Phone Calls, Rallies, Meetings… OH MY!
Clean Air Courtney and Air Quality Alex
By: Courtney Sokol & Alex Fisher
My name is Courtney Sokol and I am a Cornell High Road Fellow interning at the Clean Air Coalition. I was involved in environmental advocacy projects throughout high school, so this was an exciting and rewarding placement for me. As a High Road Fellow, I am responsible for representing Cornell within the city of Buffalo. Executive Director, Erin Heaney, and the rest of the Clean Air Coalition staff have afforded me ample opportunities to get involved with advocacy, policy, and grass-roots environmental organizing in the greater Buffalo area.
My name is Alex Fisher. I am a student at the Nichols School in Buffalo. After hearing Erin speak in the fall of 2012 I knew immediately that I wanted to intern at Clean Air! Working here this summer has solidified my interest in supporting environmental justice in Western New York and pushed me to try to increase awareness in my school community.
Working at the Clean Air Coalition has been a rewarding and eye opening experience. The non-profit community in Buffalo has a lot to offer. The different organizations work together on varying projects to improve quality of life for residents of the greater Buffalo area. Clean Air works to ensure environmental justice for citizens and workers. It has been an exciting summer at the Delaware Avenue office. The five interns entered at the busiest possible time. Clean Air Coalition spearheaded the fight against the criminal actions of the Tonawanda Coke plant. The lawsuit that followed allowed for fine money to be brought back into the area. The Clean Air Coalition developed a strategy to gain residential input on how to spend the money through a process of participatory budgeting. Projects eligible for voting ranged from pollution prevention to a community health center. The interns assisted in making turn out calls for voting, counting and recording votes, and coordinating the tally count party at the final voting location. Nearly 600 residents of Tonawanda turned out to vote, making the process a victory for democratic reform!
Another exciting event that the interns were involved in was the press conference outside of the Department of Transportation pertaining to the Peace Bridge expansion project. The project is proposed to cost over 20 million dollars, and double the amount of cars and trucks passing through the residential West Side neighborhood. This will perpetuate already poor air conditions, and health problems within the community. The interns helped to make signs, inform the press, and make turn out calls. The deadline for submitting public comments was extended by the Governor’s office due to the hard work of Clean Air and the West Side community.
Although the Clean Air Coalition operates as a highly efficient organization, as an intern it is surprising to see how difficult is is to build community support. It is amazing how much work goes into getting people to give input, turn out to vote, or support a meeting. Interns are responsible for making thousands of calls. It is disheartening when the person at the other end hangs up. Despite minor setbacks, Erin, Rebecca, and Natasha do not give up on community outreach. They are well known in Western New York for working vigorously towards resident involvement and outreach.
So far, the summer has been full of exciting memories and events at the Clean Air Coalition. One stand out memory for the interns was partaking in the rally at the Department of Transportation. It was exciting to see our work pay off when Governor Cuomo extended the public deadline after the media covered the event. It was also entertaining when a bat flew into the office and disrupted everyone who was hard at work. Aside from the great work that is done at the Clean Air Coalition, it has been rewarding to work beside inspiring, intelligent, and fun people. The role of the “intern” is often looked at as “paying your time” before you break into the work force. As interns at CAC, we are treated with respect and trust. The attitudes’ of the staff here make work enjoyable and fulfilling every day.