New Year Greetings to all CCAA members! As 2023 dawns, it is exciting to look back and see how productive 2022 was for environmentalists!
First of all, the Biden Administration was successful in passing the Inflation Reduction Act. This legislationwill make a historic down payment on deficit reduction to fight inflation, invest in domestic energy production and manufacturing, and reduce carbon emissions by roughly 40 percent by 2030.
The new proposal for the FY2022 Budget Reconciliation bill will invest approximately $300 billion in Deficit Reduction and $369 billion in Energy Security and Climate Change programs over the next ten years.
Additionally, the agreement calls for comprehensive Permitting Reform legislation to be passed before the end of the fiscal year. Permitting reform is essential to unlocking domestic energy and transmission projects, which will lower costs for consumers and help us meet our long-term emissions goals.
Roughly 190 nations, aiming to stem rampant biodiversity loss, reached a sweeping deal to protect 30 percent of the planet’s land and oceans by 2030.
NY plans to change the way you heat your home. Gas, oil, propane furnaces will be phased out. The plan adopted by the state Climate Action Council requires energy-efficient electric heat pumps or other non-combustion heating systems in every new home built in 2025 or thereafter. For existing homes, residents whose fossil fuel-burning heating units give out after 2030 will have to replace them with zero-emission systems.
Years of hard work by organizations like Climate Change Awareness & Action and countless individuals all across NYS helped make these achievements possible. While there is still a lot of work to do we should all take a victory lap!
CCAA in Action: Whitlock Tour
By Peter Wirth, CCAA Vice President
Photos provided by Yvonne Chu, CCAA President
For the last four months, CCAA has been arranging tours of the Whitlock Building. The Whitlock Building, located in the 400 block of S. Salina St., is a natural gas free building. Renovated by developer Tom Goodfellow into 26 apartments and 14,000 square feet of commercial space, the building is now heated and cooled by electric heat pumps. The hot water, cooking and lights are all electric as well.
The photos provided show a recent tour attended by State Senator Rachel May and Assemblyman Al Stirpe. CCAA members and interested public members also were there and impressed by such features as a removed gas meter and heat pumps in evidence.
This is the type of new construction we need in Onondaga County if we are going to slow down climate change. Unfortunately, many contractors, developers and home owners are not familiar with heat pump technology. Natural gas is still the prime heating system installed even today. The Whitlock building is a great example that heat pumps work in our climate and are an economically viable alternative to gas furnaces. These electric heat pumps also provide air conditioning.
CCAA is arranging tours to get word out about this technology. If you are interested in a tour please contact: pwirth2@verizon.net.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)
A Guide
Submitted by Yvonne Chu, CCAA President
The White House has released a guidebook to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The guidebook is an overview of clean energy, climate mitigation and resilience, agriculture, and conservation-related tax incentives and investment programs in the IRA. It also includes information on who is eligible to apply for funding and for what activities.
The guidebook groups the IRA’s investment programs and tax incentives into chapters based on themes. Each chapter includes a summary of each program’s eligible uses, potential beneficiaries, and other important information. The guidebook does not contain information on the IRA’s health care provisions or certain corporate tax reforms.
Copper mining has a devastating impact on the environment. The sheer size of a copper mining operation is enough to be considered harmful; however, copper mining also affects environmental and human health.
Deforestation & Land Degradation
Depending on where the ore is located, copper mining can severely damage the environment through deforestation. To pursue an open-pit mining operation, copper miners must remove trees and dig a pit to access it. Open-pit mines are massive. They can be nearly a mile in diameter and several thousand feet deep. Their size means miners must remove significant amounts of forest, home to thousands of wildlife species.The sloping nature of an open-pit mine also eliminates topsoil and can cause more rapid soil erosion.
Water Pollution
Often, the water surrounding a copper mine can quickly become polluted, appearing a reddish color from having been contaminated by copper acid. Contaminated water can severely impact groundwater aquifers, fish, wildlife, and farmland. Part of the reason water around a copper mine is so contaminated is the effort that goes into waste removal. 99 tons of waste material must be removed for every one ton of extracted copper. That number simply isn’t sustainable and makes it difficult to manage waste.
Human Health Risk
Excavating boulders from deep underground can be harmful. As these rocks are removed and exposed to the atmosphere for the first time, they can transmit radioactive substances and damaging chemicals which can affect the soil surrounding the mine. Copper mining also releases toxic chemicals that pollute the air. This air pollution can harm people’s skin, eyes, and lungs, making breathing difficult. While some copper is essential for human health, an excess can be fatal.
FLASH: Lack of copper could slow the transition to renewable energy.
According to a 2021 report by Goldman Sachs, renewable energy sources like wind, battery and solar will drive copper demand up nearly 600%, or 5.4 million megatons, by 2030.
Sustainability Tips – Air Dry Clothing/Laundry
Submitted by Sonia Kragh
Image provided by google.com
Back in the day before the industrial revolution and widespread use of gas powered and electric powered tumble dryers, we hung our clothes on a clothesline indoors/outdoors to dry. This continues to occur in numerous nations, with some regions of the United States being outliers. As far as I know, I remain the only person in my neighborhood who has an outdoor clothesline. A transition back to air drying clothes is definitely a win for the environment and will lessen human caused climate change. Let’s get started!
What are the benefits of air-drying laundry?
Reduce/eliminate use of fossil fuels.
Save money by not running the dryer.
Increase humidity in dry indoor air (keep off the humidifier as another appliance and save more money and keep fossil fuels in the ground).
Increase the longevity of clothing (which means less need to expend resources, including fossil fuels, to produce, distribute and purchase new clothing).
Sun dried clothing is disinfected by UV rays (better for light clothing, as sun bleaches some clothing).
The weight of hung wet clothing will help pull out wrinkles (worried about wrinkles? Use the dryer for a few minutes, then hang to dry).
Count those steps and calories burned with this home task.
*****Consider what you purchase and its Sustainability Footprint****
Wring out excess moisture using a clean towel, which is then hung up to dry.
Put clothes on one or more drying racks, a Clothes Tree, Clothes hangars (to save space, hang one on the other at the neck) hanging on unused exercise equipment like my StairMaster (just checking if you are reading this), door knobs, the lip of doorways.
Hang laundry on a shower rod, towel racks or set up a string and use clothes pins.
Still need to run the dryer?
If you have home or community solar, run the dryer when there is sunlight on the solar array.
Put smaller laundry items on top of the dryer to air dry.
Let us know what tips you are using and what we missed that may help others! Email Sonia at sykragh@yahoo.com and put Sustainability Tips in the heading.
METHANE ALERT: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing tighter emissions regulations by expanding the 2021 methane rule. The new rule is estimated to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas industry by 87% below 2005 levels by the end of this decade. Fossil fuel interests are no doubt going to fight tooth and nail to try to bury these new regulations. The EPA needs to hear your support for cracking down on these methane super-polluters.
The CNY Youth Summit Conferencewill be held on February 11. For information or questions contact:cnyclimatesummit@gmail.com.
TO OUR MEMBERS: CCAA is updating its membership information. Please go tohttps://www.climatechange-action.com/volunteer/ to update your information. Of special importance is adding zip codes and interest in level of involvement. Of special need is assistance with social medial skills and computer design, as well as the monthly newsletter. To volunteer to become involved in the transition away from fossil fuels in 2023, reply directly to cc.awareness.action@gmail.com.
Sustainable Manlius Committee, a volunteer group in the Town of Manlius, that organizes and leads projects and events within the Town of Manlius that drive the awareness and adoption of sustainable practices. currently has an open position for Community Chair. Responsibilities include overseeing the activities of the committee projects, representing the committee in the community and before the media, working with the assigned Town Councilor and Committee Secretary to develop agendas and preside at meetings, recruiting new members. More information if you are interested in applying can be obtained from sustainablemanlius@gmail.com
Calling all Town of Manlius constituents!The Town of Manlius is currently drafting a Climate Action Plan and needs your input. A Climate Action Plan is a strategy document that helps set goals and outlines initiatives to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Your input is crucial in creating an inclusive Climate Action Plan that adequately addresses community concerns. We want to hear your ideas, and what you think should be done to address your local environmental concerns. The primary audience for the survey is Town of Manlius residents, but those located in the village of Manlius, Minoa, and Fayetteville and/or those that work or go to school in the town of Manlius are also encouraged to respond. We need your input.
Are bike and walking paths important to you?Would you like to see more EV charging stations in the Town? Would you like to find out how native plants and trees can capture carbon emissions?These and many more ideas might be part of the Climate Action Plan if you take a very short survey put together by Sustainable Manlius to get your opinions. Below is the link to take the survey:
It’s time to consider President Biden’s proposed update to the Federal Acquisitions Regulation (FAR) requiring that major and significant contractors/suppliers measure and disclose their greenhouse gas emissions, and set Science-Based Targets for reducing their impact in accordance with the Paris agreement. The proposal is in a public comment period until Jan 13th. Consider supporting it and/or commenting. You can even do so anonymously. Comment here
SOCIAL MEDIA REQUEST: Please remember to “like” and “comment” on our Facebook and Instagram pages as often as possible. “Share” our posts with your friends and neighbors. You will be helping us to reach a wider audience and make our work more impactful.
In a sweeping deal to protect the planet’s land and oceans, approximately 190 nations agreed on a plan aimed to stem biodiversity loss. The agreement comes as biodiversity is declining worldwide at rates never seen before in human history. Scientists have projected that a million plants and animals are at risk of extinction, many within decades.
SPECIAL ALERT: Governor Hochul has announced $52 Million in awards for Regional Clean Energy Hubs to Connect New York Communities with clean energy resources. Read about it here.
United Solar Energy Supporters (USES) is a grassroots community of advocates who support harvesting sunshine for emissions-free electricity. It is a non-profit organization that is educating the public, landowners, municipal leaders – and everyone – to the many benefits of solar and the opportunities to reduce energy costs, provide family farmers with another “cash crop,” create new jobs and a vibrant economy, and have a positive impact on climate change.” The group has monthly meetings that are members only. If you would like to join and/or support the group, contact Eva Hoskin, Executive Director, at United Solar Energy Supporters.
Attend the next Monthly CCAA Meeting When: Tuesday, January 10th, 6:00 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. 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. Register here. Facebook page.
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.
