Tag: Environment

Sep 18

2023

Good news for city trees

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After years of cutting down more trees than it planted, Buffalo is set to receive a federal grant with the potential to reverse years of deforestation and bring tree-lined streets back to the city’s East Side. “I see good things,” said Paul Maurer, chairman of Re-Tree WNY. “This is big, in terms of the impact … I hope we can make a really good dent, because as I drive or walk the streets, especially the city of Buffalo, we see a lot of need out there.”  Buffalo was awarded $8 million from the federal Inflation Reduction Act fund, based on[...]

Posted 7 days ago

Jul 13

2023

Company seeking subsidies circulates fake study

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A plastics manufacturer seeking tax breaks to build a plant in Lockport has put its application on hold after being called out Thursday for circulating a summary of a study that was fabricated and produced by artificial intelligence. Prior to a public hearing Thursday, the India-based firm SRI CV Plastics, seeking $312,000 in subsidies from the Lockport Industrial Development Agency, provided the agency’s board a one-page summary of a study that touted the safety of PVC pipes, one of the products the company plans to make at the plant. A University at Buffalo professor, Lourdes Vera, called out the company’s[...]

Posted 2 months ago

May 17

2023

Mayor’s budget a step backwards on tree planting

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Buffalo has been cutting down twice as many trees as it plants in recent years. It plans on cutting down more than three times as many as it plants under Mayor Byron Brown’s proposed budget. Investigative Post reported last year on the slow deforestation of the city, particularly on the East Side, where some neighborhoods are losing four trees for every one planted.  “By removing those street trees, and even planting smaller street trees, we’re going to run into the problem of creating more and more heat, more and more temperature increases,” said Nick Henshue, assistant professor of ecology at[...]

Posted 4 months ago

Dec 26

2022

Tracking the plows in Buffalo

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  Updated: Wednesday, 1:15 p.m. This post has received a lot of traffic over the past couple of days, primarily, I suspect, because of the link to the city-affiliated map showing what streets in Buffalo have been plowed. The map might have been useful at some point, but no longer. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz disclosed at a press conference earlier Wednesday that county and state crews have taken on responsibility for plowing streets. Poloncarz termed the city’s effort “embarrassing .” The Buffalo Police Department tweeted that there are more than 450 pieces of snow fighting equipment clearing city streets,[...]

Posted 9 months ago

Nov 16

2022

No environmental review for new Bills stadium

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When major league sports venues are built in New York, they almost always undergo a thorough environmental review before a shovel is put in the ground. That was the case for Yankee Stadium, Citi Field, Barclays Center and USB Arena in New York City. And it was the case for KeyBank Center and Sahlen Field in Buffalo, as well as other minor league baseball stadiums around the state, and a 14,000-seat soccer stadium in Rochester. Yet Erie County officials are poised to give Pegula Sports and Entertainment and the Buffalo Bills a free pass — called a negative declaration —[...]

Posted 10 months ago

Oct 31

2022

Monday Morning Read

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ProPublica produced two stories on the former OxyChem plant in Niagara Falls that exposed workers and residents to asbestos – with dire health consequences. Our partners at WGRZ interviewed one of the ProPublica reporters who produced the stories. Hang onto your wallets, Sabres fans, the Pegulas have retained the sports consulting firm owned by Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys and the SteinbreNners/New York Yankees to advise the team. For right now, it only involves advertising on jerseys, but you know it won’t stop there. The Cowboys and Yankees aren’t any good at winning championships anymore, but they have mastered the art of jacking up prices for fans.[...]

Posted 11 months ago

Oct 20

2022

A city Buffalo can learn from

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Buffalo and Durham, North Carolina, are similar in some key ways. They both have about a quarter of a million residents. About four in 10 are Black. They also share a problem — a lack of trees in Black neighborhoods.  But Durham’s response — to develop a comprehensive tree planting plan — contrasts with Buffalo, which is cutting down as many as four trees for every tree it plants in East Side neighborhoods. The result: Durham is planting more than 1,500 trees a year, compared with about 300 in Buffalo. In fact, Durham planted more trees last year than Buffalo[...]

Posted 11 months ago

Oct 19

2022

Federal dollars could help re-tree East Side

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The City of Buffalo spends a lot of money — $568 million this budget year.  Most of it is spent on cops and firefighters. Very little is spent on planting and maintaining trees, which play an important role in the health of city residents. In fact, the city’s population of trees is shrinking, as two trees are cut down for every one that is planted. Help could be on the way, however.  The federal government has earmarked $1.5 billion under the Inflation Reduction Act to pay for the planting and maintenance of trees in urban centers. The money will be[...]

Posted 11 months ago