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

Good Bye to Gas stations was made possible today!

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The dream finally came true today when my wife traded her Gas guzzling SUV to buy a Tesla Model 3 Extended range with twin motors. Taking delivery at Mt Kisco, NY dealership was very informative and unique experience for both of us.
We drove over 200 miles today and then charged the battery back in 45 minutes to about 90% at Panera Bread. It was fun to drive by many gas stations and not worry about what their prices are. Who cares now what they charge since we have no reason to visit them for auto fuel.
Sustainable Green and Climate smart communities should plan their energy strategy to include deep energy conservation measures, generate their own solar power and combine it with energy storage for resiliency.
Time has come for our communities to switch to EV transportation, get public transit buses to be electric and allow many more charging stations along the main highway exits. 2019 & 2020 will be start of EV transformation as many auto companies  announce their new EV models with $7500 tax credits. Nissan Leaf and Chevy Bolts would offer good values as Tesla Leads in this market with huge number of electric cars.
We are blessed to be the  Owner of one of them today!
Energy independence from dirty fuels for car, feels really good on December 30th.
Thank you Elan Musk for your Vision.
With Best wishes for next year 2019,
Ram Shrivastava,
Rochester, NY
December 30,2018

Dairy farm of the future will transform rural communities

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It was so encouraging to visit Spruce Haven Farm in Cayuga County NY and learn latest innovation in dairy technologies.  They are working with Cornell University, NY State, Federal and International companies in developing new agricultural practices to help fight Global warming and reduce green house gas emissions.

Spruce Haven farm is located in the Town of Fleming within Finger lakes, NY region. It offers the visitors great natural beauty and is the home for many Wineries. Its location  between Cayuga Lake and Owasco Lake is part of the watershed that drains into the lakes. Many dairy farms exist in this area and all of these businesses are looking to be a better neighbor and protect their local natural resources.

Unfortunately, algal growth is now affecting the recreational value of these lakes and pointing out the need to stop the discharge of nutrients such as Nitrogen and Phosphorous. Treatment of Manure from Dairies is a priority for protecting our water resources. Anaerobic digesters offer the technology for generating bio-gas energy as byproduct while providing treated effluent to apply on farm land to grow feed for the cows. News products such as natural organic fertilizer etc. can be made while controlling the feed to the cows to generate higher value milk to increase revenues for the Dairies.

I was happy to see that these farms now are looking to be the economic engine to drive local economy. They are striving for Happiness for everyone.

 Better days are ahead!

Earth Day 2018 -Excitement has started to build for the upcoming 50th Anniversary in 2020

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It was great experience for me today to be at Imaginarium to celebrate Earth day on warm 55 F sunny Day. This building happens to be an exemplary Net Zero Energy building in the Town of Irondequoit NY.
It is a fun filled center for learning about green measures and makes you aware of the natural resources that can help us build smart buildings in Climate Smart Communities such as Town of Irondequoit NY based on NYSDEC certification.
This week, I am fortunate to have the opportunity to make a presentation on Energy planning strategy for a small Town or Village to become Energy Independent with conservation and renewable energy generation in New York State. Our State Goal is 50% renewable energy by 2030. This ambitious goal is certainly possible if the community leaders make up their mind and take advantage of public- private partnership with Solar Developers.
Two years later the world will celebrate 50th Year of Earth Day. Imagine how many people would have shifted to Electric Vehicles with Vehicle charging station located every 500 miles near restaurants and malls so with fast charger you can take a 30 minute break and have enough charging done with superfast chargers so you can travel another 200 miles.
There are going to be many models available for EV's with common range exceeding 225 miles.
Better days are ahead as the Utilities get on board with smart chargers and night time charging at lower power rates. With smart digital meters at our homes the power grid of 2020 will be lot more user friendly and rewarding smart customer to save money.
We should welcome the change and take steps to say Goodbye to oil and gasoline. Technology will soon make this Gasoline driven car option obsolete within 20 Years. Our grand kids will someday ask in wonder- you drove a dirty gasoline car Grandpa?

Climate Reality 24 hours Broadcast is on NOW. Watch it and get involved

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It is time to act smart and do something as individuals. Just watching natural disaster is not enough if you care about this planet and our people.

December 4th and 5th 2017 is giving everyone an excellent opportunity to get global perspective and plant the seeds of great transformation for each community.

The positive message of the global broadcast focuses on Reality of Climate and encourages us to focus on solutions and bring prosperity to the world.

The bright future with renewable energy awaits us as we clean the environment make healthy choices.

As Americans we have the unfortunate situation that Democrats and Republican politicians have politicize this people issue and some politicians do not have the strength to do right and not be fearful of their reelection chances.

I am happy to be part of this fantastic event that will change the world. As Gandhi said... Be the Change that you want to see in the world ( not exact words). Just do it!

Good News! Climate Change Awareness has achieved control of CO2 emmissions

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Thank you to all the scientists that have been warning about Climate change and global warning while the world ignored it for many decades. Inconvenient truth movie brought this issue to the forefront and for last 10 years debates started in USA.

Rest of the world noticed the risks resulting from this problem and cost of repairing natural disaster events. Technology solutions were developed as the world found new sources of clean energy to serve our need.

Solar power technology using the PV cells witnessed huge reduction of 90% over a decade which made it possible to make power for much lower costs. One watt of PV cell went from $8.00 per watt to now 40 cents cost. So one can imagine why we can now make power for lower cost then power purchased from the Utility, with some incentives from Federal or State.

This is probably the biggest reason why solar power growth has been at a scale of over 30,000% over a decade. Politics may sway some Leaders to say that global warming or Climate change is not reality. International Energy Agency just released a report that C)2 emissions are now flat and no longer going up. This is victory for mankind and assures us that as more people adopt clean solar power and switch their cars to Electric Vehicles the world would experience a reduction in atmospheric C)2 levels. It no longer matters what our elected Leaders say, the marketplace is irreversible and will lead us to more Green power and reductions in Green House Gasses.

The truth about affordable solar energy is known to all and with lower cost solar programs, some Climate smart communities have taken the lead and become energy independent.

In New York State any Municipality can now fix the cost of power with solar power installation and make it possible to achieve less than 6 cents per kwh power after the system capital is recovered in about 10 years. The power cost today is about 10 cents per Kwh so imagine paying 6 cents per Kwh after 10 years and keeping it at that level for another 20 years. These could be the Years of prosperity when money saved in enerrgy cost will help local economy.

Let us take advantage of this reality and achieve triple bottom line- Save money, save the environment and help build our communities.