My name is Yvonne Chu and I am honored to be the first president of Climate Change Awareness & Action (CCAA). I am a long-time climate advocate and have been a volunteer with CCAA since the first week the group formed in 2015. I have a background in Environmental Science, and am the Office Manager at Onondaga Earth Corps, a nonprofit organization in Syracuse, NY. As we move into the summer season, I am eager to bring CCAA into climate positive advocacy and hope that you will join us in this journey.
CCAA is an all-volunteer-based organization and runs on the determination of people to make a difference for our environment. Our mission is to reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere through individual and community education and action while supporting fair and just public policies and legislation. If you are reading this and you are concerned about climate change, I would like you to take a minute to think deeply about whether the collective “we” are doing enough. If we are honest with ourselves, the answer is no, we are not doing enough.
The reality is that we are in a climate crisis now. It shows itself through an increase in severe weather frequency, spikes in environmental health issues, and in the growth of eco-anxiety, and in the forced displacement of millions of people due to climate-related disasters. Although the image of the climate crisis is grim, we must face our concerns head on and push onward with solutions that many scientists, activists, and caring individuals have put forward.
So, what can we do? And what does it mean to take action?
• Take the carbon challenge and reduce your own greenhouse gas emissions (see the CCAA website and Facebook page for details)
• Join a climate focused local organization or group; sign up to become a CCAA member
• Ask your representatives what their plans are, and if they don’t have one, ask them to put one together.
• Take the initiative to talk about climate change
AND
Get excited about the solutions we have in front of us!
We have the solutions, but it will take the effort of all types of people, including yourself, to work together to solve the climate crisis. I hope that you are compelled to take the next step in this journey with CCAA and I personally invite you to join our monthly member meetings. I am looking forward to seeing new faces whether in-person or virtually.
OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Vice president: Peter Wirth
Secretary: Kim Cameron
Treasurer: Sonia Kragh
Membership Committee: Ken Johnson, Chair
Education Committee: Jim Doherty & Peter Michel, Co-Chairs
Communications & Social Media Chair: Gavin Landless
Legislative Liaison: Jan Kublick
Auditing Committee: George Lorefice, Chair
OUR NEW INTERNS
Dan LaVine and Allyson Farnand Both of our new interns are students at Le Moyne College. Dan, a senior from Camillus, NY, is majoring in Environmental Studies and Business Management / Marketing with minors in Risk Management and Accounting. He brings with him a love of the outdoors and an appreciation for the beauty and importance of our ecosystems as well as their fragility. Allyson, a sophomore from Rochester, NY majoring in biology. Her environmental interest focuses on waste. As she says, “our lifestyle choices, more than often, resemble a line: buying, consuming, and discarding. Waste really calls us to think of how we can live in a sustainable way.” We are so fortunate to have them join us and appreciate their contributions to the publication of this newsletter! Welcome Ally and Dan!
Draft Scoping Plan
By Yvonne Chu
Photo provided by Andra Leimanis
Public comment period for the Draft Scoping Plan, developed by the Climate Action Council (the Council) of New York State, has been extended to July 1, 2022. The extension of the public comment period gives NYS residents the opportunity to voice their opinions on the possible scenarios that may make up the framework for NYS to meet the goals set by the Climate Leadership and Protection Act, which aims to reduce emissions by 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and then to 85% below 1990 levels by 2050. To meet these goals, the Council is encouraged to take on a quick moving and aggressive transition plan off of fossil fuels. The transition will affect many people’s current way of life, however, there is no doubt that delaying the transition will quickly lead us into a climate catastrophe.
Consider those who are most affected by climate change now: frontline communities such as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), as well as low-income communities. These people MUST be priority recipients of the benefits of this transition for humanity’s sake. Waiting to make the changes that are needed to curb climate change will only deny them and all other peoples overwhelming positive benefits, benefits that include: improved infrastructure, access to green spaces, a healthy environment, clean water and clean air, more secure and less dangerous employment opportunities, options for better and reliable transportation, etc.
During the eleven Draft Scoping Plan public hearings hosted by the Council, many suggestions were made that the use of biofuels or “renewable” natural gas could help the transition to electrification. However, any continued installation of products for the use of these fossil fuels will only delay the transition, NOT accelerate it. Alternatively, reducing the roadblocks associated with the building of solar and wind farms should be considered to allow for clean energy options to be the source of the transition. Additionally, better public education about clean energy, more efficient electric infrastructure, and “built-in” policies that encourage energy reduction overall could significantly reduce the need for fossil fuels to be part of the goal for zero emissions.
The solution to a just transition for NYS from fossil fuels is buried in the thoroughly written, 24 Chapter, 341 page Draft Scoping Plan put together by the Council. There is still a chance for you to highlight and make comments on the solutions in the plan that you believe would bring us to NYS’s emission reduction goals, but time is running out quickly. Visit https://climate.ny.gov/Draft-Scoping-Plan to submit your comments.
Solar Plus Storage
By Dr. Chris A. Bolt
Photo provided by: ConvergentEP.com
“Large batteries on-site of utility-scale solar farms such as this one just completed in Cicero, could help make solar power more useful and help with electric grid capacity issues.”
A new solar power project in Central New York could provide solutions to some of the concerns about renewable energy and the electric grid. The project is a collaboration between National Grid and green energy company Convergent Energy plus Power.
One concern about solar power is that it works best only when the sun is shining. A new project by Convergent and National Grid couples solar-generated electricity with batteriesthat can allow people to use the power later. Convergent Chief Operating Officer Frank Genova also points out the utility has the electricity available when it’s needed most.
“Picture late July, 4:00 p.m. when everyone’s thermostats are ramping up and HVAC units are ramping up. So that’s really the peak time where National Grid is probably going to use this resource.”
At off-peak times, the generation and storage can keep costs low for ratepayers. The Cicero project includes 15 megawatts of solar power with 10 Megawatts of battery capacity. Genova hopes this leads to more, similar projects to help reach goals of reducing greenhouse emissions.
“New York State is one of the most ambitious states on climate, committing to 100% zero emission electricity by 2040. None of these lofty goals will be possible without batteries and battery-coupled renewables. The ability to hold and store those electrons becomes critical.”
Genova further suggests widespread use of this technology can make the entire grid more reliable – an essential goal if fossil fuel generated power is increasingly scaled back to address the climate crisis.
Convergent Energy + Power says this project is significant for several reasons: Energy storage is the lynchpin to transitioning to clean energy. It can help with problems with the electric grid, becoming a Non-Wires-Alternative (NWA) where the batteries are charged with on-site solar; the scale of transformation needed to achieve net zero is massive and large-scale storage will help the transition (source: ConvegentEP).
The solar + storage project got financing through NY Green Bank and incentives through NYSERDA.
“In New York, Public-Private partnerships are a centerpiece of the state’s efforts to accelerate the development of these critical distributed resources to bring the benefits of clean energy into more homes and businesses while providing grid benefits utility-wide.” said NYSERDA Vice President of Distributed Energy David Sandbank in a release.
This project is part of portfolio of 8 solar + storage systems in Central and Upstate New York by Convergent.
Update: Environmental Gains in the recently concluded NYS Legislative Session
Lawmakers included an environmental bond act that would spend $4.2billion on a range of green issues, including $1.5billion for climate crisis mitigation, which could fund electric school buses, green energy jobs, flood-risk reduction and other measure related to climate change. The measure goes to voters this November.
Climate Thoughts from the Road
By Jan Kublick
Photo provided by unsplash.com
Kim and I are on an extended road trip to the west coast, the southwest and through the mountains before heading home at the end of the month. We are thinking about climate change and what we can learn about it from the trip. What follows are observations and impressions, not rigorously researched conclusions.
The west is immense. Much of it is federally owned. There is enough land, wind and sun to address the nations needs for renewable energy. Hydropower projects and transmission lines made possible by the federal government allowed the urban development of the west, and irrigation from them fed agriculture. Why, in the face of the global threat of climate change are such major projects not being proposed? The relative lack of large wind and solar projects in North Dakota, Western Montana, Western Washington, Nevada, Utah and Northern Arizona, at least where we have been, is striking.
The dryness of the southwest is hard to imagine without seeing it. There is no apparent surface water at all. Dry creeks and riverbeds are everywhere. Searing heat during the day making outdoor activity between 9 and 5 very difficult. Temperatures are routinely near or above 100. Reservoirs are low and shrinking. However, outside of California, the traveler does not run into warnings and restrictions about the use of water. Golf courses are green, and fields are being air spray irrigated for hay and alfalfa.
The role of man-made climate disruption is most apparent with wildfires. It is impossible to miss the scars of these fires, from California to Utah and Arizona. Sadly, the federal government is missing the opportunity to connect climate change to the fires. The official messaging is that decades of fire suppression policy has left the forests vulnerable to bigger fires. While true, it misses the effects of climate change on the scope and severity of the resultant fires. The increased winds, and warmer dryer winters allowing insect damage have made catastrophically large fires far more likely. Climate change should be part of the messaging out here by the BLM and the Park and Forest Services. It is not.
We are in Salt Lake City leaving today for Grand Teton. We visited Great Salt Lake yesterday and saw the tremendous loss of water the drought has caused. We have seen the dust and ozone in the Salt Lake City basin obscure the Wasatch Range.
Our itinerary was to take us to Yellowstone after Grand Teton. As most of you know, Yellowstone was struck by heavy rains causing massive infrastructure damage, and the closure of much of the park. Our itinerary will change now. While the storms themselves may not be attributable to climate change, their impact may be. There will be more to study on that.
ALERT!!!Fossil Fuel Pollution Pushes Atmospheric CO2 To Highest Levels Since Hominids Began Walking Upright
By Peter Wirth
Image provided by unsplash.com
At its likely peak for 2022, atmospheric CO2 hit levels in May not seen since the Pliocene era, 4.1 to 4.5 million years ago, NOAA reported Friday. At 421 parts per million, measured at the Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory in Hawaii, carbon pollution is now more than 50% higher than preindustrial levels, after record-breaking levels in 2020 and 2021. The last time atmospheric CO2 levels were this high on the only known habitable planet, Earth was essentially a flooded greenhouse with forests in the Arctic and sea levels 78 feet higher, submerging South Florida and coastal areas around the world.
Humans, never mind human civilization, have never known such conditions. Four million years ago our Australopithecus ancestors were still working out how to walk on two legs. “Watching these incremental but persistent increases in CO2 year-to-year is much like watching a train barrel down the track towards you in slow motion. It’s terrifying,” UW-Madison climate scientist Andrea Dutton told the AP. “If we stay on the track with a plan to jump out of the way at the last minute, we may die of heat stroke out on the tracks before it even gets to us.” (AP, New York Times, Gizmodo, Axios, Al Jazeera)
Letters to the Editor
Editor’s Note: The following letters were submitted to local newspapers in our campaign to influence voters as they considered whether to purchase fossil fuel school buses in the recent Board of Education elections.
Images provided by google.com
Plan for Electric Buses
Submitted by Peter Wirth, CCAA Vice President, to the Eagle Bulletin , 6/1/22.
My daughter is a graduate of the FM school district. I voted for and supported all the proposals except for the purchase of diesel buses. The same day that the Fayetteville school district announced the purchase of 6 diesel buses which will burn fossil fuels for another 10 years the United Nations’ World Meteorological society issued a disturbing report.
The world’s oceans in 2021 grew to their warmest and most acidic levels on record, while melting ice sheets helped push sea levels to new heights. Sea level has risen and more than doubled in the last decade, all due to CO2 levels which hit a new high in 2021. The WMO also listed individual extreme heat waves, wildfires, floods and other climate linked disasters around the world, noting reports of more than $100 billion in damages. The continental United States saw its hottest-ever summer, with hundreds of heat-related deaths recorded. The Dixie fire burned 1,500 square miles, making it California’s largest ever wildfire.
What is the message the FM school district is giving its students? Is it that science doesn’t matter or do we need to focus more on saving dollars now than investing in the environmental future for our students.
I can’t say that electric buses won’t cost the district more. However, there are grants available for purchase of electric buses and installation of charging stations. Maintenance is way less expensive as there are no exhaust systems to rust, oil to change or radiators to fill. Diesel fuel has more than doubled. Electric rates are way more stable than the 100% swings we are experiencing for diesel.
The district should start planning now and investigate the costs to switch to electric buses. It is hard to place a dollar amount on the future environment we are creating for our students but the cost of climate change should somehow be factored in.
We are not doing our students any favors by mortgaging their future to save a few dollars now.
Why Wait? NY Schools Should Transition to Electic School Buses Now
Submitted by Dr. Sonia Y. Kragh, Member Climate Change Awareness and Action to Syracuse.com
On May 17, residents of most New York state cities and towns have the opportunity to vote to either approve or deny the school budget and propositions, and to elect to the school board members who will represent their and their children’s interests. Many school districts will be asking voters to pay for new or used school buses that run on fossil fuels.
On Nov. 4, 2021, 70% of New York state voters voted “yes” to the Environmental Amendment to the New York State Constitution, prioritizing clean water, clean air and a healthful environment for all. On Jan. 6, 2022, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a goal to electrify all New York school bus fleets by 2035. A mandate in the state budget passed on April 11, 2022, states that as of 2027, new school buses must be electric, and the entire fleet must be zero emission by 2035. So why wait? Why not transition to electric now?
There are already grants and rebates available in New York state that cover incremental costs to purchase electric buses and related charging infrastructure. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Clean School Bus Program (https://www.epa.gov/cleanschoolbus) will provide $5 billion for the transition to electric buses over five years. Application to the EPA program is open May 15 through Aug. 15.
There are many environmental reasons to discontinue use of fossil fuel powered vehicles, including school buses. One of the most important health reasons to “go electric” is to help children who have respiratory illnesses such as asthma, who are exposed to toxic fumes during their rides to and from school. As a result of this exposure, children can develop asthma severe enough to cause missed school and instructional time. Cumulative absences over time can permanently affect their learning and subsequent careers and earnings.
Are you willing to allow children to be exposed to air pollution and risk suffering from respiratory illness for five years until the electric bus transition is mandated, or will you do what is right now? Vote May 17 to reject fossil fuel school buses and to elect board members who are serious about a sustainable future for our children.
Eco-Anxiety? Solutions Are The Answer
By George Lorefice
In this time of Covid, it is interesting to note the parallels between views on this virus and climate change. Despite scientific evidence and events that point to the deadliness of Covid and the effects of climate change, there is a core of people who deny both.
The energy I could expend trying to convince the skeptics is better spent on pursuing personal, family, community and societal changes. At this point those individuals will not be convinced of the reality of the changing climate and for that matter the existence of Covid. You can criticize me for giving up on these skeptics but I feel more positive when I read about and pursue solutions to a problem and not dwell on something I may not be able to change.
In this vein I encourage you to view the YouTube video “How to Turn Climate Anxiety Into Action”, a TedTalk by Renee Lertzman, an internationally recognized author, thought leader and advisor. It is a comprehensive summary of the many resources available on climate solutions. In particular it highlights a presentation by Will Grant of the Pachamama Alliance www.pachamama.org that delineates what we can do as individuals to correct our not-climate friendly ways. By following its recommendations, it also can alleviate some of the “climate anxiety” by providing action steps that help us do something about the situation.
Here are some examples of how Will Grant proposes we get involved:
Level 1 PERSONAL – Change individual actions by recycling, using less, reducing plastics, etc.
Level 2 FAMILY AND FRIENDS – Get family and friends to follow your actions Level 3 COMMUNITY – promote changes in schools, workplaces, organize your town to put in solar arrays
Level 4 POLITICAL ACTION – support changes in laws, write congressman and state legislators to support climate legislation
Look at these examples as a progression of your support and involvement in solutions to the climate crisis. Start at the personal level and work your way to where you are comfortable. Any effort on your part will be beneficial and maybe inspire someone else and relieve some of the anxiety you may be experiencing. Where are you in the process?
In addition, follow the publications of PROJECT DRAWNDOWN www.drawdown.org and PROJECT REGENERATION www.regeneration.org for more shots of positivity.
Got Paint?
Photo courtesy of unsplash.com
A new paint recycling program beginning May 1 in New York State invites households, schools, and businesses to recycle leftover paint, stain, and varnish conveniently and sustainably. The program is operated by PaintCare, a nonprofit organization created by the paint industry through the American Coatings Association (ACA) to manage leftover paint in states that have enacted paint stewardship laws. PaintCare plans to expand to over 300 drop-off sites across New York State in the coming months through partnerships with paint retail stores and local government facilities.
New York’s paint recycling program comes in the wake of a paint stewardship law that was passed by the State Legislature in 2019. The law ensures that everyone who produces, sells, and uses paint works together to minimize, reuse, and recycle unwanted paint. Oversight for the program will be provided by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Here’s what you need to do: Enter your zip code, city and state, or street address to find the nearest, most convenient paint drop-off site to you. All PaintCare sites accept up to 5 gallons per visit (some take more). Please call ahead to confirm business hours and ask if they can accept the type and amount of paint you would like to recycle. Sites do not accept
aerosols (spray paint), leaking, unlabeled, or empty containers.
Drop off sites: Sherwin-Williams, Syracuse, N. Syracuse, Liverpool, NY; Cazenovia Lumber, Cazenovia, NY; Miller Environmental Group, Syracuse, NY; Brewerton Ace Hardware, Brewerton, NY;
www.paintcare.org
FREE GAS!!
By Peter Wirth
Photo provided by Jane Tretler
When was the last time you stopped at a gas station where they were giving away free gas? Here we are in Mount Morris, NY at a municipal parking lot where they have free charging.
Jane Tretler is “filling up” her Rav 4 Prime EV which has a 40 mile range on electric and then a gas motor. It is a hybrid. All of her city driving around Syracuse will now be electric. For road trips the Rav 4 has a gas engine.
You can charge overnight on a regular 110 volt outlet or have a Level 2 charger installed in your garage for much faster charging.
Electric cars are the future!
Comment on the CLCPA Draft Scoping Plan
NY Renews continues to provide a weekly commenting tool and suggested talking points, so commenting on the Climate Action Council’s Draft Scoping Plan could not be easier.
Please make a call: tell your Assembly member you support the immediate passage of the All-Electric Building Act. Ask your networks & friends throughout NYS to make the call and to share this link with their friends. The link will be updated if the messaging or the targets change, so it will be useful for the entire week! Send an urgent email-to-legislators (we need 1000s of emails to out-do the ongoing fossil fuel industry disinformation about building electrification).
Electric school buses working group.
Be part of the ongoing effort to educate the public about school buses “going electric.” This group was active this spring in promoting electric over fossil fuel buses as voters went to the polls for school board elections. Contact Sonia Kragh at sykragh@yahoo.com to learn more about and be part of this working group.!
Pending New York State Environmental Bills
These bills are before the NYS Legislature. Contact your state legislators to have input on them.
Clean Futures Act
S5939/A6761
Prohibits development of new major electric generating facilities powered by any fossil fuel.
Moratorium on cryptocurrency mining
S6486/A7389B
Three-year moratorium on permitting of cryptocurrency plants; requirements of environmental impact statement.
Deforestation-free procurement act
S5921/A6872
Requires that companies contracting with the state do not contribute to tropical or boreal intact forest degradation or deforestation directly or through their supply chai
Methane production equipment credit
S2290/A06749
Provides tax credit for purchase of on-farm anaerobic digesters. We hope that the Legislature will
consider providing resources for methane production not only to individual farmers but to counties or other regional organizations.
NYS Build Public Renewables Act
S6453/A1466
Requires the New York Power Authority to provide only renewable energy and power to customers; requires such authority to be the sole provider of energy to all state owned and municipal properties.
Expanded Bottle Bill
A8668/S065
Expands the NY bottle bill by including more types of eligible beverages and increasing minimum refund value to ten cents.
Advanced Recycling
S7891/A9495
Will define and legalize advanced recycling, a heat-based, non-incinerating recycling process for plastics.
Extended Producer Responsibility Act
S1185C
Requires producers to develop and promote packaging which is recyclable and/or reusable.
June Quiz Question!
What is the name of the film that features the story of youth who are suing the U. S. Government for violating their constitutional rights?
*See the “Follow Us” section below for details on how to enter.
§ More drivers are looking into electric vehicles in an effort to help the environment and avoid high prices at the pump, but there are still some major barriers to making the switch, including high costs and high charging times.
That’s why Hui Zhang, an assistant professor at SUNY Oswego, is using a grant from the National Science Foundation to research solutions. Zhang hopes to find a more efficient and less expensive inverter design to enable the adoption of high voltage DC links in electric vehicles. Read about that here:
§ The city of Oswego is planning to make a significant investment in its hydroelectric facility, known as the High Dam.
Check it out here:
§ A Syracuse investment firm, a local construction firm and a Washington, D.C.real estate development professional are working together to transform a vacant, polluted property into an all-electric building, that will be self-powered with solar panels generating more than a million kilowatts of electricity and will give off no carbon emissions. JHP Industrial Supply coo, E. Smith Contracting and Gail Montplaisir will receive a $1 million grant from the state Energy Research Development Authority for this project at 1081 S. Salina St. in Syracuse.
Oswego Mayor Billy Barlow said the city took control of the hydroelectric facility on W. First St. in the 1990s, and he said since then, investment at the plant has been minimal.
So, now the city is planning a series of projects to modernize the plant and help it become fully operational again.
YOUTH v GOV is the story of the Julianav. The Trust United States of America Our Children’s constitutional lawsuit and the 21 American youth, ages 14 to 25, who are taking on the world’s most powerful government. Since
2015, the legal non-profit, has been representing these youth in
their landmark case against the U.S. government for violating their constitutional rights to life, liberty, personal safety, and property through their willful actions in creating the climate crisis they will inherit.
Watch this!! YOUTH v GOV worldwide!
Attend the next Monthly CCAA Meeting When: Tuesday, July 12, 5:30 p.m. social hour, 6:00 p.m. meeting 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. Register here.
GreeningUSA Newsletter To subscribe to a comprehensive list of climate change and sustainability events, and to publicize an event you are organizing, email GreeningUSA: info@GreeningUSA.org.
Canal Days, August 6
Volunteers needed as CCAA partners with the Dewitt Advisory Conservation Commission to help table the event for young and older. Contact Sonia Kragh to help skragh@yahoo.com
Upcoming Election Dates
Your vote counts! Help elect officials who support our environmental efforts! State/ Local Primary Election: Tuesday, June 28, 2022; 6:00am- 9:00pm Congressional/State Senate Primary Election: Tuesday, August 23, 2022; 6:00am-9:00pm General Election: Tuesday, November 8, 2022; 6:00am- 9:00pm http://ongov.net/elections/
https://ballotpedia.org/Sample_Ballot_Lookup Absentee Voting | New York State Board of Elections
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.
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 fill out the sign-up form 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 Writers: Dan LaVine, Ally Farnand Publishing and Design: Yvonne Chu, Annalena Davis Editor: Gavin Landless
