NYCFC Promotes Awareness of:

• Preserving Drinking Water Quality
• Hydrofacking dangers
• Cleaning up nearby waters and surrounding shores 
• Protecting our harbor from pollutants and sewage
• The hazard of having a nuclear power plant near NYC
• Dangers of new power plants planned on the Husdon
• Alternate energy sources ie. Solar & Wind power
• Making homes and businesses environmentally friendly
• The benefits of recycling and the processes used
• Preserving environmental regulations for Manhattans' Hudson River Park and other parks throughout the region
• Incineration vs. Recycling
• Love of the Hudson River - try human powered boating
• The beauty of sail power. Come on our annual members sail on the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater
• How YOU can help make our waters, shores, and drinking water cleaner and safer for the benefit of all the life on the planet.

Thanks to our friends at United for Action for compiling this information. http://unitedforaction.org/2011/10/13/dec-sgeis-comment-action-center/

Submit Comments to DEC on the SGEIS by 5:00 pm January 11, 2012! Postmarked by then or sent via DEC website.

We want the DEC to receive as many comments as possible on its Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement which paves the way for fracking in NY State. We’re hoping to drown DEC in comments. Please write comments using your own words. Form letters are less effective. Written comments will be accepted by DEC if received by DEC or postmarked by January 11, 2012 by two methods only. Written letter mailed to DEC or electronic submission using a web-based comment form available on DEC’s website http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/76838.html which we’ve been told is not that user friendly. Comments that are faxed, telephoned, or emailed to the DEC will not be accepted for the official record. We’re encouraging people to submit comments to DEC by regular mail because we’ve been told that letters are more effective.

Mail your comments to:

Attn: dSGEIS Comments
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
625 Broadway
Albany, NY 12233-6510 

Mail a copy to the Governor, your State Senator, and your Assemblyperson to let them know how seriously voters are taking this and that we’re holding them accountable:
The Honorable Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224

For more info: http://unitedforaction.org/2011/10/13/dec-sgeis-comment-action-center/

If you are submitting your comments to DEC electronically, please remember to print out a hard copy and send it to Cuomo, your State Senator and Assemblyperson.

Suggestions for Writing Comments

• Keep your comments focused. Give a paragraph or two to each concern rather than discussing all of your concerns in one long paragraph.
• If you can, make it clear what section and topic in the Draft you are referring to in your comments.
• Every comment matters, but comments with concrete suggestions and with references to articles and papers, are especially useful.
• For clarity, we encourage you to write separate comments on each topic. You may send in multiple letters to DEC covering different topics in each letter.
• Sign your letter individually with your address. If you include a group affiliation, they could be grouped together and counted as one single comment.

ReNEW New York - Solar in the City Discussion Series on Renewable Energy
What is New York’s Solar Energy Potential?

January 19th 6:15–9:30pm
The Community Church of New York
40 East 35th Street (Park & Madison)
Suggested $5-10 donation

What are the best methods to make solar power a reality in New York? Among the suggested models are: Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs); Net Metering; Feed-in Tariffs; and Community Choice Aggregation. How is the average New Yorker to make sense of these options?

Panel Discussion with:

Alison Kling, NYC Solar Map
Anthony Pereira, altPOWER, Inc.
John Siciliani, JFS Renewables LLC
Megan Matson, Lean Energy, US
Moderator: Ran Kohn, Cleantech Corridor

Series Co-Sponsors: The Environmental Task Force of The Congregation of Saint Saviour; The Green Sanctuary Committee of the Community Church of New York, UU; NYC Friends of Clearwater; Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter Gas Drilling Task Force; Tri-State Food Not Lawns/Neighborhood Energy Network; NY Climate Action Group; Sane Energy Project; United for Action; WBAI’s Eco-logic

FIFTEEN WAYS TO FIGHT FRACKING: Yes, things that you can actually do that will make a big difference!

Tell everyone about the dangers of fracking. Educate your friends, family, neighbors, co-workers. Explain the many ways in which fracking is devastating to humans, water, air, forests, agriculture, livestock and wildlife. Explain why the DEC’s guidelines don’t go far enough, and why we need a complete ban on fracking in NY State.

Let Governor Cuomo know your opinions on fracking. Call him every Monday at 212-681-4580 or 518-474-8390. Send him letters, emails and faxes. And encourage others to do the same.

Contact other elected officials. For example, President Obama, senators, congressional representatives, state senators, assemblypersons, city council members. The League of Women Voters can provide all necessary contact info. Encourage others to do the same.

Write letters to editors. Express yourself in major newspapers, local newspapers, magazines and newsletters. Even better, write your own newsletter article. Encourage others to do this also.

Blog On. Respond to articles or posts about fracking, wherever you see them on the internet. Better still, start your own blog. Get your friends to do this, too.

Make a Visual Statement. Wear anti-fracking buttons and t-shirts as conversation starters. Put a sign in your window or on your front porch or lawn. And yep, encourage others (you get the idea by now).

Blanket the Neighborhood. Post literature on bulletin boards and leave materials in health food stores, supermarkets, banks. One good source of materials is Food and Water Watch.

Get Petitions Signed. Right in your own neighborhood, you can set up a table, or just speak to people with a clipboard. Or just give out informational fliers. We’ll help you get started.

Activate Your Networks. Everybody belongs to groups of one kind or another, and you’re the best person to start getting your group involved. Give out material, and make everyone aware of the issues. Better still, we can arrange a PowerPoint presentation, or a screening of Josh Fox’s anti-fracking movie Gaslands for your group. Or, you could have a Gaslands party in your home.

Become an Expert. Learn as much as you can about fracking, so that you can educate other folks. One good place to start is with the resource materials found at unitedforaction.org.

Become a “Bird Dog.” Attend events where public figures are speaking, and ask them tough questions about fracking. The media will love this.

Create a Happening. Got creativity? Get some friends and do some street theater to increase public awareness, or organize a flash mob. The possibilities are endless.

Comment on the draft supplemental EIS. This is very important. The formal comment period on the DEC guidelines should begin August 1st. It’s essential that as many people as possible submit lengthy and detailed comments explaining why the guidelines are totally inadequate to protect New York from this dangerous drilling process.

Show Up at the Rallies. There will be some truly major anti-fracking rallies happening in the late summer and fall. It is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL that as many people as possible show up. So make sure that you will be there, and bring as many friends as possible. There will be other protest demos going on all summer, too. (Gee, you could even organize one of your own.)

Work with Other Groups. There are lots of great activist groups already working in a coalition against fracking. Contact United For Action, Food and Water Watch, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter, NYH2O, and many others. Join with us, and let’s work together to STOP FRACKING NOW!