The Museum of Jewish Heritage and New York’s Evolving Solar Story
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009Our friends at the Network for New Energy Choices have produced another fantastic video short chronicling the experience of one of New York City’s early solar adopters. In this second installment in their series “Solar Power Is Right Here,’ we visit with the Museum of Jewish Heritage on the southern tip of lower Manhattan. The museum is now covered with an impressive array of solar panels that provides power to the building and cuts down its electricity bill. To hear their story, watch now.
Posted in Solar One | Permalink
Harlem Homeowner Foreclosure Prevention Seminar
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009| May 30, 2009 | ||
| 11:00 am | to | 3:00 pm |
The seminar will focus on overcoming the fiscal challenges of owning a home by discussing strategies such as loan modification, Obama Administration’s “Making Home Affordable” program, money management, and reverse mortgage. Diana Pangestu of NYSERDA/Solar One will speak about energy – and money – saving tips and incentives.
To RSVP, please contact Ms. Hylton or Ms. Romero, West Harlem Group Assistance, 212-862-1399
Saturday, May 30, 11 am – 3 pm
Oberia Multiservice Center
127 West 127th St, room 409
between Lenox and 7th Avenue
Posted in Solar One Events | Permalink
Finally! Hudson Clean-Up Begins!
Thursday, May 21st, 2009
Sometime in the near future, you won’t even need to think twice about frying up that prize striper you hooked out of the Hudson.
After twenty-five years of court appeals and other evasive measures employed by General Electric, the first of what will be many scoops of PCB-laden sludge was dredged from the Hudson River this past Friday as the result of a “good-faith” agreement with the EPA. The massive effort, only Phase One of the project, is expected to require the around-the-clock operation of twelve dredges six days a week through 2015; assuming this phase runs its course, this would equal 48,672 hours for the removal of sediment that has been accumulating since the end of the Wisconsin glaciation period around 12,000 years ago, but took two GE plants and other chemical facilities only thirty years to contaminate. The dried sludge will then be trucked to a landfill in Texas, while the river water will be pumped through a filtration plant and returned to continue its meandering course.
Nearly 200 miles of the river from Hudson Falls to the tip of Manhattan, just under two-thirds of the Hudson’s total length, was declared a Superfund site in 1984, and though GE has now adopted a veneer of compliance, it also continues to challenge the constitutionality of the legislation – the 1980 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) -that determines Superfund status and culpability. As part of the agreement, GE has also given itself an out clause – it will review the status of the project in 2010 and can then decide to opt out. The total cost of this phase is estimated at $750 million but could be much greater, though GE has declined to provide an estimate, a decision that, compounded by these other compromises, does little to alleviate the pervasive skepticism within the environmental community.
Still, the fact that the clean-up project is now more than simply a contentious point of debate is cause for at least tepid celebration. I imagine most of those keeping a close eye on this will remain patient until the 2010 review process is complete before any claims of restitution will finally be made. Meanwhile, for the past quarter century, those PCBs and their fellow contaminants have been just sitting there in the river bottom ooze, waiting for the party responsible to own up and make that first move.
Sources: “Dredging of Pollutants Begins in Hudson”, The New York Times, May 15, 2009;“”Reclaiming a River”, The New York Times, May 16, 2009; “Shaking Off “Man’s Taint, Hudson Pulses With Life”, The New York Times, June 9, 1996; “What was the Wisconsin Glaciation?” Wisegeek.com;“25-Year-Old Hudson River Cleanup Plan Starts Today”, Running Scared (blogs.villagevoice.com), May 15, 2009; “Pollution and the Hudson River”, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies (www.ecostudies.org); Hudson River Sloop Clearwater (www.clearwater.org).
Posted in Legislation, Pollution, Waste, Water | Permalink
2nd Avenue Street Fair
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009| June 7, 2009 | ||
| 11:00 am | to | 5:30 pm |
The 2nd Avenue Street Fair, which is being held on 3rd Avenue due to construction, will feature a Green Block on Sunday, June 7th, 11AM-5:30PM. The block will consist of vendors who sell green products and services as well as non-profits and government organizations who promote environmental programs and education. Our very own Diana Pangestu of Solar1/NYSERDA will be there, so please come by to find out about the programs available to help you make your home or business energy efficient!
The 2nd Avenue Street Fair is put on by the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce and is one of the oldest and largest street fairs in New York City.
2nd Avenue Street Fair (held on 3rd Ave)
3rd Ave between 66th and 86th Streets
Sunday, June 7, 11 am – 5:30 pm
Posted in Green Collar Jobs, New York City, NYSERDA, Solar One, Solar One Events, Sustainability | Permalink
Evolver Town Hall
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009| May 31, 2009 | ||
| 1:30 pm | to | 5:30 pm |
On Sunday, May 31, join a city-wide gathering of innovative individuals, local groups, nonprofits, government organizations, and local businesses who are transforming today’s energy, climate, and economic challenges into visionary opportunities. The event features workshops, panels, music, art, food, info tables, and more. Speakers will specifically address how YOU can make a direct impact in their area of expertise. Topics include: Renewable Energy & Efficiency, Green Jobs, Food Justice, Conscious Health and Living, Locally Supported Agriculture, Climate Change, DIY Art, Rooftop & Community Gardens, Media Activism, Resilient Neighborhoods & Communities, Local/Alternative Currency, and more.
Don’t miss Diana Pangestu of Solar1/NYSERDA, who will take part in the “Less is the New More” panel at 3:30 pm.
This event will celebrate the launch of Evolver.net, a social network for conscious collaboration, and mark the beginning of their off-line community, Evolver NYC.
May 31, 2009 – 1:30-5:30 PM
St. Marks Church in the Bowery, corner of 10th St. and 2nd Ave.
$5
RSVP: EvolverTownHall@gmail.com
http://evolver.net/event/townhall
Posted in Art, Education, Energy Efficiency, Food, Green Collar Jobs, New York City, Solar One Events, Sustainability | Permalink
