Some Upcoming Events
Well here are a few upcoming events. If you want to know more, or if you have anything to add, please leave a comment.
Lots of stuff is going on at Stony Brook for Earth Day, which is on April 22, but events are going on this week and next week. Earth Stock, the largest celebration of all will be on April 17. Check out the links for more information.
April 17- Earth Stock @ SBU
April 18- Woodland Drive Woods Cleanup in East Islip. 11 am- 1pm (rain date is April 19.) Email dejmkrys[at]hotmail[dot]com.
April 22- Earth Day!!
May 2- Earth Day Festival in Sayville.
May 16- Sierra Club Bike Outing in East Islip. Meet at JFK Elementray School. We leave at 11am, 8-10 miles. After bike feel free to join us for the Earth Watch conference at the South Shore Nature Center in East Islip. Email dejmkrys[at]hotmail[dot]com.
More events on their way….
Is Geoengineering the Answer to Global Warming?
So earlier this week I heard that President Obama’s science adviser, John Holdren, admitted that shooting pollutants into the earth’s atmosphere to prevent more warming may be necessary if countries around the world do not take drastic changes to prevent more warming.
Two possible geoengineering options Holdren stated in his interview with the Associated Press were,
a) shoot sulfur particles into the air to create a blanket in the earth’s atmosphere to block incoming sunlight.
b) create artificial trees that take in carbon dioxide.
I like the tree idea a lot better, but I would like to see a stronger push for a nationwide tree planting campaign. Real trees. Fake trees may be necessary too but as far as I know real trees do a great job of sucking in CO2, too. And while there at it, how about some regulation on cutting down trees? There is far too much of that going on.
Holdren admitted that there could be severe side effects such as depletion of the ozone layer and climates changing in the Mediterranean and Mideast. He also said there could be unforeseen consequences.
That scares me. It’s a tough decision to make and I’m happy to hear it’s being reserved as an emergency option. I just hope if its chosen, it’s not not done hastily. My philosophy is that we shouldn’t be playing with mother nature, and even though we are testing the limits right now, I think that experimenting with the atmosphere could create problems that cannot be fixed.
It’s a good thing it’s only being considered as an emergency option, but the next question is how do we convince billions of people around the world to reduce carbon emissions?
Housekeeping
Hey Folks! Things have been super busy the last week, but I have lots of fun Earth Day fun to share with you soon. (An events calender is in the works.)
So last week I had the pleasure of see Rev. Billy and The Church of Life After Shopping perform at Stony Brook University. It was a blast. Although the performance was very dramatic and well, theartical, when he gave his speech he touched on some good points. He isn’t trying to tell people to stop shopping completely, but he’s encouraging people to “back away from the Walmart,” or any other mega big box stores and malls that litter our country. He wants people to support local business and stop excessive consumerism. He and his choir seemed very happy with the results this past holiday season because people stopped shopping. He also had a focus on the environment. He praised President Obama’s new plan to pay people to get rid of their SUV for a new energy efficient car.
Rev. Billy and his choir are based in NYC, so I recommend you check out their website. Even though the performance may seem absurd the message is very clear and strong.
#######
Now on another note. I had the pleasure of going to the Long Island Sierra Club luncheon last Saturday where many volunteers were honored, including Babylon Town Supervisor, Steve Bellone and New York State Comptroller, Tom DiNapoli. The event was held at the Carriage House in Babylon. The turn out was great, about 80 people, and Supervisor Bellone was honored environmentalist of the year. Bellone has made great strides in making Town of Babylon homes more energy efficient through his Long Isand Green Homes initiative. He’s also made other changes to cut the carbon fottprint of the township. Pictures will be up soon.
######
On a final note, the Great American Cleanup has kicked off. the event runs through April, May and sometimes June. There are lots of events coming up and I’ll have those up tonight or tomorrow. Most of the events are held within Islip Township. For more information go to Keep Islip Clean.
Energy Efficiency Grants Coming to Long Island
Twelve Long Island governments will be receiving energy efficiency grants from the U.S. Department of Energy. A story in Friday’s Newsday stated that the money will go to make homes and public buildings more energy efficient, as well as, replacing incandescent light bulbs with induction lights in street lamps.
The grant money, which is part of the $787 billion stimulus plan, will be sent to township and county governments once local officials complete applications forms and the Energy Department processes them. Approximately $24 million will go to Long Island out of the $3.2 billion being distributed around the country for energy efficiency projects.
This is exciting news but we must all watch closely to see how local governments use the money.
White House Garden Is A Go!!
There will be a garden on the south lawn of the White House! It was revealed earlier this week on treehugger, and I’m just so excited!
Mrs. Obama talks about the garden in Oprah’s magazine, O, as well.
I posted a blog about the Who Farm and its initiatives about a month ago. I guess we can say a job well done to them, and to the many people who helped and showed their support for the garden.
The WhoFarm has some great videos on their site of the first lady and elementary students working on the garden.
Photo: The White House
Cheap and Free Stuff
Many of you have probably heard of freecycle by now, but in case you haven’t, you really need to try it out. If you go to the website, you can find the group closest to where you live. It’s a great way to recycle because instead of throwing away what you don’t need, you post on freecycle and see if someone is interested in it. You know the saying one persons trash is another persosn treasure… or something like that, well freecycle is the perfect example. I recommend you check it out, especially if you have “trash” that could may be of interest to someone else.
Another place that is great, is the Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore. They sell all types of construction materials for really cheap. The closest one for Long Islanders would be the Ronkonkoma store, unless you’re closer to the Yonkers location. If you’re looking to weatherize your home for as little money as possible, this may be a good place to check out. It’s just like a Home Depot, except the materials are left overs from construction jobs that people donate, or materials that were salvaged from a remodeling or demolition job. They even sell appliances, bathtubs, sinks, doorknobs and light bulbs! Pretty much anything that you need for a house. And if you happen to have some extra materials laying around or a spare appliance, drop it off at the store. They are always grateful for new donations.
Riverhead Resorts
On the back of the winter edition of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society newsletter there is a composite photo of bumper to bumper traffic and a sign that reads, “Welcome to Orlando” but the Orlando is covering up with the word, “Calverton.” This picture is in response to the proposed Riverhead Resorts in the pine barrens. A huge resort to be built on the 755-acre Grumman property that used to be used test fighter jets.
Last year the Town of Riverhead signed a contract with the resort company and ever since there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the plans. The location, which is in the middle of the pine barrens, would be a great place for a camping ground and nature park, but not a Disney World style resort that’s going to attract hundreds of thousands of people a year, if not millions. Maybe somewhere else in the U.S. but not on Long Island where it is already over crowded and traffic is horrendous.
Not to mention the effect all the new traffic will have on the pine barrens. Cars bring pollution, noise and endanger wildlife.
As much as the company says it will protect the environment and do its best to be “sustainable,” I just don’t understand how it will really work. I have some research to do, but with the information I do have, it seems like a really stupid and misguided decision. No matter how hard you may try to keep an area in its natural state, having thousands of people passing through it will have its consequences. Even though the company may care, the people may not.
I think the decision makers need to ask themselves if this is really best for Long Island’s future. There will be more on this topic very soon.
