Utilizing Big Data to Analyze Algal Blooms in the Finger Lakes
Share your Climate Concerns
Hope for Our Climate – Project Drawdown, Part 2
Advocates Push Albany for Quick Rise in EV Sales
First Fossil Fuel-Free Mixed Use Renovation in Syracuse
CCAA Leadership Officially Established!
Action Station, News Bites and Upcoming Events
Spotlight – Scott Kushner
Utilizing Big Data to Analyze Algal Blooms in the Finger Lakes
By Jaden Duggal
Seneca Lake Water Quality Buoy
Bobbing mid-lake, offshore of Clark’s Point at latitude 42°49.13′, longitude 76°57.61′ floats the Seneca Lake water quality buoy. Providing real time and continuous data on the health of Lake Seneca, this technology provides scientists and the public a unique window into how climate change may be impacting Central New York.
Seneca Lake is the largest and, at a depth of 618 feet, the deepest of the Finger Lakes. In part due to the lake’s depth, its temperature remains at a near constant 39 degrees Celsius year round. During the summer months, however, the top 10 to 15 feet of the lake may warm up to between 70 and 80 degrees Celsius. The large size and depth of the lake also has an impact of moderating the surrounding climate and land. Most notably, the region provides ideal conditions for growing grapes. Seneca Lake’s shores boast forty wineries and vineyards, more than any of the other Finger Lakes. These regional wineries attract more than 600,000 visitors annually.
The effects of climate change are becoming increasingly evident in the Finger Lakes region. Although the relationship between climate change and localized weather is complex, increasingly common warmer winter and spring temperatures, frequent heavy rainfalls, and the formation of harmful algal blooms (HABs) are the most obvious climate-related changes affecting Central New Yorkers.
The increase in severe storms has led to stream bank erosion along many of the inlets that feed the Finger Lakes. This raises the levels of sediment and nutrients which, along with warmer lake temperatures, has been linked to the formation of HABs. Blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, are toxic, harming people, fish, shellfish, and birds. HABs can be thought of as indicators of the health of ecosystems, with the real potential to threaten local and regional economies and endanger human health. In Central New York, there have been more frequent beach closings in several Finger Lakes due to the presence of HABs. These have caught the attention of many conservation organizations and the local government. In 2018, NY State pledged $65 million to study and address the problem of HABs.
The Seneca Lake water quality buoy provides data on measured wind speed and direction, relative humidity, air temperature, barometric pressure, light intensity, the water’s depth and temperature, conductivity, turbidity and chlorophyll levels. These large data sets, collectively known as big data, may be analyzed computationally to reveal patterns, trends and associations. The buoy presents researchers with multiple and continuous data streams that can be accessed and analyzed to observe associations between factors that can trigger HABs.
The Seneca Lake water quality buoy transfers the data by cellular communications to a computer at Hobart and William Smith Colleges for near real time display, including via a public access searchable database. Twice a day, a winch lowers a self-contained transmitter called a sonde 55 meters down through the water column. The sonde records seven dimensions of water quality every meter and a half.
Using this publicly available data, we analyzed multifactorial causes of formation of algal blooms, including water temperature, dissolved oxygen, oxygen saturation, turbidity, and chlorophyll, and we compared them to known dates of HABs in Lake Seneca over a three year period from 2015 to 2017. Similar to the findings of other local researchers, we found the data reveals trends that are moving in unhealthy directions, including showing the lake growing more turbid. The causes of this are familiar: runoff from heavy rain events brings in suspended sediments and algae-fueling nutrients. The data also revealed that a sharp spike in oxygen saturation and chlorophyll was shown to be associated with the formation of an algae bloom.
Harmful algal blooms represent a clear climate change-related threat to Upstate New York’s lakes and reservoirs. The recreational use of lakes is important to Upstate tourism and the fresh water is a vital source of drinking water. Although technology has not always been associated with environmentally friendly practices, the Finger Lakes buoy data revealed patterns between water quality measurements in Lake Seneca and the formation of algal blooms that need to be well understood. Big data can play an important role in understanding climate change in Central New York. The formation of HABs is complex due to the many factors involved, but big data may allow us to predict and model algal blooms in the future.
When we will see the impacts of climate change, or the target dates to curb it are often given as 2030 or 2040 or even 2050. I invite each of you to do a little arithmetic with me. My daughter was born in 1990. She will be 40, 50 and 60 in those years respectively. The older of our two grand girls will be 12, 22 and 32. For me it simultaneously emphasizes both the urgency and the stakes of the climate crisis. 2040 will be the beginning of her adult life. What can we do, starting now, to make that world—and their lives in it—better?We grandparents and parents have so very little time left to make a difference, and many feel they have no agency at all to do so.
I am writing this as the first of a series of contributions to the CCAA newsletter. I wanted to explain briefly what I hope to do. You are most likely receiving this newsletter because climate change is already important to you. Over the next few months I will suggest some specific ideas for actions you can take to help curb the climate crisis. I will point out sources of information and ideas, and some groups worth looking into, including CCAA. I will try to convince you that you do indeed have agency.
What I’m not going to do is try to convince you that burning fossil fuels is creating terribly dangerous consequences for the entire world. I am assuming you already know that. Most Americans know it and are concerned. My goal instead is to provide some ways to help with the climate crisis besides shrinking your individual carbon footprints, as important as that is.
My goal is to explain, convince and motivate as many people as I can that they—that you—can play meaningful roles in this effort. I will describe some ways to do so, and importantly, help you better understand the strengths and opportunities you have to make a difference; to allow you to know that you can bend the arc of history toward a stabilized climate, and a better life for all children and grandchildren.
As a first step, make a list of your climate concern strengths. Who are the people in your life who know you to be a reasonable, sensible person? Friends, relatives, colleagues. Think also about groups you belong to: civic, religious, recreational, committees and boards. Are you active in church, alumni, or civic affairs? All of these people and all of these groups represent opportunities to talk about your climate concerns; they are your climate concern strengths.
I am not suggesting that you look for deniers to argue with. I am suggesting that if people who know you and who respect you do not yet know the depth of your concern with the climate crisis, let them know. It begins to widen the impact of your concern and it begins to bend that arc toward progress. It starts the essential job of letting people know that climate change is not just a problem that someone else worries about. Your friends may have children and grandchildren too. If so, they care about them as much as we care about ours. They will listen, and some will eventually be changed by it. You will be surprised how receptive some are and how satisfying and empowering it feels to be changing the future in a small but significant way.
Let’s begin to make a difference. If you have questions, suggestions or want to share ideas and efforts, whether successful or not, I’d love to hear about them and so would others. Post them to our Facebook page or email us at newsletter@climatechange-action.com. And please feel free to forward this newsletter to others, as that too is a way to share your climate concerns.
Thank you.
Hope for our Climate – Project Drawdown, Part 2
By George Lorefice
To continue with last month’s article on Drawdown (Paul Hawking, Editor, 2017), Project Drawdown, and the positive view it outlines in reversing carbon input to the atmosphere, I wanted to present some specific examples from the 80 immediate solutions that the project earmarked. To quote Dr. Jonathan Foley, Executive Director of the California Academy of Science, “Drawdown illuminates ways we can overcome the fear, confusion, and apathy surrounding climate change, and take action as individuals, neighbors, towns and cities, states, provinces, businesses, investment firms, and non-profits.”
Drawdown is organized into seven sections: energy; food; women and girls; buildings and cities; land use; transport; and materials, and an eighth which presents future efforts for carbon reduction. Let’s take a look at the top six efforts over these seven sectors that were deemed to have the greatest impact on carbon reduction. The following table summarizes their carbon impact as of 2017, modeled over 30 years.
Solution
Sector
Rank
Plausible Scenario
(Gt* reduced)
Rank
Drawdown Scenario
(Gt* reduced)
Rank
Optimum
Scenario
(Gt* reduced)
Refrigeration
Materials
1
89.74
2
96.49
3
96.49
Wind Turbines (Onshore)
Energy
2
84.60
1
146.50
1
139.31
Reduced Food Waste
Food
3
70.53
4
83.03
4
92.89
Plant-Rich Diet
Food
4
66.11
5
78.65
5
87.86
Tropical Forests
Land Use
5
61.23
3
89.00
2
105.60
Educating Girls
Women and Girls
6
59.60
7
59.60
8
59.60
*Gt = Gigatons (1 billion metric tons)
The Plausible Scenario is a reasonable yet optimistic forecast based on the current global rate of the solution’s growth. The Drawdown Scenario scales the adoption of the solution to achieve drawdown by 2050. The Optimum Scenario is the most aggressive and assumes maximum potential of the solution. Unfortunately, the Plausible Scenario would not achieve carbon drawdown by 2050.
Of the six solutions in the table, three—refrigeration, tropical forests and educating girls— require a few notes to better explain their content.
Refrigeration. Due to the Montreal protocol, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) have been phased out. However their replacement with hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) has the capacity to warm the atmosphere 1,000 to 9,000 times more than CO2. In 2016, an amendment to the Montreal Protocol mandated that HFCs be phased out by 2028. Emissions reduction can be achieved through managing the destruction of refrigerants already in circulation.
Tropical Forests. This solution centers on the restoration of tropical forests, which is more complex than just planting trees. There has to be collaboration among governments, land owners and indigenous peoples.
Educating Girls. Education turns out to have a dramatic bearing on global warming. As stated in Drawdown, “Women with more than five years of education have fewer, healthier children and actively manage their reproductive health.”
Drawdown opened my eyes to solutions I did not consider before, like education. It also has shown me areas where I can make an impact on a personal level. In this regard, CCAA’s Carbon Challenge that Annalena Davis authored takes some of the solutions in Drawdown and applies them to everyday life. I challenge you to check it out.
Advocates push Albany for quick rise in EV sales as New York State tries to meet ambitious climate goal
By Chris Bolt and Krizia Williams, WAER Public Media
EV Charging Stations in DeWitt. Photo: Chris Bolt/WAER News
Advocates for clean energy and transportation would like to see the streets of New York State look more environmentally friendly within the next 3 years. New York’s Alliance for Clean Energy (ACE) is among groups lobbying state lawmakers for measures that would help get more zero-emission vehicles on the road.
One of the key pieces of legislation they’re backing would reverse a law that has prohibited more EV car showrooms across the state, especially in Upstate New York. ACE Policy Director Deb Peck Kelleher says current law has kept certain electric vehicle companies from selling directly to customers.
“So we would like to see consumers across the state be able to purchase the vehicles they want where they live,” said Kelleher.
Right now, companies such as Tesla, Rivian, Lucid and other electric-vehicle-only makers are prohibited from having more showrooms. Legislation being considered in Albany would remove the cap on direct EV dealerships. Kelleher believes if people were able to experience first-hand a wider variety of EVs in showrooms, it would increase total sales statewide.
New York State has committed to putting 850,000 zero emission vehicles on the road by the end of 2025, as part of its overall climate goals. Sales of EVs are rising, with total units sold in 2021 exceeding the number in 2019 and 2020 combined, according to public infrastructure watchdogs Government Technology. But still the overall number of emission-free vehicles is under 60,000, not even 10% of the state’s goal.
Kelleher says it’s all about consumers being more comfortable with a new technology. She adds issues such as building more charging stations and better battery technology will help. The state got a boost in that department this month, as Congress member Tom Suozzi (D-NY) announced $26 million would be coming to New York for more charging stations from the Federal Infrastructure Bill.
Kelleher adds the coalition’s lobbying is also pushing for New York to be a leader in developing technologies that will help clean transportation.
“The state has put a large investment into batteries and battery research at SUNY Binghamton. … I think if our state is moving forward on being a climate leader, then all those jobs in research and manufacturing should also be in New York State.”
Governor Kathy Hochul’s budget proposal includes funding to develop these technologies going forward. The budget also includes $12 million for the Drive Clean Rebate program to help people purchase an EV, and $2.7 million awarded to local governments to install zero-emission fueling stations.
Kelleher says ACE and other advocates for clean transportation are optimistic more people will consider EVs as an option, making the link to the costs of the climate crisis.
“I think people are definitely realizing now, unfortunately, the ill-effects of climate change. It’s hitting us now. It’s 50 degrees in February and I should be out snow shoeing… I think people are realizing the importance of addressing climate change. The prices of the technology we need to get there have dropped. EV prices for a traditional EV car are the same as a regular gasoline car, and the same for solar panels to put on the roof of your house; the price has dropped dramatically.”
Kelleher says another step in the right direction is Governor Hochul pledging support for electric school buses.
“It will be a great thing for our school districts just to remove that diesel pollution away from our school kids. They won’t be breathing it in while they’re waiting to get on the bus, and they won’t be breathing it in while they’re sitting on the bus. So, I think this will be a win-win for everybody there.”
Despite the positive developments, however, the state’s goal of 85,000 EVs on the roadways by 2025 would require record sales of the zero-emission vehicles over the next three years.
First Fossil Fuel-Free Mixed Use Renovation in Syracuse
By Tom Goodfellow
Whitlock Building on South Salina St. Photo: Google Maps
Vacant for almost 20 years and survivor of a disastrous fire in 1943, the Whitlock Building at 480 South Salina St. has been transformed into the first mixed use (commercial and residential) state of the art fossil fuel-free building in Syracuse.
“It will be by far the most energy efficient commercial building in Syracuse,” said Tom Goodfellow of Goodfellow Construction and Management.
After purchasing it in 2014, their goal was to renovate the building in such a fashion that it would be the first mixed use building in Syracuse—consisting of 26 apartments and 24,000 sq. ft. of commercial space—which will use no fossil fuels.
The Whitlock Building demonstrates that mandates calling for the elimination of fossil fuels for heating and cooling make sense.
In November 2021, Ithaca voted to decarbonize every building in the City of Ithaca by 2030. “It’s the electric city of the future,” said Aguirre-Torres, Ithaca’s Sustainability Director.
In December 2021, York City enacted a ban that applies to both heating buildings and gas hookups for appliances for all new construction.This ban would go into effect December 2023 for buildings under seven stories and in 2027 for buildings greater than seven stories.
In January of this year, the Climate Action Council, the advisory body drafting a plan for NYS to meet the goals set forth by the Climate Leadership Community Protection Act (CLCPA), called for eliminating the use of fossil fuels, including natural gas, oil and propane in any new home construction by 2025. For multi-family homes and commercial buildings, fossil fuels would be prohibited by 2030.
On January 5th, Governor Hochul called for a statewide ban on all new gas hookups for new construction, starting in 2027.
The Whitlock Building project shows that not only is this feasible today, but it is also financially viable.
“It is an excellent financial investment,” said Goodfellow. “We have been able to keep the rents below the market average in Syracuse, without having subsidized apartments.”
The renovation included LG air-sourced, electric heat pumps that provide heating and cooling, and an LG Energy Recovery Ventilator that provides conditioned fresh air, electric hot water and cooking. LED lights are used throughout the building.
Each apartment has a SENSE unit that allows the occupants to track how much electricity every device in their apartment uses. Existing tenants averaged just $20 per month for their utilities for their first two months the building was occupied.
Triple pane windows with closed cell foam create a thermal break in the walls. The walls have R-40 and R-50 roof insulating value, way above the building code which only calls for R-20 walls and R-30 roof in commercial/residential buildings.
A planned 50 kWh solar system on the roof will make it possible for the building to achieve net zero status, meaning it will produce all the electricity it consumes for heating, cooling and lights.
“It was the right thing to do,” said Tom. “We took time to develop our plan. This is an economically viable project that happens to be super-energy efficient and carbon free. Yes, we are proud of this project.”
For media tours, contact Tom Goodfellow at gcm101@yahoo.com or call 315-727-0462.
CCAA Leadership Officially Established!
By Gavin Landless
It’s official, folks! An email was sent out to all our members on February 19th, listing nominees for the CCAA Board and Committee chairs, and requesting your vote. The results are in, so we can now formally annouce the following individuals and their roles:
Board of Directors
President: Yvonne Chu
Vice President: Peter Wirth
Secretary: Kim Cameron
Assistant to Secretary: Tanya Atwood-Adams
Treasurer: Sonya Kragh
Committee Positions
Membership Chair: Ken Johnson
Education Chairs: James Doherty, Peter Michel
Communications and Social Media Chair: No Nominees (Interim Chair: Gavin Landless)
Legislative Liaison: Jan Kublick
Auditing Committee Chair: George Lorefice
Grateful thanks to all who played a part in this process. This structure significantly strengthens CCAA for the future, and allows us all to better execute our climate change awareness and action plans and grow the organization like never before.
And remember, we are always looking for more active volunteers to join us! Please email this team at admin@climatechange-action.com any time.
In March, talk to someone about climate change who knows and respects you
But try to pick someone with whom you have not had that conversation in a meaningful way before. Maybe start like this: “You know, I’ve been meaning to get your opinion on something.I’m really concerned about the climate crisis, and I wonder how you feel about it?”
Comment on the Draft Scoping Plan from the Climate Action Council
This is the planning document that the Climate Action Council has written to put New York State on the path to achieving the goals of the CLCPA. It “incorporates new, innovative strategies and expands upon existing efforts to combat the systemic risks associated with the impacts of a changing climate while addressing the disproportionate impacts on frontline communities.” The public comment period runs until April 30th.
Do you have an amazing idea for an article? Do you want to comment on something you read, offer a correction or lavish us with praise? Email the newsletter team directly.
As the rate of inflation in the US soars to its highest level in 30 years, policymakers and the public who are campaigning for a price on carbon are being asked if such a measure will worsen inflation or curb it. While some economic models predict that a carbon fee would increase inflation, a study of existing carbon pricing systems in Canada and Europe found the opposite effect.
Knauf Shaw Files Lawsuits Alleging Violations of the New Green Amendment to the NYS Constitution
“Each person shall have a right to clean air and water, and a healthful environment.” Those words were added to the New York State constitution after it was overwhelmingly supported by voters in November 2021.And now at least two lawsuits have been filed, alleging “unhealthful” practices that violate this green amendment.
Feds will spend $1 billion to spur farmers and ranchers to fight climate change
10% of greenhouse gas emissions in the US come from agriculture, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. In light of this, the US Department of Agriculture has made $1 billion available to encourage more climate-friendly practices such as no-till, cover crops and rotational grazing.Well it’s a start.
Attend the next Monthly CCAA Meeting
When: Tuesday, March 8th, 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Each month, CCAA invites you to join us, in-person or over Zoom. Come meet people who are committed to working towards fossil-free communities. The meetings are held on the second Tuesday of every month, 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The room opens at 5:45 p.m. for socializing.
GreeningUSA’s next Virtual Green Bag Lunch: Sustainable Material Management
When: Friday, March 11th, 12:00 – 1:30 p.m.
Join this Virtual Green Bag Lunch conversation about the current state of recycling, the NYS Extended Producer Responsibility which requires manufacturers to “take back” products at the end of their useful life, as well as reducing packaging waste, the NYS Bottle Bill, and the “Circular Economy.”
Feel like saving the world? Why not donate a few dollars to CCAA? Maybe it won’t be quite enough to save the whole planet, but it will help keep us going, and that’s the next best thing! We appreciate your support.
I grew up in New Jersey in a small town just outside of Paterson, and roughly 20 miles outside of New York City. I had the best of both worlds, as we lived on a dead end street, with a couple of square miles of virgin woods as our backyard. This sparked my fondness for hiking (and later backpacking) and a general love for the outdoors. My passions also include kayaking, cross-country skiing, and road biking.
In the 1990s I was Assistant Director of an extensive outdoor program in a private high school. It was primarily extracurricular, but we integrated some of it into the physical education curriculum, including a climbing wall and an outdoor ropes course. It also evolved to include an extensive senior project which each year resulted in a two week backpacking trip. To fill my daily schedule, I worked part time in the high school library, which turned out to be my career!
I moved to Syracuse in 2000 and worked for Gaylord Brothers in customer support for their library software. Then after a sweeping downsize, during which I got laid off, I landed the job as Director of the LaFayette Public Library, where I stayed until I retired on September 29, 2021.
Over the years, I have tried to integrate my job with as many sustainability initiatives as possible: GreeningUSA, FOCUS Greater Syracuse, and CCAA to name a few. I believe it was one of those two organizations that brought me to CCAA. In 2016 I got involved with the New York Library Association’s Sustainability Initiative. We focused on the “three legged stool” of sustainability: environmental soundness, social equitability and economic feasibility, both in libraries, and their respective communities. Modeled on that, one of my colleagues and I started a locally based sustainability initiative.Initially as part of the Onondaga County Public Library system, it is now under the umbrella of the Central New York Library Resource Council. Although I am now retired, I still co-chair that group to this day.
I am grateful that an organization like CCAA exists and being a part of it. I hope to participate going forward in their advocacy efforts around climate change and also educational efforts therein. I’ve been aware of this issue for many, many years but now there is an unavoidable urgency to saving the planet, and ourselves!
CCAA Internships and Other Volunteering Opportunities
If you are interested in volunteering with CCAA in any capacity, please contact us at newsletter@climatechange-action.com or call 315-308-0846. Don’t worry about your skill level. We are all learning. We need people who can:
Within NY Renews, the Youth Committee is a space mostly for high school and college age individuals. We’re moving towards bi-weekly trainings followed by community organizing to support our campaigns. Joining the youth committee is a great opportunity to level up your organizing, learn about campaigning, and get involved in the climate justice movement.
We meet every other week with additional time on projects for those interested. If you are interested, please email Zasu Scott at zasu@nyrenews.org so we can get more info about your interests and experiences (it’s not competitive). We would love to hear from you!
We encourage you to follow our social media accounts to support CCAA and stay up to date on other environmental news.
*Monthly Quiz Please email your answer to newsletter@climatechange-action.com within 14 days of this newsletter’s publication date to be entered into a random drawing for a small prize (typically under $5 value). For fairness, no more than one entry per reader, please. CCAA will respond to the randomly selected winners by reply email in order to send out prizes. CCAA may recognize winners by first name only in the next newsletter, so please let us know if you do not want a mention. Strictly no other personal information will ever be shared or used for any other reason. CCAA reserves the right to not select winners or distribute prizes in the event of any difficulties, or if the quiz stops being fun. CCAA’s only goals are to encourage readership, build the community and hear directly from like-minded individuals. No purchase necessary because this newsletter is free to you. Thank you!
Newsletter Committee Staff Writer: Jacob Stewart Publishing and Design: Yvonne Chu, Annalena Davis Editor: Gavin Landless
