a different story. Yesterday, its Legislature passed a law banning fracking on […]
environment
Posted inNews & Opinion
Group pushes for brownfield tax credit reforms
An updated Environmental Advocates of New York analysis of the state’s brownfield redevelopment tax credit program says that since 2003, the program has cost in excess of $1.1 billion, but only 131 sites have been cleaned up. And of those 131 sites, only 82 projects claimed tax credits through 2012. The program is costly, but […]
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Legislators’ environmental records ranked
Each year, Environmental Advocates of New York scores state legislators on their environmental voting records and yesterday, the group released this year’s rankings. The marks are based on legislators’ votes on a selection of environmental bills, including fracking moratorium measures, brownfield tax credit reform bills, climate change legislation, and a measure to corral wild boars. […]
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Scientists group offers guides to fracking debate
The Union of Concerned Scientists recently released a couple of publications that should be of interest to anyone with questions about the ongoing fracking debate. The organization hasn’t taken a position on fracking, though drilling companies would probably say that the UCS is against it. Instead, it’s focused on helping the public ask critical and […]
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PLEX progress
City of Rochester officials say that they want residents of the Plymouth-Exchange neighborhood to know that they haven’t forgotten about a large brownfield redevelopment project along the Genesee River. In February, the city submitted an application to the state seeking additional funding for the Vacuum Oil Brownfield Opportunity Area. The funding would be used to […]
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Scraps of knowledge
Most people probably see organic waste like food scraps as a burden to be disposed of as quickly as possible. But Cam Hebda, a sustainable systems graduate student at Rochester Institute of Technology, says he wants people to look at the materials in a different way. By throwing away organic waste and burying it in […]
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Monroe Avenue water war
The Town of Brighton is taking on a project to make a section of Monroe Avenue more attractive and more pedestrian friendly. But the project’s main aim is to control storm water runoff along the heavily traveled road. The streetscape between Twelve Corners and Allens Creek near Westfall Road will be remade into a “green […]
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MOVIE PREVIEW: Greentopia | FILM
Greentopia began in 2011 as a two-day event. Now, just three years later, it has blossomed into a week-long multimedia festival that includes a conference, art exhibits, musical performances, and even a fashion show. Presented by Friends of the GardenAerial, the festival’s purpose is to educate and raise awareness for the environmental issues facing our […]
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Enviro group says cap and trade program is paying off
This week, New York officials are holding public hearings on new rules that would lower the state’s cap on power plant carbon emissions. (One of those hearings is at 2 p.m. this afternoon at Department of Environmental Conservation Region 8 Headquarters, 6274 East Avon-Lima Road, Avon.) Simultaneously, Environmental Advocates of New York has released a report citing […]
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State legislators propose massive environmental financing legislation
Two State Legislature committee chairs are proposing a new $5 billion environmental bond act.
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Plastics plague Ontario, too
Researchers have already confirmed the ubiquitous presence of tiny plastic pieces, called “microplastics,” in several of the Great Lakes. Now a SUNY Fredonia professor says that she’s found microplastics in Lake Ontario, too. This summer, SUNY Fredonia associate professor of chemistry Sam Mason led a group of University at Buffalo students in collecting samples from […]
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Don’t get too excited over Chesapeake news
Earlier this week, Reuters scored a massive scoop when it reported that Chesapeake Energy is dropping its court fight to extend gas-drilling leases in parts of New York. At issue were some Chesapeake leases in the Southern Tier, many of which, as Reuters piece put it, “were agreed to long before a boom in hydraulic […]
