Search Results for: Map

NYSERDA – State Designated Disadvantaged Communities (within cities)

A series of maps showing the 2019 Census Tracts that have been designed as “Disadvantaged Communities” for purposes of potentially billions in state climate change spending. The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act) requires State agencies, authorities, and entities to direct funding in a manner designed to achieve a goal for disadvantaged communities to receive 40% of overall benefits of spending on clean energy and energy efficiency program.

NYSERDA – State Designated Disadvantaged Communities (within cities) by Andy Arthur on Scribd

Climate Action Council Meeting – Meetings and Materials

Climate Action Council Meeting – Meetings and Materials

I think it's worthwhile to at least review some of the meetings and materials of the Climate Action Council to get a better idea of the future of the state. While certainly these materials -- largely generated by idealists with no real power -- are just brainstorming sessions, the state may have dropped hints on how they plan to use political power to change the face of the state. After all, the works of the Temporary Commission on the Future of Albany, along with planning document "Albany - A Plan for the Capital City 1963" has proven to be a powerful roadmap in understanding on what has happened to Albany in the coming years.

In service of the Big Green Lie 🌎 🌲💚 🤥

In service of the Big Green Lie 🌎 🌲💚 🤥

It really bothers me to see that they are developing the big farm fields off of Stoner Trail in Johnstown into industrial solar energy facilities. It seems like one of the fastest growing forms of sprawl these days are the mega industrial solar farms which honestly don’t even produce that much energy compared to existing fossil plants which crank out far more energy with far lower environmental and land impacts. Probably a 5 megawatt solar farm sprawled over dozens acres of land compared to the 750 MW gas power plants a few miles down the road.

I think the obsession over climate change has gotten way out of hand, and while we should take reasonable steps to conserve energy and produce it efficiently and cleanly, on the whole nothing really beats fossil energy when it comes to clean, reliable, low environmental impact sources of energy. Roof top solar power and wind power in appropiate locations can be part of the solution but we also need to realistic about the impacts of all sources of energy.

I think we need to get away from the denialism of climate change won’t be inevitable by the left. All the evidence says it will be a serious problem that will hurt real people. But we also need energy to power society – natural gas, oil and coal aren’t going away – despite the denialism that these industrial solar and wind farms represent. Society has to make unpleasant choices and we are going to warm the planet and cause all kinds of pain by doing that but a lot of it is inevitable. But we can choose to protect our environment and our land, by choosing cleaner fossil fuel plants with better pollution controls over these industrial solar and wind farms.

The Doomsday Glacier

The Doomsday Glacier

But Christianson and his colleagues were not just ice geeks mapping the hidden topography of the planet. They were mapping a future global disaster. As the world warms, determining exactly how quickly ice melts and seas rise may be one of the most important questions of our time. Half the world’s population lives within 50 miles of a coastline. Trillions of dollars of real estate is perched on beaches and clustered in low-lying cities like Miami and New York. A long, slow rise of the waters in the coming decades may be manageable. A more abrupt rise would not be. “If there is going to be a climate catastrophe,” says Ohio State glaciologist Ian Howat, “it’s probably going to start at Thwaites.”

Managed Retreat – 99 Invisible Podcast

Managed Retreat – 99 Invisible Podcast

"Some locals like Danny Couch, who became a representative for Save the Lighthouse, advocated for the idea of building a solid concrete wall around the lighthouse. But Pilkey had maps and diagrams showing how sea walls are actually counter-productive and often lead to accelerated erosion. Then one day Pilkey met an engineer named Dave Fischetti, who suggested a novel compromise: instead of building a sea wall or letting the lighthouse fall into the ocean, why not move it? Even though the lighthouse was 200 feet tall and weighed 4,800 tons — engineers had moved bigger structures. And this presented an opportunity, to test something that planners call “managed retreat.” The idea is that, as sea levels rise, we won’t be able to defend every coast with a giant wall. Instead we’re going to have to make plans to abandon certain areas and make choices about what to move out of the way. Pilkey thought that if Buxton could be convinced to move this big lighthouse, it might show that managed retreat is feasible."