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4 days ago | 
buffalorising.com | John Szalasny
It may be the times we live in. Just before settling in to write my annual Earth Day article, I was in a creative writing workshop and given a prompt about springtime. It turned it into “Springtime flowers for a post-apocalyptic Earth Day.” As I am not a fan of the genre, I was surprised at how easily the story flowed from the keyboard, which made me work harder to show that there is hope as we commemorate Earth Day in 2025.
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2 weeks ago | 
buffalorising.com | John Szalasny
When you hear a topic once, a writer may not make a conscious note of it. When it comes up a second time, it becomes an idea for a story. Hearing it a third time makes it something to write about. This was my experience recently after attending the premiere of a documentary (Ripples of Plastic) and a convention on regional water issues (All About Water). I overheard many conversations about the attendees’ fears for the future of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI).
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1 month ago | 
buffalorising.com | John Szalasny
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson regularly points out in his StarTalk videos, “The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.” This is just one reason why the curtailing of both staffing and the dissemination of information from science-based research departments in the US Government should be alarming for all of us.
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2 months ago | 
niagarafallsreporter.com | John Szalasny
by John S. SzalasnyTown of Amherst Recycling and Waste Committee ChairEditor’s note: This is a follow-up to Mr. Szalasny’s March, 2024 article. Sometimes I wonder why our State Government set up regulatory agencies, tasking them with planning for the future of the state within their expertise, only to allow their plans to die due to inaction within the State Legislature.
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Jan 14, 2025 | 
oleantimesherald.com | John Szalasny
In the dying days of 2024, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Climate Change Superfund Act (S.2129/A.3351) and an expansion of the existing ban on hydraulic fracturing to include the prohibition of injecting wells with carbon dioxide to extract oil or gas from shale deposits (S.8357/A.8866). As an environmentalist, I should be applauding these signings, but as one who is concerned with transparency in government, this is part of a troubling trend in New York politics.
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Jan 10, 2025 | 
buffalorising.com | John Szalasny
The 60th anniversary of the federal Highway Beautification Act, the crowning achievement of Lady Bird Johnson, will be commemorated later this year. Although its lasting political outcome was to eliminate the commercialization that brought billboards right up to the sides of many interstates, it was popularized at the time with visions of wildflowers along the roadside.
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Oct 30, 2024 | 
buffalorising.com | John Szalasny
20th century business executives wanted the lowest energy costs when siting new, large energy intensive operations to maximize their profits. 21st century leaders are equally interested in how their companies are marketed, and nothing sells better than “being green,” as seen by the pledges by every major corporation to maximize their use of renewable energy. Power generated at Niagara Falls meets both of these criteria.
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Sep 13, 2024 | 
buffalorising.com | John Szalasny
With apologies to events like the Eden Corn Festival and our County Fairs, it’s still a surprise for a suburbanite like myself to find out how much land is used in New York State for the cultivation of corn. Although dwarfed by the amount of land used for urban habitats (estimated at 10-15% of the state, with more concentrated development in New York City and Long Island), the 95.4 million bushels of corn grown in the state in 2023 was grown on 3.2% of the state’s landmass.
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Sep 1, 2024 | 
buffalonews.com | John Szalasny
Earlier this year, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority issued a report showing that the state is falling well short of the renewable energy and greenhouse gas reductions mandated in the landmark 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. State leaders have been hiding behind the “effects of Covid” excuse to cover up their inaction making the CLCPA work.
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Aug 12, 2024 | 
buffalorising.com | John Szalasny
In 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) into law. This landmark document signaled the state’s commitment to fighting the growing Climate Emergency. Environmental groups were in unison, praising the language of the CLCPA which created “mandates” (authoritative commands or requirements) and not “goals” (an objective that someone is trying to achieve) that have been common in local, regional, and international agreements.
