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Join us in congratulating our new board members,
Grace Bogdanove and Jill Heaps!
They join Ms. Della Miller and James B. Jones, who are continuing on in their roles as board members.
Read their bios by clicking here.

With Bread and Roses,

Bridge, Chris and Phil

This April we co-hosted a very successful Community Working Group for the clean-up at the American Axle facility in Delavan-Grider! We will continue to push for more frequent Community Working Group meetings, and encourage participants from April’s meeting to share their feedback by filling out this form.

Interested in joining Clean Air’s American Axle team? Click here, or contact Chris!

Click here to register or here for the Facebook event, and stay tuned to our social media for more details.

Do you represent an organization interested in participating?
Please let us know by filling out this form!

Also save the date for the WNYALF Annual Awards Dinner, June 15, 2023

6 – 10PM, at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center, 153 Franklin St in downtown Buffalo. Click here to purchase tickets, or email Chris if you would like to join us at our table!

Save the date of Thursday June 15 for our next one, also to be held at Community Beer Works (520 7th Street in Buffalo), and again 4:30-6pm.

Happy 6th Birthday to our friends at Black Love Resists in the Rust!

Help us celebrate by making a donation today at donate-usa.keela.co/BLRRIs6

Save the Date! June 9 Pedal Party and May 24 Just Transition Training

Save the evening of June 9, when we will be co-hosting a Pedal Party with Slow Roll Buffalo! We are also tentatively planning a training on the Just Transition model in North Tonawanda on May 24. Details on both of these events will be posted on our social media soon.

NYS Budget Updates

As of this writing, we are still waiting for the NYS budget to pass. This session has proven to be quite active, with multiple attempts to undermine previous wins, and we need to keep pressure on – sign NYRenews’ latest letter, demanding a just Cap and Invest program, and stay tuned for any rapid responses that may be called for in coming days and weeks.

UUP WNY Contract Rally May 6

United University Professions (UUP) is renegotiating their contract and on Saturday, May 6 at 11:00am they will hold a WNY Contract Rally at Buffalo State College. Click here to register, and wear red!

Erie County Climate Action Plan Available Now for Comment

Erie County has officially unveiled the draft Climate Action Plan! Visit their website today to review the draft and to submit your comments on what could be improved and what you like about the current version. Comments are due on May 18!

954 Main Street Buffalo Brownfield Application – comments due April 28

308 Crowley Ave Buffalo Draft Workplan – comments due April 28

26 & 46 Clarence Ave Buffalo Brownfield Application – comments due May 5

23 East Huron St Buffalo Brownfield Application – comments due May 19

This hearing will be held in-person on Thursday May 11, 2023, at 6:00 pm. at the Town of Alabama Fire Department, located at 2230 Judge Road, Town of Alabama NY, 14125.

If interested in carpooling to the hearing, please reach out to chris@cacwny.org.

Written public comments concerning GCEDC’s STAMP Sitewide Part 182 permit application will be accepted by e-mail until midnight, May 11, 2023, or by regular mail if postmarked by May 11, 2023 to:

Thomas Haley, NYS DEC – Region 8 Office, Division of Environmental Permits, 6274 East Avon-Lima Road, Avon, NY 14414

E-mail: DEP.R8@dec.ny.gov by midnight. Please put GCEDC STAMP in the subject line. Equal weight is given to written and oral comment.

This is a big win for environmental justice advocates nationwide who pushed for this change – read more from Mom’s Clean Air Taskforce!

On a related note, the American Lung Association recently released a report about air quality ranked by region nationwide. The Buffalo-Niagara metro area is neither included on the very worst or very best lists, but nearby Rochester is ranked as some of the cleanest air in the nation. Unfortunately this report also finds that 1 in 3 Americans now breathes unhealthy air, largely due to the rapid increase in wildfires caused by climate change.

Check our Chris on WGRZ commenting on this report in the video below, or click here.

We were saddened to hear that Shirley Hamilton, a Niagara Falls leader and champion for labor, racial justice and environmental justice, passed on March 26. Read her obituary by clicking here, and donate to the scholarship fund being established in her name by clicking here.

like the fight for a just clean up along River Road in Tonawanda or of the American Axle Facility in Delavan-Grider. Reporters at Grist.org recently wrote an excellent piece on how this hidden threat is being worsened by climate change – check it out by clicking here!

We are inspired by the work of Cherokee Concerned Citizens, which represents a fenceline community in Pascagoula, Mississippi less than two miles away from Chevron’s Pascagoula refinery. This small group is suing the EPA for allowing Chevron to make new plastic-based fuels, which could carry a 1-in-4 lifetime cancer risk for residents near the refinery. Read more by clicking here.

CACWNY Events

• April 25 – Climate Cafe with Jennifer Fendya
  • Join Clean Air members on Zoom for a Climate Cafe where we will discuss how climate change is affecting us.
• May 18 – General Meeting, hybrid event, register here.
• May 24 – Just Transition Training (tentative date)
• June 9 – Pedal Party with Slow Roll Buffalo
• June 15 – Power Building Movement Mixer

Community and Coalition Events

• April 25 – JFMF New Volunteers Meeting
• Apirl 29 and May 20 – JFMF & JBLC “Civil Writes” Series
• May 6 – UUP Contract Rally
• May 25 – Rose Jade “Blooming Together” class
• June 4 – Buffalo Pride Parade

Public Comment Deadlines and Hearings

• April 28 – 954 Main Street Brownfield Application comments due
• April 28 – 308 Crowley Brownfield Workplan comments due
• May 5 – 26 & 46 Clarence Ave Brownfield App comments due
• May 11 – STAMP Public Hearing in Alabama NY and written public comments due
• May 18 – public comments due on Erie County Climate Action Plan
• May 19 – 23 East Huron Brownfield Application comments due

also see list at bit.ly/CleanAirEvents

Be sure to check out the Buffalo Mutual Aid Network Facebook group, where mutual aid services and calls for donations and donations are being posted on an ongoing basis. You can also click here to join the Buffalo Snow Brigade. We also suggest checking out the resources at mutualaiddisasterrelief.org as well as their new website relieftoolkit.com.

If interested in joining mutual aid efforts with Clean Air, particularly in the realm of community resiliency amid climate change,
please reach out to Bridge.

Happy May Day! If you have not yet seen the movie “Pride“, we strongly encourage borrowing a copy from the Buffalo Public Library and watching it today.

Interested in joining our Tonawanda Tomorrow or River Road campaigns, Proof of Work campaign, or supporting NYRenews/climate justice?

Interested in joining our Peabody Street, TESLA campaigns, Energy Democracy Alliance, or other Just Transition campaign work?

Interested in joining our
American Axle campaign?

Interested in joining our events committee, mutual aid team, or want to connect with CACWNY about an emerging campaign or issue?