In today’s rulings the Supreme Court sided with corporate oligarchs against every single American, especially residents of environmental justice communities. The conservative majority of the court ruled 6-3 to end what is known as the Chevron Deference 

We wish we could say we are surprised, but in all honesty, a ruling of this kind this has been expected ever since the conservative majority took over the Court. 

The Chevron Deference refers to a case that has been precedent since 1984 which empowers regulatory agencies like the EPA to utilize their expertise to interpret and implement the enforcement of broad laws. For example with a law like the Clean Air Act, Chevron gave the EPA the authority to utilize science and expert input to set limits on levels of pollutants in the air we breathe. The justices decision takes away this authority and gives justices in the Supreme Court and lower courts the sole power to interpret whether regulations can stand.  Polluters that Clean Air fights against are celebrating this decision. Based on the courts current partisan makeup we know which way these decisions will fall. 

What we need now is for our representatives in Washington to step up to begin to push for a change to the law to reinstate the Chevron Deference Doctrine.

We need our representatives in Albany to stop holding back statewide action. The session closed in Albany with only one major climate and environmental bill passed, the Climate Superfund Act – this is far short of the kind of response that we need to the climate emergency and ongoing environmental injustices in our communities. 

We also need each and every person to learn more about what is proposed in Project 2025 under a Trump administration, and to understand that the ultimate goal of that document is the dissolution of the ability of regulators to protect us. 

Ultimately, what we need is for every single person reading this statement to get plugged in to advocacy and organizing, whether that’s with us (click here to donate to join or renew your membership) or with other organizations that are close to your heart. 

None of us have the privilege to be passive amid the growing crises of rising fascism, worsening climate change, and increasing social and economic inequities.

Click here to subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter, and view this month’s edition by clicking the “Read More” link below.

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Today Clean Air joined North Tonawanda residents and friends from EarthJustice to call on Governor Hochul, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the North Tonawanda Common Council to take action to rein in cryptocurrency mining by Digihost Technologies at the Fortistar gas-fired power plant and by other companies statewide. This press conference follows recent coverage by the Buffalo News documenting the issues North Tonawanda residents have been grappling with.

Read the press alert by clicking here, and watch the recording below.

The following is the text of Bridge’ remarks on the expired Title V Air Permit issue at Fortistar and other facilities in Erie and Niagara County as well as statewide. Want to learn more? Here’s a link to the Comptroller’s September 2023 report, here’s the DEC’s webpage with information on all Title V air permits statewide, and here’s an earlier blog post on this topic.

Good morning! My name is Bridge Rauch, my pronouns are they/them, and I am one of the Environmental Justice organizers at the Clean Air Coalition of Western New York.

Listen, we could chat about a ton of topics here today, from the recent New York Independent Service Operators report on energy demand and how much demand is coming from cryptomining to how the flailing fossil fuel sector is supporting cryptocurrency mining to remain viable, but to state the obvious, it’s hot. Because of the heat emergency today, driven in part by climate change, I will keep my remarks short and to the point – the Fortistar facility, being used by Digihost to mine for cryptocurrency, has a Title V air permit that expired back in 2021. 

A Title V air permit, for those unfamiliar, is required by Title V of the Clean Air Act for all major air pollution sources. Here in NY, the Department of Environmental Conservation manages permit enforcement, applications, and renewals.

Digihost is allowed to continue to operate under that expired permit, initially issued to Fortistar, due to the rules set by the New York State Administrative Procedure Act or SAPA as long as NY DEC continues to review their application for renewal and the transfer of the permit.

As absurd as this all seems, we have learned from the research we have done into this permit that this is just a fraction of a larger statewide issue – according to DEC’s own data on issued Title V Permits, which you can find on their website, of the 306 Title V permits statewide, 182 are currently expired – that’s 59% of permits statewide that are expired. 

Within Erie and Niagara counties, which are home to 33 Title V facilities, a whopping 89% of Title V permits are expired! The vast majority of these are within Environmental Justice areas under DEC definitions. Several of these permits expired well over a decade ago, with two that expired back in 2012.

As the NYS Comptroller’s Office noted in their September 2023 audit, “the longer these Title V permits remain extended under SAPA, the greater the risk that facilities are not operating under requirements that align with the most up-to-date air pollution control standards” and what we’ve found from annual emissions reporting is that some of these facilities have exceeded their permitted emissions standards.

We need NYS DEC to prioritize Title V permit renewals and renewals of the permits for smaller scale facilities which share many of the same issues. We need DEC to step up inspection and enforcement of these facilities as well, and rein in emissions.

We need NYS DEC to prioritize the Fortistar facility here in particular, which has proven to be a community nuisance for all the reasons you have heard today, and is being used for an industry that is non-productive and does not contribute to the local economy.

We’re under a heat dome today – while we are all well aware of the immediate acute dangers of heat, one issue we have heard less about is how it worsens air quality. Fossil fuel emissions when heated create ground level ozone and smog. Climate justice and environmental justice are intertwined – reducing our emissions from fossil fuel use not only reduces the harm of climate change, it also makes our air cleaner and safer to breathe. By continuing to use old facilities like Fortistar, especially for large energy consumers like cryptocurrency, we are doing the opposite, and endangering not only ourselves but also future generations. 

We need action NOW. NYS DEC, we need you to do the right thing here and get on top of these permit renewals and enforcement of existing permit rules! We need DEC to stop sitting on Digihost/Fortistar’s air permit application, to bring it to the public review process, and follow the precedent DEC set last year with Greenidge Generation by denying Digihost/Fortistar’s air permit.

Click here to subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter, and view this month’s edition by clicking the “Read More” link below.

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This post is written by our spring intern, Clover Kagle

In summer of 2023, one of our members went to four sites (Selkier, Melton, Peabody, and Babcock overpasses) to record and monitor noise pollution data along major throughways. The data was recorded 12 feet from the throughway with an LG v60 Thin Q using the SoundMeter application. Noise pollution recorded with this setup had a peak reading of 115 dB. The time of recording was also noted with most of the recordings done between 12:00pm – 8:00pm.

The recorded sites all reached the peak of 115dB frequently, and had an average of measurements of typically 90-100dB. Nearly all recorded data points at most times of the day had an average measurement of above both the chronic exposure safety threshold of 70dB, and the two hour acute safety threshold of 90dB, as designated by the CDC. The CDC also outlines a number of health-related outcomes when citizens are exposed to high levels of noise pollution. Among these are increased anxiety, blood pressure, and hearing loss.

Some of these conditions can be deadly – excessive, persistent noise is a public health condition which can kill!

Pedestrian hostile environments, such as those created by noise pollution, are often unsuited for accessible living. Individuals without access to a car must choose between commuting alongside these noisy streets (on bike or on foot) or using expensive ride sharing services like Uber. While public transit does exist, current service levels and area coverage are inadequate to serve all residents of our region – even city residents, who may prefer to use public transit, are often forced to rely on personal vehicles or taxi services to reach areas outside the city.

In 1972, the Noise Control Act was passed in order to attempt to bring down rising noise levels in cities.

Just 9 years later in 1981, the program was entirely defunded by congress under Reagan’s administration.

To this day there is no federal replacement or funding for the Noise Control Act, and legislation is typically left up to local municipalities, which often lack the means for enforcement such as expensive noise monitoring equipment.

To remedy this issue, funding for enforcement of this act needs to be reallocated by our congressional representatives to give the EPA the ability to monitor and regulate noise pollution in cities.

Just as we cannot predict with 100% certainty that our region will be affected by a large scale blizzard, we cannot say for certain that our region will be affected by wildfire smoke as much as we were last year – but what we can say is that the Climate Emergency is here, now, and that we need to prepare for wildfire smoke emergencies just as much as we do for any potential weather emergency.

Our region has already begun to be affected by wildfire smoke this year, and will likely continue to be to some degree throughout the summer.

Here are several resources to bookmark or download to prep and protect your household.

All these links are also found at https://linktr.ee/cleanairwny to easily share with your peers.

• Air Monitors
  • NYS DEC’s air monitors, periodic readings throughout the day – http://www.nyaqinow.net/
  • Buffalo’s official Air Quality Index, daily average – https://www.airnow.gov/?city=Buffalo&state=NY&country=USA
  • All NYS DEC region’s AQI, daily average – https://extapps.dec.ny.gov/cfmx/extapps/aqi/aqi_forecast.cfm
  • PurpleAir’s live map – https://map.purpleair.com/1/mAQI/a10/p604800/cC0#9.14/42.953/-78.9253
  • World Air Pollution live map, includes PurpleAir, government monitors, and other consumer monitors – https://waqi.info/#/c/41.245/-71.848/6.5z
• North American Wildfire Smoke Maps
  • Canadian – https://firesmoke.ca/forecasts/current/
  • United States – https://fire.airnow.gov/
• Weather Maps
  • Wind Map, live – https://www.windy.com/?43.310,-78.555,9
  • Weather Channel for the Buffalo area
  • National Weather Service Buffalo Forecast Discussion (tip, use “ctrl-f” and search for “smoke”) –
• Protect Your Household from Wildfire Smoke
  • Instructions for how to create a DIY Air Purifier for under $50.
    • We have a few extra MERV 13 furnace filters at our office if cost is a barrier – contact one of our organizers for more info.
  • Instructions for how to create a clean room
  • Wear a mask when the AQI is poor – the same masks that will provide some degree of  protection from respiratory diseases like COVID will also provide some limited degree of protection from smoke as compared to no mask at all.
    • We have a limited stock of N-95 and surgical masks available at our office – contact one of our organizers for more info.

Take Action

As advocates for environmental justice, we believe in taking action not only to protect ourselves and our community against the acute harms of climate change and extractive industries, but also to take action to combat the core causes for the climate crisis and fight for a Just Transition, which is one of the reasons Clean Air is a member of NY Renews and supports the Climate, Jobs and Justice bill package.

Our NY representatives from Western New York need to hear from you, because they are hearing from fossil fuel interests – take a moment to send a note in favor of the NY Heat Act and the Climate Superfund Act. The 2024 session is scheduled to end June 6.

• Via Renewable Heat Now – Cleaner Heat, Lower Bills: Help Pass the NY HEAT Act!
• Via NYPIRG – Tell Governor Hochul to support the Climate Change Superfund Act!

If you are interested in getting further engaged with NY Renews through the Clean Air Coalition, please email Bridge.

Please take a moment to sign the No New Jails petition that our dear friends at Black Love Resists in the Rust are sponsoring. 

Read more at https://linktr.ee/nonewjailec, and donate to BLRR by clicking here.

On a warm sunny Saturday afternoon two years ago today, a white nationalist terrorist, homegrown right here in NY, walked into the Tops grocery store at Jefferson and Utica on Buffalo’s East Side with an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle. He shot 13 people, murdering 10, and terrorizing and traumatizing an entire community.

We mourn those we lost – 

• Celestine Chaney, 65
• Roberta A. Drury, 32
• Andre Mackniel, 53
• Katherine Massey, 72
• Margus D. Morrison, 52
• Heyward Patterson, 67
• Aaron Salter Jr., 55
• Geraldine Talley, 62
• Ruth Whitfield, 86
• Pearl Young, 77

We also remember, support and center the survivors and their families who are still recovering two years later. 

We mourn, and we are angry. 

Two years later, what has changed? 

This is not, by any means, the first white supremacist terrorist attack, that stemmed from the racial inequities of Upstate, nor the first that targeted Black folk in Buffalo and our region. Notably, Timothy McVeigh was raised in Niagara County. The Southern Poverty Law Center tracks several currently active white nationalist organizations from the areas he grew up.

Also notably, Black communities in WNY and upstate have been terrorized systemically through both direct and indirect acts of violence.

Every single mortgage denied to a Black family, every insurance company that designates predominantly Black areas as “too high risk” to insure affordably, every junkyard allowed next to a school or residential neighborhood, every property contaminated by industrial dumping, every industry that offers Black employees a lower wage and every single act of physical police violence is a form of white supremacist terrorism that business and elected leaders choose to take or passively allow and that residents of Buffalo’s East Side awaken to every single day.

We do not need roundtables of business and elected leaders to wring their hands and talk about how to better include Black residents in their flawed white supremacist systems. 

We need business leaders to stop opposing progressive changes that may undermine their shareholder profits but will build a better world that no longer relies on the exploitation of Black, Brown, and working class folk. 

We need our elected leaders to make policy changes that will force system changes to bring an end to white supremacy. 

As Mother Jones told us, pray for the dead and fight for the living.

Summer means it’s canvassing and festival season! We plan to kick off our summer outreach with the Pride Parade on June 2, and continue over the next several months. Sign up to volunteer with us using these links!

• Buffalo Pride Parade – Justice Movement Bloc
• All festivals and canvasses

Our Tonawanda Tomorrow Team was in the Buffalo News yesterday discussing the updates to Tonawanda’s zoning code! Click here to read the coverage, and join us this coming Monday May 6 at our Spring Tonawanda Community Meeting to talk with other area residents about environmental justice concerns in the area!

Click here to subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter, and view this month’s edition by clicking the “Read More” link below.

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