What is the COVID19 Message on 50th Anniversary of EARTHDAY?

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The health crisis brought home the message that human life is precious is the Country took extra ordinary measure to protect our lives at a huge cost to our economy. Trillions of Dollars spent and lot more to come in future. All of the Weapons to protect our nations proved worthless against this invisible enemy.

Warning by scientists were ignored for just 4 weeks and we all experienced the outcomes that no one imagined to cover many countries. Ignoring science was DEADLY.

I am reminded of the saying- Do not fool with mother nature! Is it possible that we did it  by ignoring all the Climate change warnings for last 10 years and the impact of environmental changes resulted in creation of new species or modifications of viruses as their fight for survival?

Once the current crisis is controlled then we will have some choices to make not to repeat this outcome. With this Crisis comes an Opportunity as the Chinese saying goes and they are now proving it by becoming the supplier of systems to fight the problem that originated at China. They are setting a smart example for seeking Prosperity.

What could Climate Smart Communities do on this  50th anniversary of Earth Day? Resolve to become Independent.

Let us think hard about all of the Infrastructure needs and select those items that generate long term savings by implementing efficiency and shifting to clean renewable energy sources. Recycle and reuse rainwater and food waste and plant as many trees as we can to convert the atmospheric CO2 to biomass for GHG reduction.

The independence concept can move us to growing locally and seek distributed generation to keep the money circulated locally to be resilient from economic losses when critical materials from imported sources are not able to reach us like we experienced recently.

It is time to use this Earth Day to celebrate 50th year with new resolve to seek economic independence and be resilient to fight future problems. Prosperity from Opportunity created by Crisis is the Key message. Do you agree?

Climate Change Solutions?

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I am preparing for a presentation to our Brighton Rotary Club on Monday Feb. 17th 2020.
The topic is about Climate Change and what to do about it.

I am aware that some folks just think it may not be caused by us humans. If you were drowning in a flood or be in the middle of a fire, would spent one second thinking about who is causing it? Probably not.

Well same applies to our home called earth. Living in Rochester NY for last 50 years I have seen the change and feel that the it is time to take actions that improve our world and make it safer for everyone.

Think about giving a gift of Nature to your community. It will be the legacy that can live forever.
There is no better way then creating small gardens with Trees and plants to cover the areas that have barren land or replace paved areas that remain idle with no traffic.

With Rotary help we are planning to build a Peace Garden at Rochester school 58 as a demonstration project. When completed during Summer of 2020, it will be a place where Teachers will take a small group of students and teach them about respecting nature, share thoughts about how Trees play a very important role to improve air quality and help create clouds by evapotranspiration.

We are happy to note that some Nations are now deciding to plant Millions of trees to fight Climate Change. As the planet warms ir would be essential to have shaded areas and Trillions of trees planted across the Globe.

This year on Earth Day take a pledge to do your part.

Thank you.

Ram Shrivastava

What are we willing to pay for Energy Independence?

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Climate change and Global warming are getting more accepted by people and there is willingness to take action to prevent future problems. There are now incentives available in New York State to help generate Green power with Solar PV and  farm waste digestion. These measures are good for the environment but sometime financially challenging to justify the investment.

Review of past movements related to freedom and independence clearly indicate the suffering and hardship by the people who supported it. It was the common good that prevailed and inspired the action.

Energy Independence should be the same for better long term results. If the cost is marginally higher today but cheaper in future then we should be willing to make this sacrifice or investment for the better future for next generation.
However, in reality people are willing to do it if it saves money TODAY.

It will take leadership and better communication of the dangers of inaction to increase greater participation. NY State is giving a positive push to this effort by including Green funding in the Development plan starting in 2013.
This will allow us to take a lead in this area as compared to rest of USA.

The Governor of  New York State should be congratulated for taking some bold action on promoting Green under the New York Rising program.

New York Sun Rising- a message for Sustainability

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For New Yorkers the state of the State address by our Governor Cuomo brings a message of hope and commitment for economic development. This bold strategy recognizes the value of Green renewable energy and how action must be taken to deal with Climate change.

Yesterday was the warmest day with temperatures in Finger Lakes approaching 60 F on January 12th. The snow is just about gone and green lawns are reminding us that our climate has changed and Global warming is also a reality.

The question is whether we act proactively to prevent future problems or react to problems when they happen? Sandy has left a multi Billion dollars damage for New York and New Jersey. What are where we may see similar or lot worse natural disasters?

New York is now investing in Green Energy technology with the new development plan as outlined in 2013 last week's Speech by Governor Cuomo. Solar and Farm waste digester energy are key element of this plan. This is lot safer approach to implement than our search for drilled oil and natural gas.
It is our hope that we do not settle for the old easy way with strong push from very strong and expensive lobby from established petroleum industry. This is the time to be pragmatic and use the revenues from nonrenewable sources to invest in developing renewable energy from solar, wind and bio gas digesters.

We are fortunate to have Leaders that have long term vision and are willing to take action to protect and preserve the environment. Sun Rising in NY brings new meaning to the State. Many communities now have an opportunity to become Energy Independent for serving their Municipal facilities.

It feels good  to be a New Yorker. Thank you Governor Cuomo for your Leadersip.

What Sustainable Communities need from the President ?

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Climate Change and Global warming are realities to most people in  the world. However, when it comes of our U.S.Politics some leaders would rather ignore the white elephant in the room and hope no one notices.
Some would make fun of the predictions and deny that any preventive action is necessary.
These are very smart well educated leaders and in their heart they may acknowledge the environmental issues but their party platforms may dictate what they say in public.
It is unfortunate that as we get close to the elections no politician had the courage to talk about this most important and costly issue facing us all. It would have gone unnoticed but Mother Nature had some other plans. Hurricane Sandy came as the reminder that we either pay for prevention or pay for the consequences of inaction.
Mayor Bloomberg  of New York City finally broke the silence about Presidential choice and shared his conclusion today that Mr. Obama has better understanding of the issue and would do more to deal with Global Warming or Climate Change.
Republican Governor of New Jersey, is facing the direct impact of Warmer Ocean and hurricane caused by Climate Change. He does not have time to ponder over why it happened but is happy that FEMA and Federal help is there to share the loss.Hope every politician is asking an honest question about why are we not focusing on solutions and wasting time on denying the reality?
The financial impact of inaction about Global Warming would be more than any local conflicts, and cause pain to so many people. Our communities need Leaders that are honest and willing to forget what their party says and follow their heart.
Conservative views to reduce taxes and wastes must combine with Conservation of Energy and using Cleaner energy from renewable sources. Who can be against better air quality and healthy sustainable environment?
This election may finally be decided by who can lead us out of this mess and invest in better technologies to solve our Energy and Environmental problems.Let us hope that in next 5 days both candidates will stop avoiding this issue and talk about their action plan to deal with Global warming and Climate Change. Fortunately job creation, economic growth can also be byproducts of the Green initiatives.

Renewable Energy Development - Peak Oil or Not?

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There was time few years ago that many experts were predicting that world will soon run out of oil and therefore we must develop renewable energy. Global warming concerns were cited to reduce CO2 footprint by switching to renewable clean energy sources.

Development of new oil recovery technologies such as hydrofracking are enabling extraction of oil from the harder to recover formations all around world. Infrastructure exists and it is more likely that oil exploration will continue and natural gas based LNG technology will also expand in next 5 years.

It may no longer be true that world will soon run out of oil. We need to face the realities and change our approach as new facts develop. It will be a mistake to keep sticking to old statements and not adjust to today's realities.

For United States, it is critical that we set a goal for energy independence as the new election campaigns are now talking about. Domestic Oil and Natural gas can stabilize the prices and keep our money in America. Renewable energy surcharge on price of domestic oil and gas, can generate significant revolving loan funds to install energy conservation retrofits and renewable energy systems in our homes and businesses.

Our health impacts from air emissions from oil based technologies should be the prime reason to support renewable energy development. Energy independence has another meaning when we learn about grid power failures. Renewable energy developed in the distribution system provides local micro gird the freedom from dependence on big power grids, as the customer is unaffected when power fails. Local short term energy storage allows them to continue to have power. It happens to be that these actions will help the environment. Supporters of renewable energy should point out the health benefits and other community benefits and not just talk about global warming or oil running out soon.

Go with the flow or risk losing the momentum.