Clean Air Coalition of Greater Ravena – Coeymans

THIS EVENT WAS REGRETTABLY CANCELLED DUE TO PENDING STORMS

Attend the “Eat in the Streets” event to show support for an issue that, clearly, affects more than just Cohoes, NY!

NEW MEETING PLACE: Meet Cafe con Mel, 133 Remsen St, Cohoes

Friday, July 23rd at 6:30 pm, Remsen St, Cohoes, NY

Please join us! The Clean Air Coalition is inviting everyone to join “Lights Out Norlite” in Cohoes on their regular Friday night “Eat in the Streets” parade.  We will carry lit-up letters with the message, “We breathe what they burn!” to alert people to air quality issues from Norlite & Lafarge.

PLEASE RSVP & SHARE ON YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA

Logistics
1) Park at Cohoes City Hall, 97 Mohawk St.
2) Walk to Remsen Street to buy some great food.
3) Look for the Clean Air sign at Cafe con Mel restaurant to meet up.
3) Everyone takes 1 letter, 1 sticker and 1 postcard & we walk together.

IN OTHER NEWS A bad law passed in June that the Clean Air Coalition was unable to stop: the passage of LECCLA, by the New York State Legislature.  The bill wants to use our tax dollars to offer financial incentives for using “low carbon concrete” in New York State projects.  On the surface, it might look like a good thing. On the contrary, it’s just another excuse for the cement industry to burn waste as fuel to operate their kilns. The State has put the Office of General Services and a Stakeholder Advisory Group of cement industry insiders in charge of the details. The Clean Air Coalition opposes this bill. It will not significantly lower CO2 from concrete & could encourage the use of waste as fuel. Last week, we sent a letter to Governor Cuomo asking him to veto the bill. Please contact the Governor, if you agree.

The following is a letter sent to the Governor and other State officials to help stop the passage of the LECCLA Law. Please call and voice your concerns about this bill as it will not achieve the goal of reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere but rather help the cement industry profit from waste incineration putting us all at risk. 18 other environmental organizations signed the letter to show support for our effort.

READ THE ENTIRE LETTER BY CLICKING BELOW:

Joy Iafallo wants to make a difference, a big difference in the town she grew up in. With spackle and putty in hand, she sees the potential of what a little sweat equity can do for Main Street, Ravena. But, one thing stands in her way: big trucks and lots of them! Iafallo was in the process of rehabbing an abandoned building into a coffee shop when the CAC (Clean Air Coalition) caught up with her vision.

World-renowned writer, filmmaker, and editor Jon Bowermaster along with VP of Patrol Program, John Lipscomb of Hudson Riverkeeper were kind enough to share this incredibly important message about the Coeymans shoreline with cameos made by our own, CAC director, Barbara Heinzen. Others interviewed for the story include Riverkeeper director, Rebecca Martin, and Riverkeeper staff attorney, Victoria Leung.

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Riverkeeper’s mission is to protect and restore the Hudson River through advocacy rooted in community partnerships, science, and law. The organization focuses on three overarching problems facing Hudson River communities like Coeymans: Restoration of the Hudson River ecosystem, protection of New York City’s drinking water supply and improving public access to the Hudson River.

The Hudson River is not your typical river. In fact, most of the Hudson is actually a tidal estuary where saltwater from the ocean combines with freshwater from northern tributaries. This “brackish”, or mixing, water extends from the mouth of the Hudson in NY Harbor to Poughkeepsie, approximately 100 miles.

Because the Hudson River is a tidal estuary, meaning it ebbs and flows with the ocean tide, it supports a biologically rich environment, making it an important ecosystem for various species of aquatic life. For many key species, it provides critical habitats and essential spawning and breeding grounds.

Today is World Environment Day! A day for encouraging worldwide awareness and action to protect our environment.

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We all agree that we need to reduce the emissions of CO2 and we agree that cement and concrete account for a major share of carbon pollution globally.   We want to see these emissions reduced, but believe that LECCLA needs to be much more specific in what it seeks to achieve and how that is done.  

LECCLA, in ‘bill speak’ is an act to amend the state finance law, in relation to provisions in state procurement contracts involving the use of low embodied carbon concrete. What the law would actually do is allow industries to avoid substantive change and encourage the use of solid waste as fuel in cement plants.

Please share your thoughts on Senate Bill S542A with the 63 N.Y. State Senators voting on it as early as this Monday. If you live in Albany, call Senator Neil Breslin at 518.455.2225. Leave a voice mail message urging him that this bill needs substantial improvement before it can come to a vote.

Read our FACT SHEET to learn more.

Read our PROPOSED CHANGES to LECCLA.

Thank you for your support!