Category: Call to Action

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Call to Action Educational Event

New Program for Upper Nyack Residents to Reduce Energy Use…and Reap Rewards!

Join your neighbors in helping our community fight climate change!  

As we try our best to get through these tough heat waves, nearly all of us are using more energy for cooling, whether for air conditioning or fans.  Most of us don’t think about the fact that on peak days for electricity usage, utilities bring on the most polluting power plants to cover the demand.  Read below for one way you can help to cut your peak demand, reduce your carbon footprint, and also save money!

The Upper Nyack Green Committee is promoting a new program to lower your energy use, reduce your carbon footprint – and save you money.  This program, called Meltek, is entirely free and is authorized through Orange & Rockland.

Meltek can help you reduce your energy use at peak times on hot summer days.  By voluntarily shifting our energy use to off peak hours – and by becoming more efficient, we can reduce the use of the dirtiest power plants on peak hot days.  

Meltek alerts participants ahead of time to peak electricity demand days – and gives you ways to reduce your energy use — and shift it to off peak.  You get paid for reducing your energy use, or you can donate the savings to charity, to plant trees, or to buy carbon offset credits.  All of this is voluntary.

When we do this as a community, we can truly make a difference!

You can learn more at www.meltek.io and sign up or download the Meltek app at app.meltek.io.

Categories
Call to Action Educational Event

Green Committee Participates in Rally to Protest Radioactive Water Dump in the Hudson

The Green Committee took part in the “Rally to Save the River” in Cortlandt on May 6. The rally was held to protest against plans of Holtec International “to discharge 1 million gallons of radioactive water into the Hudson River as part of its decommissioning process,” as noted by the Cortlandt Town Supervisor. In April, Holtec agreed to suspend, but not cancel, its plans. As stated by Food & Water watch, the waste “contains toxic contaminants, including tritium. Exposure to this radioactive isotope is linked to cancer, miscarriages, genetic defects and other adverse health effects. There is no safe dose of radiation and its harmful impacts are cumulative.” Holtec argues that the plant has carried out similar wastewater discharges since the 1960s, but, as Riverkeeper notes, “Just because these discharges have occurred for more than 40 years does not mean they are the best disposal method…The ideal situation is zero radiation entering the Hudson River.”

The Green Committee participated in the public comment period, noting that science has not made significant enough advances to credibly safely dispose of or alleviate the dangers of tritium. To dilute tritium by dumping it in with water from the Hudson river, subject to the forces of ebb and flow, would offer no guarantees as to where remnants wind up, how much marine or wildlife might be affected, how human consumption would be impacted, and over how long a time period these effects might last.

 The Green Committee also signed the petition to the governor to sign the Save the Hudson Bill and to implement a two-year moratorium on dumping or moving nuclear waste. Instead, the bill calls for storing radioactive tritium and continually monitoring storage casks.

Categories
Call to Action

Petition for a Feasibility Study to Consider Public Ownership of Rockland’s Water Supply

Did you know…?

  • According to the NY State Comptroller, Rockland County had one of the highest water rates in the state.
  • Rockland’s major water system has had chronic water quality problems – in addition to water pressure problems which have led to increased cost and even loss of life.
  • Suez Water NY, Rockland County’s major water supplier, is owned by a multinational corporation.
  • Suez is currently in the process of selling our water system to Veolia – an even larger multinational corporation.
  • Join Rockland County water advocates in asking our new Governor and other elected officials to order a feasibility study to consider whether it is in Rockland’s best interest to create an independent local public water authority rather than continuing private, corporate ownership of our water.

Link to sign the petition here.