faulker083

There wasn’t enough oomph in the sound system at the Rochester ‘s Families Belong Together rally last week, so it was very difficult for my wife and me to hear the orators amidst the other city sounds at Washington Square Park. But we knew the big picture, the horrific intolerance of the Trump administration’s policies towards those desperately trying to find sanctuary from the violence, economic strife, and Climate Change compelling them to flee to our door. What we couldn’t hear well were the local stories of those trying to keep themselves and their families together while our country gives way to xenophobia.   Rochester responds to Trump immigration moves Saturday's Washington Square Park rally was part of a national day of action organized by Families Belong Together (Familias Unidas, No Divididas), a group that began holding events and rallies around the country in early June. Some 750 protests took place, bringing out hundreds of thousands of protesters calling for the reu...

On Jan. 7, 2018, I attended the Trash Incinerator Forum in Romulus, NY. (A complete video of the forum is here .) The forum began with an introduction by Judith Enck, former head of the EPA Region 2, for the main speaker: Dr. Paul Connett, Professor Emeritus in Environmental Chemistry at St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY. BTW: Judith Enck is a hero due to her outspoken criticism of the Pruitt EPA. What EPA chief Scott Pruitt promised — and what he’s done But Judith Enck, a New York-based regional EPA administrator under former President Barack Obama, said Pruitt’s rhetoric doesn’t match his record. “You can’t have clean air and you can’t have clean water if you’re going to roll back crucial environmental rules and not enforce the rules we have on the book,” said Enck, who recently returned from seeing hurricane damage in the Virgin Islands. “We’ll see the effects very soon.” (11/19/2017, Politico) There was much in the forum that suggested that installing one of the largest waste...

Like Climate Change , Brownfields don’t tend to get noticed by the public until the big picture is understood, experts examine the evidence, and someone’s best interests (including their health) gets compromised. Often this processing of ours takes a long time, as both Climate Change and too many Brownfields have languished without adequate action.  As Climate Change progresses in our Rochester region with more heavy rainfall in the spring, it is more likely that Brownfields that have not been cleaned up will leach dangerous chemicals into our soil, our neighborhoods, and our waters. [See: ‘Figure 2.18: Observed Change in Very Heavy Precipitation’ in the National Climate Assessment’s “ Heavy Downpours Increasing ”.] Even the new* Environmental Protection Agency understands the urgency of getting Brownfields cleaned up as a Climate Change adaptation strategy. Why Mitigation and Adaptation Matter for Brownfield Communities | Many members of vulnerable populations, including childre...

Thanking Trump for pulling the US out of the Paris Accord because his administration’s anti-environmental policies have galvanized the US and the world to address Climate Change would be like wheel-chairing over to the guy who ran over you with his truck and giving him a bouquet of flowers because your being crippled by what he did spurred you to write the great American novel. Although the Trump administration’s anti-environmental actions, including ditching the Paris Accord , have crystalized the extremes these people will go to push their insensitive ideology upon the world, there’s absolutely no reason to believe we can, however exercised, overcome the blow of a crippled worldwide agreement. The players in the Trump administration have proven that they will plow through anything to hold on to their power and wealth created from an energy option now proven to be lethal to our life support system. What has not been proven (nor can it) is whether we can overcome the Trump administrati...

“ And the way that I look at a lot of climate change things is, at a certain point, you have nice, friendly oscillations in the weather cycle, globally. And, at a certain point, the string on your pendulum breaks and things go flying off. Or another way to think of it is, things are pretty steady state, up until the point when you tip the system such that your state slides down .” Dr. Pamela Gay (January 10, 2017, Ep. 435: The Butterfly Effect , Astronomy Cast.)  If we understood Climate Change properly, we would appreciate that the time for emergency measures for protecting our infrastructures is now, if not sooner. The Butterfly Effect relates to Climate Change, resulting from the dramatic increase in greenhouse gas emissions starting with the industrial revolutions around 200 years ago, and having already led to many local consequences . Temperature increases and ocean acidification have already begun a chain of effects, some perhaps unstoppable. One of the local consequences is...

One of the recent developments in paleontology is the possible resurrection of the dinosaurs. As fascinating as realizing a Jurassic-Park scenario may be, I’m not so sure spending our time and money on such an ‘accomplishment’ is such a good idea. As our world quickly and disastrously warms, our best and brightest should be finding out exactly how Climate Change is most likely to unfold and how we can adapt to that. Stopping and maybe even reversing Climate Change would be good too. This notion of bringing back dinosaurs isn’t as fantastic as you might think. Soft Tyrannosaurus Rex tissue has been discovered and may include some of ancient DNA we may use for reconstruction. Check this out:   Dinosaurs: The Hunt for Life The hunt for life within the long-dead bones of dinosaurs may sound like the stuff of Hollywood fantasy, but one woman has found traces of life within the fossilised bones of a T rex. Dr Mary Schweitzer has seen the remains of red blood cells and touched the so...

When asked most folks in the Rochester region would not give up their personal vehicles regardless: “Nothing will replace my car as my main mode of transportation.”(Page 11, Long Range Transportation Plan 2040 (LRTP)). And while public input is important for Genesee Transportation Council ’s (GTC)’s plan, the LRTP is funded by the federal government. This is not to suggest that what the public wants right now from its transportation system is much different from the goals of the LRTP, only that the federal government rules: “Absent a change in priorities at the Federal and State levels, fiscal constraint dictates that we maintain the existing condition and performance of our most crucial assets as best we can, manage the decline of less critical assets and structures without compromising safety, and implement limited expansions whenever feasible.” (Page 5, LRTP) ‘Existing condition’ above is meant to mean our present transportation system—thousands of miles of asphalt/concrete roads a...

The foundation of a thriving downtown Rochester encompasses more than a desirable housing market. Consider the case of Flint, Michigan where a bad official decision to save money on public water infrastructure has resulted in the lead poisoning of many children and a drinking water crisis .  When you cannot drink the water, breath the air, or if your built infrastructures (transportation, water, waste, telecommunications, and energy) are crumbing, even a cheap McMansion will be undesirable. In a changing world, where the past we knew is not an indication of our future prospects, one of the most dramatic changes Rochester and its downtown hub will experience is Climate Change . Our housing market, our job prospects, our public health, and everything else we hold dear will not thrive if our environment (our life support system) is collapsing. In the past we developed and advanced under the delusion that our environment would take care of itself despite our environmental interference....

On Wednesday evening, Sept. 16 th, from 7 to 9PM, at least fifteen candidates for local county and city offices addressed questions on “ Building an Economy for Climate Stability ” to a large gathering at the Harley School in Brighton. It was a unique opportunity for voters to hear their potential leaders speak about how they would help create a climate for green jobs and address Climate Change locally. Everyone in the room at Harley had a chance to hear the science of Climate Change urgently brought to the local level from their well-informed and enthusiastic candidates. Except the Rochester media was not there. Not one. Not only that, but none of our local media (except Rochester City Newspaper and WXXI’s “ Connections ”) helped promote this critical local forum that attempted to address the crisis of our age. Why not? Why wouldn’t the media in the third largest city in New York State bother promoting and covering an election forum that would encourage more citizens to attend, vote...