Dear friends,
The climate crisis is not abstract.
Record-breaking heat and humidity in parts of the US has led to warnings to stay indoors because of the danger. Right now, these public health warnings are directed at one in three Americans.
[T]he Alaska Interagency Coordination Center [reports that] by mid-June this year, 250 wildfires had already burned more than 770,000 acres, not counting prescribed burns. That is already more than the 30-year median of 600,000 acres burned during the entire wildfire season, noted Rick Thoman, a climate specialist at the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment & Policy.
On a personal note, my sister’s landline has been down. It turns out that a grass fire just a mile from her home in New Mexico took out a telephone pole and the phone company didn’t realize that the fiber optics were damaged.
She is feeling lucky because the fire itself was extinguished. This is no small matter, as the state is battling the largest wildfire in New Mexico’s history and fire season has just begun. Biden visited the state last weekend to promise federal funds.
The people fighting to save the planet and its people sometimes do so at great peril, as evidenced this week by the discovery of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira’s bodies in Brazil’s Javari valley. Phillips, a journalist, and Pereira, who was an advocate for frontline forest communities, were murdered.
I could go on and on, but young people’s mental health is already at stake and you need to conserve some energy. As labor organizer Joe Hill sang:
A week ago, I attended a rally and press conference with labor and climate groups outside of Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC). It is a myth that organized labor and environmental activists are in opposition; our shared goals include a viable society and livable communities.
Nancy Romer, of the Professional Staff Congress, which represents 30,000 faculty and staff at the City University of New York (CUNY), explained that we were outside of BMCC because it is home to 947 solar panels, the largest solar installation in Manhattan.
It was installed five years ago, as collaborative project of the New York Power Authority and BMCC/CUNY. That it remains the largest solar installation in Manhattan is the problem. Romer explained:
Our location also embodies what we see as the role of PSC-CUNY members as the State implements the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act: pressing for a much greater commitment to climate policies that support great jobs in the new clean energy economy.
Romer’s union is part the of NY Renews coalition, which guides a lot of our climate action. And Romer is correct that we are not moving fast enough. (Please note that blue collar unions, including the United Auto Workers, were well represented at this event.)
Our collective relentlessness is one way to build momentum.
Last week I sent a ready-made comment for the NYS Climate Action Council on the subject of biomass.
Biomass is mainly woody matter — and also straw, pulp, animal waste, solid waste, and sewage — that is burned as fuel instead of being processed into liquid fuels. Biomass is sometimes billed as renewable energy, but when it is heated to produce gas, it contributes to emissions and local pollution. In case you missed it:
Tell the Climate Action Council that substituting biomass for fossil fuels is a false solution. This is a 15-second action!
This week’s comment is about so-called “Green” hydrogen. It so happens that my nephew David is something of an expert in this matter, and has likened green hydrogen to a Swiss Army knife in the toolkit for an energy transition. The appeal of green hydrogen is that hydrogen combustion emits only water.
This leaves out the dirty problem on the manufacturing side. Creating ‘green’ hydrogen results in nitrous oxides (NOx), which are toxic gas molecules.
As the ready-made comment from NY Renews explains:
Green hydrogen is very wasteful, eating up more than half of the renewable electricity used to create it. Creating it is a dirty process that generates NOx, a pollutant linked to smog, acid rain, asthma, pulmonary disease, lung cancer, stroke, and heart disease. Green hydrogen is also very expensive—four times more expensive than natural gas—and requires all new infrastructure and appliances to use it safely. Because of this, green hydrogen must only be used as a last resort for decarbonization.
Send the new comment from NY Renews, urging the CAC to recognize that green hydrogen is a last resort. This also takes just 15 seconds!
Last night, the candidates for Lieutenant Governor debated. It was a more substantive debate than the gubernatorial debate, and highlighted the fact that the position of LG is one we must take seriously:
Two of the last three elected lieutenant governors ended up in the top job when their bosses resigned in scandal. And Delgado took office just recently after his predecessor, Brian Benjamin, resigned after a federal indictment.
I’m a devoted Ana Maria Archila supporter. Archila, who has worked at the Center for Popular Democracy for years, is the human rights activist and sexual assault survivor who rose to national prominence when she held an elevator door open to challenge Senator Jeff Flake’s support for Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.
She has been on the front lines of the fight for Fair Pay for Home Care.
Learn more about Ana Maria Archila, support her campaign, and vote!
And in last night’s debate, she spoke knowledgeably and passionately in favor of the crypto moratorium, distinguishing herself from Diana Reyna and Antonio Delgado.
“I want to understand where the community is as far as jobs are concerned – is this something they support?” Reyna said.
“I absolutely support the moratorium on crypto mining. I, in fact, met with the communities that live around Seneca Lake,” Archila said. “These power plants [have been] polluting the air, polluting the water and actually damaging the environment in one of the most beautiful regions in the state.”
Delgado responded: “This energy intensive process strikes to the heart of what we know about climate change...I think [the governor] should give it some serious thought, for sure.”
Archila noted that he was going to say nothing as Hochul made up her mind. Delgado won his seat in Congress by calling out his opponent for a lack of leadership.
Do it again! Call or write Governor Hochul to tell her to sign the moratorium! This takes 30-seconds!
Have a great day!
with love,
L