Rally!

Step It Up 2007 -- Rally & March for the Climate -- Buffalo, New York

Report by Walter Simpson, Western NY Climate Action Coalition


PLEASE PASS THIS MESSAGE ALONG TO FRIENDS, FAMILY AND OTHER POTENTIAL CLIMATE ACTIVISTS.  HELP US BUILD A MOVEMENT! 


Hello Climateers,

Some of you may have attended though many of you missed this past Saturday’s very successful Step It Up climate action rally in downtown Buffalo.  About 150 people came out for speakers at the Teddy Roosevelt historic site, then a march downtown along the sidewalk on Delaware Avenue, and a rally with more speakers in front of city hall at the McKinley monument – all under a beautiful blue sky and unseasonably warm weather provided ironically by our changing climate.  (Just a brief comment on the recent warm weather: please note that peak foliage is 2-3 weeks late and the leaves have yet to fall off the trees – so if a cold wind blows across an unseasonably very warm Lake Erie, we could once again have a tree-devastating snow storm which at this point should not be regarded as a “Surprise.”)

For photos of the event, please see: http://events.stepitup2007.org/november/reports/2221   You can see we all had great time.  

The National Campaign
Our Step It Up rally was part of a national effort which is continuing today with 3,000 young people lobbying Congress.  You can support their efforts and the demands of Step It Up (see bulleted list below) by clicking here. Please take action whenever you can by following easy directions on this webpage

Please also check out the national Step It Up website, StepItUp2007.org, to see what happened across the country on November 3. Wow!  What a great effort! – all designed to make sure climate change is a top election issue in 2008 (though let’s not forget it tomorrow on election day 2007).

By the way, the demands of Step It Up are right on!  They are:
•    80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050
•    No new coal plants!
•    Lots of green jobs to curtail energy waste and build the renewable energy economy we will need to kick our reliance on fossil fuels

Here’s What Happened in Buffalo on Saturday
Our local Step It Up event was organized and MC-ed by David Kowalski (many thanks, David!) and friends (thanks!).  Speakers, in rough order of appearance, included (apologies to anyone I didn’t mention):

•    Nan and Walter Simpson – We kicked things off.  For some excerpts from Nan’s remarks see below.  Mine are attached and below.
•    Bonnie Lockwood, representing Congressman Brian Higgins.  She enthusiastically reported that Brian has already done a lot and we can count on him to support our efforts to curtail climate change.
•    Bill Nowak, representing Green Gold, the Wind Action Group, and the WNY Climate Action Coalition.  Bill provided excellent resources for self-education plus he explained the green jobs campaign and how Buffalo is well situated to develop and create the renewable energy technologies of the future.  See below for more from Bill.
•    State Senator Antoine Thompson proclaimed his full support, told us that he is the ranking Democrat on the State Senate environment committee (positioning him to be a big help on this issue), and shared a message of support from Governor Spitzer.
•    State Assemblyman Sam Hoyt gave a rousing supportive talk, praising all participants and reminding all of us to make sure the anticipated new green economy will provide jobs and benefits to those who need them the most, our area’s poor.
•    Candidate for Erie County Executive Jim Keane who promised full support for climate action and the green jobs campaign.  He said if elected, he would do what he could to bring a wind turbine manufacturer to Buffalo and put wind turbines on top of the County Rath Building!
•    Janet Lenichek of the WNY Climate Action Coalition who spoke about climate protection legislation before Congress.  Janet explained that we are still waiting for Senator Chuck Schumer to support the Sanders/Boxer bill to reduce global warming pollution (S.309).  This is the only bill before the Senate which would achieve an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, a demand of Step It Up and what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stated is required to avoid catastrophic global warming.  You can support this legislation by clicking here: http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/nrdcaction_012207  You can also write Schumer at: U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20510.  An old fashion hard-copy letter carries a lot of weight even though its just one ounce!
•    Gladys Gifford representing the Citizens Regional Transit Corporation asked the rally participants who had walked, biked or took public transit to the rally (a few of us had) and then proclaimed the benefits of public transit and expanding public transit for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
•    Bob Ciesielski of Sierra Club explained Sierra Club’s national efforts in this area including a climate protection program called Cool Cities (http://coolcities.us/ ).  Sierra Club has been instrumental in fighting the proposed Jamestown NY coal-burning plant.
•    Alice Kryzan, candidate for U.S. Congress, who indicated her full support for climate action and her opposition to the war in Iraq (she plans to run against incumbent Rep. Tom Reynolds).  Alice is an environmental lawyer who has been a key player in our statewide and local efforts to stop the coal power plant proposed for Jamestown, NY.  We have greatly benefited by her legal help.  Many thanks Alice!
•    Plus a surprise visit by Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown at the very end of the rally where he announced his interest in working with us and his intention to include in his next budget a full time City environmental staff person!

Quite a day!  To get more involved, please contact.

Walter Simpson, enconser@buffalo.edu , 839-0062

* * * * *

From Nan Simpson’s Remarks
•    Climate change will effect us, our children, future generations and all species.  According to biologist E.O. Wilson, half of all animal and plant species may be lost by 2100, in part due to climate change.  And already 1 in 4 mammal species are threatened, 1 in 8 bird species, and 1 in 3 amphibian species.
•    Don’t be fooled by “clean coal.”  It is just political advertising hype.  Remember  that what they call the “Clear Skies” program meant more air pollution.  The “Patriot Act” takes away critically important rights true patriots died to establish.  And “No child left behind” has become no child left alive as health coverage for children is denied.
•    The Christmas season should remind us that Santa Claus brings coal to children who were bad.  That’s not what our kids deserve!  We need to leave them a clean healthy planet, not one irreparably damaged by coal-burning and climate change.

From Bill Nowak’s Remarks
•    We are facing twin threats – climate change and peak oil.  While the latter may eventually result in less oil being burned (a good thing), unless we are careful it might mean a resort to more coal burning as well as more oil wars.
•    To better understand how we can reduce fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions, please take a look at Princeton University R. Socolow’s “stabilization wedges” http://www.princeton.edu/~cmi/resources/stabwedge.htm
•    Buffalo and WNY are well situated to be a prime locale for renewable energy manufacturing and development.  Consider the acronym, WET SOIL: We have the WIND; we have the EXAMPLE (i.e. Steel Winds wind farm in Lackawanna, NY); we are a TRANSPORTATION hub with multiple transportation modalities; we have the SOIL or land to do it on – plenty of Brownfields waiting to be greened up; we have the OFFSHORE potential for wind development; NYS has the INCENTIVES to help make it happen; and we certainly have a capable and ready LABOR force.

From Walter Simpson

It’s great to be here with you this morning.  What a wonderful day, part of what could be called an unseasonable fall – peak foliage delayed 2-3 weeks with leaves are still on tree trees in early November – a condition that is becoming the norm as our WNY climate shifts to what in the lifetime of our grandchildren could be like that of Georgia if we follow a “business as usual” energy path.  

We all know the litany of possible consequences of climate change and we see glimmers of what is likely in the drought in Atlanta and the SE, the fires in California, and the terrible flood just unleashed in Mexico.  No one weather-related event can be attributed to climate change but we know these are the kinds of events climate change will make more likely.

We are here to Step it Up.  We are part of a national movement to make the climate change issue as big in the upcoming 2008 elections as the continuing occupation of Iraq.  Hopefully, the climate change issue will not also be sharing the top billing on the list of hot issues with a war in Iran as President Bush establishes his legacy and tries to make abundantly clear that he is the worst president in U.S. history.

The national Step It Up campaign is focusing on three demands – 1. No new coal plants, 2. Reduce carbon pollution by 80% by 2050, 3. Grow green jobs. In the year ahead we must hammer these home.

We all know that new coal plants are being proposed across the United States and that -- even worse -- China and India are rapidly building them.  According to a recent AP story, in the U.S. at least 16 proposed new coal plants have been scrapped in the last few months and three dozen are on hold because they are being challenged.  

In New York we have 4 new coal plants are being proposed including one for Tonawanda and one for Jamestown.  Proponents of both these plants are playing fast and lose with the carbon issue.  

It is not good enough to build a new coal gasification plant in Tonawanda that is carbon capture ready.  There must be guarantees that any new coal plant would operate ONLY with near 100% capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide for every day of that plant operates.  NRG Energy, the proponent of that plant, is out looking for government money to subsidize its new plant but has put forth no such plan.

Jamestown Board of Public Utilities is trying to wrap their dirty coal proposal in a clean coal wrapper by working with Praxair, UB, and others to claim that the plant would be a demonstration project for a type of carbon capture known as Oxy Fire.  Jamestown is now pressuring the U.S. EPA and the NYS DEC to provide permits to build this coal plant even though the demonstration project has no funding, nor any guarantee that it will work, nor any promise that even if it did work that same technology would be applied to the plant for its fifty year plus lifespan and that the carbon dioxide captured from burning coal would find a safe hiding place in an underground repository, forever.

Jamestown epitomizes the folly of new coal.  Lots of hype.  Huge risks.  No guarantees of clean operation. High costs – as already expensive electrical generation would increase by 2 to 4 cents a kilowatt hour to cover the costs of carbon capture and storage, assuming it could be done at all.  And, by the way, the Jamestown coal plant is not even needed – as Jamestown could easily meet its projected energy needs more cleanly and economically with energy conservation plus a modest amount of wind and biomass generation.

The reality is that with our level of energy waste, no new conventional power plants should be built, fossil fuel or nuclear.   Especially no new coal plants given that when coal burns it creates much more carbon dioxide than burning either oil or natural gas.  

One wonders if Arnold Schwarzenegger were Governor of New York whether we would have a better chance of stopping all of this coal folly.  Eliot Spitzer entered office as an environmental hero who successfully sued coal burning power plants in other states for polluting New York and helped win a U.S. Supreme Court case to force the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide emissions and address climate change.  Now while we wait for Governor Spitzer and the DEC to take action to stop the Jamestown coal plant and others proposed for New York, a radio talk show host in Jamestown is reporting that Spitzer told Jamestown’s Mayor Sam Teresi that he (the Governor) favors the building the proposed  coal plant.  Governor we are waiting for you to deny this claim.  

To put Spitzer’s and the DEC’s inaction on coal in perspective, the Kansas Department of Health just stopped a new coal plant in Kansas because of climate change concerns.  As Kansas jumps ahead of NY, where is our vaunted new York State leadership?!

To be fair, Governor Spitzer has proposed a plant to reduce New York’s energy use and appears to be ready to get the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative off to a good start next year – but this is not enough.  Governor, we are waiting for you to say no to new coal plants.  And please listen to leading climatologist Jim Hansen who has stated that even already existing coal plants will have to be bulldozed if we are to avoid climate disaster.

Step It Up’s call for an 80% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 is consistent with the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change which just won the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore.  Let’s hear it for them.

There are a couple of pieces of legislation before the Congress right now that are consistent with this call – Congressman Henry Waxman’s bill in the House and the Sanders/Boxer bill in the Senate.  We need to push for these -- though until there is new leadership in the White House, we cannot expect much.

Let us not underestimate how difficult and challenging this kind of carbon reduction will be.  Just imagine doing it at home.  Just imagine doing it on your block or here in Buffalo where Buffalo’s Mayor has yet to acknowledge the problem of climate change and put forth a plan of action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – even though Buffalo is shown as a signatory of the U.S. Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement.  We need every city and town in WNY to sign on to this agreement and then get serious about reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.  We need every new building built in our city and region to maximize energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy, including the new U.S. Courthouse advertised by Senator Schumer as the wave of Buffalo’s future.  

Perhaps UB will be a model, given its recent commitment to join 400 other colleges and universities across the country in planning for and eventually achieving climate neutrality.  Buff State, Canisius, Daemen, Dyouville, Medaille and other local schools please Step It Up and step up to the plate.  These other schools need to make this pledge as well.  If truth be told probably only a handful of the signatories of this climate neutrality pledge know how they will do it but at least they are going to try.

Signatures and laws and plans and good examples will not be enough.  There will need to be carrots and sticks and we need to be prepared to support both.  Can we do this without already high energy prices going higher?  The simple obvious answer is no.  Carbon emissions will have to be penalized and taxed.  The price signals have to be right.  We need to be calling for and insisting that this happen.  Coal has got to be too expensive to burn.  Gas guzzlers too costly to buy and drive.  Yes, there will have to be relief for those who cannot afford these higher energy prices plus a concerted strategy to accelerate energy efficiency and conservation so the amount of energy we use will go down as energy prices go up, so energy costs are bearable.

I mentioned Jim Hansen before and I will end with him in a minute.  Hansen makes this excellent point that unless we tax carbon emissions – he says it more positively as “establishing a price for carbon” – our efforts to improve efficiency will result in greater use of the things that consume energy (because efficiency improvement would have made continued waste affordable).  We can’t afford to have that happen.  As unpolitik and ironic as this may sound, given human nature we can’t afford affordable energy prices.

The good news is we know exactly what to do.  We need become as efficient or more efficient than the Japanese – who use one third as much energy per person as well do – and live very comfortable high tech lives.  And we need to switch over to clean energy production and generation using solar and renewable energy technologies – while helping other countries do the same.  And perhaps if we would stop buying so much stuff made in China, it would be easier for them to transition to clean energy instead of opening two new coal plants a week.  An added plus to making this transition are the jobs and rebuilt economies.  Bill Nowak and others will speak to this later today.  But this is a key point.  It is the sunny side of the dark cloud that’s now over us.

Let me conclude by saying we need to get our lifestyles in order and get political in ways we have not yet imagined on this issue.  Everyone’s lifestyle assignment after this rally is to go home and figure out how your family can be climate neutral.  Nan and I have done it – you can too.  And then make a promise to yourself and your children or children and people and animals and plants everywhere that you will dedicate a substantial amount of your time to addressing this issue politically and that you will get you friends, family and co-workers involved, and your mayors and council people and everyone -- and that in 2008 no candidate that is not 100% on a climate protection bandwagon will get elected.

Looking at the science, Jim Hansen has said we have 1 more degree of warming and just ten years to get on an entirely new energy path where each year the consumption of fossil fuels and the release of greenhouse gas emissions goes down instead of up.  If we fail, according to Hansen, we will be unable to avoid the worst consequences of global climate change.  He said that over a year ago, so we have about 9 years.  That is nothing for an inconvenient undertaking as this.  

So we need to get on the stick and measure what we do by what I want to call the Hansen Scale.  As we educate, politically organize and contemplate action on this issue we need to ask ourselves, is what we are planning big enough and bold enough and likely to be effective enough that it is the right thing to do if we only have 9 years left to turn this giant supertanker and giant coal pile around?  I think we can do it but only if we really Step it Up.  Thanks.