from WXXI news.

I'm Jasmine Singer and this is Environmental Connections.

Today's environmental connection was made earlier this month when the EPA announced sweeping rollbacks to clean air protections, sending shockwaves through environmental communities across the country.

For climate advocates, it was a gut punch, but not a surprise.

The new administration has made its stance very clear.

Roll back regulations, got to environmental agencies and slow down, clean energy progress.

And it's not just federal.

Across the country, including here in New York.

Budgets are being slashed, climate programs stalled, and frontline communities left vulnerable.

But the work hasn't stopped.

Quite the contrary.

Local advocates and sustainability leaders and community members are finding ways to push forward.

Fighting for trees, clean energy and the health of our neighborhood.

So today, we're asking what happens when the government relinquishes the role of climate leadership.

And where does the power still live?

At the grassroots roots and local levels.

Joining me are three guests who are on the frontlines of these fights.

First, we have John Kastner, executive board member of the Rochester Regional Group of the Sierra Club.

Welcome, John.

Thank you.

Welcome, Darrell Ortner.

How am I seeing your name?

Right.

That's okay.

Odnr.

Maybe.

Odnr.

Sure.

Well, Darryl Odnr, board member of the Rochester Regional Sierra Club and very passionate tree advocate, I hear.

That's right.

Thank you very much.

Thank you for being here.

And Graham Hughes, director of policy and advocacy at the Climate Solutions Accelerator.

Welcome, Graham.

Thank you for having me.

So, John, I want to start with the big picture.

And I should mention, I know you're speaking here today in a personal capacity rather than necessarily on behalf of the Sierra Club's national organization.

So with that in mind, the Sierra Club has tracked how the EPA has been gutted, mass layoffs, technical staff lost funding cuts.

What are the most dangerous consequences of this, both nationally and right here in Rochester?

Well, we're behind the eight ball anyway in terms of climate action.

the amount of carbon in the atmosphere continues to grow.

despite, all of our efforts to date.

And, whenever you read, polls about, what's important to voters, climate change is either absent or down near the bottom.

So clearly, even without the current administration, we have, an uphill battle ahead of us.

And, it's, really time to, redouble our efforts and, we were just discussing before we went on air.

what happened when, James Watt, became both the interior secretary, I think.

And, it doubled the enrollment of the, of the Sierra Club.

We went from 500,000 to 1 million.

So, we will definitely, hopefully, get, more grassroots, response from this administration because I think people, realize that we need it.

over half of, half of Americans, something like 60%, do think that climate change needs to be addressed.

they don't see it as a personal issue.

They don't, many don't see it as a personal issue.

Many don't see it as something that they have to get involved in.

They think it's a government role.

But, actually, hopefully this will draw more people to, personal action.

Does the administration simply take the position that climate change is a hoax, or is it more nuanced than that?

I think there's a lot of nuance in it.

there was a, an article, I think it was in Mother Jones, last month.

that made, Well, in my mind, it made reference to Naomi Klein's book.

Disaster Capitalism.

I think it was Alex Stephan in an article in Mother Jones, thinks that the strategy, behind, whittling the government away is for the private sector to step in and, and offer their services, collect a bunch of money from the government, and, do nothing.

Naomi Klein's book, I think it was ten, 15 years ago outlines this.

And, the services that they replace, the private sector actually has, a tendency to to, trim the budget to the point where the service is worse than it was under the government.

So I don't know that this is their strategy, but it makes sense.

it looks like it could be.

It's.

I can't make any any other sense out of it.

it's certainly not going to be good for the economy.

So we've also seen attacks on the endangerment finding, the legal determination that gives the EPA authority to regulate greenhouse gases.

How significant is this foundation?

How real is the threat that it can be overturned?

And what would the consequences be?

I'm not up on that, particular, topic.

Maybe somebody else would like to answer.

Well, Graham, I want to pull you in here anyway, so perhaps you'll have some insight into that.

We'll dive deeper into solutions in a bit, but first, what are you hearing so far from local partners about the the ripple effects of these federal rollbacks?

Are projects slowing down, or are people finding ways to dig in, so to speak?

Well, I think, people are generally pretty resilient.

and we're lucky that we live in New York state, which has invested quite a lot of, resources and, and time into addressing climate change over the years.

You know, we had, in 2019, New York state passed the CLC, EPA, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.

under the last Trump administration, which is among the most aggressive, plans or sets some of the most aggressive targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the entire country.

you know, and I have a lot of hope that New York State will, will act the same way again.

But the effects are real.

You know, the federal government under the Biden administration, invested a lot of money in, for example, tax credits to help homeowners who are low to moderate income.

get heat pumps or, make other kinds of, energy efficiency and weatherization upgrades to their homes.

and those are potentially going away.

we we hope that's not the case, but, you know, if it is, I do have a lot of faith that that the people here in Rochester, in Monroe County, the Finger Lakes region and in New York State will will respond.

Well, I like starting the show with hope.

Daryl, I want to turn to you.

You've said many times that trees are a critical, but not a silver bullet.

So does does this rollback in federal action change the way you're thinking about nature based solutions like reforestation?

Well, there had been some commitments for, providing trees, to cities.

and and one of those commitments involved, improving the tree cover in disadvantaged communities because studies have shown that those areas of many major cities in the country were, had much less tree cover than, than some of the more advantaged communities and suburbs.

And, so, so those commitments, looks like they're going to be dried up.

but I think hopefully, at least in New York, that we'll still keep those commitments coming from with state support and also local support, which, and from a grassroots point of view, that's one of the reasons why we're locally doing a tree giveaway.

at last Saturday and April, you know, so that, so people can get trees for free and, hopefully people in inner cities will, take advantage of that too.

I know, though, actually, our city of Rochester, actually, I think the city will respond to requests for trees, which is wonderful.

yes, we we had a show on that last month.

And, if people have more information about that, they can call 311.

Darryl, I want to stay with you for just a moment.

Sure.

Global studies now are showing that 38% of tree species are at risk of extinction.

Nearly 70,500 species.

Any insight into what's driving that?

And aside from the tragedy of losing all of those trees forever, not to mention the wildlife that they support.

Why is this important?

Sure.

Well, I mean, there's, several things at play here, and one is just, and this the, intercontinental travel and, movement of goods and products, one product comes to mind is, is wood.

you know, that, can carry insects.

but also, fungi and other critters.

you know, from one continent to another.

And one of the things that we need to understand, too, is that, you know, trees and insects co-evolved over many millennia.

And so that, when exotic, insects, for example, come to our continent, you know, the local trees have not co-evolved with those and many and don't have defenses against their, herbivory or whether the insect is eating the tree or, boring in it.

Or, and the same is true of things like fungi.

so, so that's one thing in play is intercontinental travel.

But also climate change is exacerbating this because, in some ways, the native ranges of our trees and other plants are shifting.

And I think you've probably heard this before and other shows too, so that, trees that are more southern.

I think a good example of that too, is, there's something called a southern, pine beetle.

that normally was co-evolved with southern pines in a way that didn't totally wipe out those pines.

They, the beetle could live, but without destroying all those pines.

And, from what I understand, that, beetle is moving north and, the pines that tend to grow in the north, like the white pine and, you know, our don't not have the defenses against that.

So we're worried about what that what might happen there.

But, anyway, I'm not a total expert on invasive species, but, so anyway, we have climate change as well as intercontinental travel and movement of things that's, that's causing this problem and increased demand for wood products as well.

They're they're turning, forest into, pellets, that are used for, heating and creating energy.

so, the demand is up to.

Yeah.

So what what's at stake here when we lose trees and and speaking locally, how does it play out right here in Rochester?

Well, trees, perform many functions.

one critical function is that half of our oxygen comes from trees.

The other half of it comes from, phytoplankton in the ocean.

And both trees and phytoplankton are in decline, and we sort of need oxygen.

That's sort of important to us.

So I hear.

Yeah.

And and many other, living creatures as well.

So, Darrell, as we know, the administration has ordered federal agencies to dismantle the AI programs, and that includes urban tree planting efforts in historically marginalized communities.

Can you help us understand what kind of impact this might have on climate resilience and equity?

And and why do community tree projects matter so much in places that have long been underinvested in?

I, I think you can actually experience this for yourself if you, go to the inner city and some of the, areas that are, you know, poor let's, let's just say lower income areas and you walk through them or, I've occasionally ridden my bike through extensive areas of the city, and you can see there's less tree cover, it's hotter.

And, Yeah.

And, you know, when you get out and especially in the eastern suburbs, but also in the East side, just a ride or walk down East Ave, you can see those beautiful old trees.

you know, and you can feel the coolness.

You could probably carry a thermometer with you and, and measure the difference in temperature on.

Yeah, it can be up to ten degrees different if there's tree coverage versus UN covered.

I like to to to also to remember some of the other advantages of trees.

It's not just that they provide shade and cool, but they also can mitigate noise.

which is something that I think people I don't recognize the hazards of noise, but they range from actually hurting your hearing, but also to just, raising your blood pressure.

and so I trees can actually help mitigate noise, absorb their, sound vibrations in the air, and, also purify the air.

so, yeah, there are other benefits to trees.

well, we'll get back to we'll get back to your work in just a moment.

I want to check in again with with Graham.

So Graham Hughes is the director of policy and advocacy at the Climate Solutions Accelerator.

Graham, I want to talk about your organization's role when state and federal programs falter.

What does Climate Solutions Accelerator do to keep local climate work moving forward?

Well, our work has always been, regional, in, in nature.

We, we cover the greater nine county region around Rochester.

the bulk of what the Climate Solutions Accelerator does these days is, run a clean energy hub, which is funded by or through Nyserda.

The Clean Energy hub, helps homeowners, tenants, landlords, business owners take advantage of the different programs that are out there.

Funded mostly through New York State at this point to decarbonize their homes and their buildings to, you know, install technologies like heat pumps.

the building sector is, I forget if it's number two or number three, in terms of, emissions, it regionally, and these technologies improve quality of life, improve the quality of homes.

they they make a huge difference, you know, heat pumps, for example, if you get a heat pump installed, it both heats and cools your home, which, you know, you might not think is it's called the heat pump, but it heats.

Ankle's your home.

And for a lot of people, that's the first time they get access to central air conditioning.

so the that's that's a big part of what we do is operate, a clean energy hub.

we run a collective impact initiative, which is a big coalition focused on implementing a regional climate action strategy.

we help organizations develop climate action plans for their, tailored specifically to their organization.

and and then there's my role, which is to, to do, policy and advocacy work.

in particular, I've, I've been focused a lot at the state level recently.

There's a lot of, big policies, under consideration or are being debated and discussed at the state level.

like the New York Heat Act or, the, the cap and invest system, which New York State is rolling out, which would have really significant impacts.

both, both locally and globally.

Well, and I want to talk about the cap and invest program because as you mentioned, that's one of the biggest uncertainties right now in New York.

It's New York's Cap and Invest program, a major funding mechanism for climate projects.

What is the current status and how is that uncertainty affecting local momentum?

Sure.

So just to, explain cap and invest very briefly, there's there's two parts of it.

There's the cap side where any invest side cap refers to, a set of economy wide caps or limits on the amount of carbon that can be emitted.

this creating this system, also, forces large polluters to pay for the right to pollute so large polluters have to buy permits or allowances, for the, for the right to emit carbon.

And the purchase of these allowances raises funds that the state can then invest in the clean energy economy and in a transition off of fossil fuels.

the current status of cap and invest is that, you know, there's, capital invest regulations.

So there's all these regulations that determine how the program will work, how much allowances can cost those those regulations have been drafted and, are beginning to be released by the state.

so the state started creating this program back in 2023. the they went they went through an initial, round of public comment and drafted regulations, which we've been waiting to, to get.

And we just this week got the first of three sets of regulations from the state, which is very exciting.

so there will be a public comment period that runs through July, which the accelerator and our partners locally will be helping people prepare to participate in, and then, you know, hopefully shortly after that, we'll get the next two sets so that cap and invest can be up and running as soon as possible.

Are you seeing cities and towns hit pause, though, or are they pushing forward anyway?

I'm sorry.

With, yeah.

Just in terms of, what's going on with the uncertainty relating to these programs is there is is there you're you're talking about a lot of hope, but I imagine that there are some fear tactics.

I imagine that there's just a lot of kind of throwing your hands up in the air.

Do you feel like that's holding people back at all?

Well, I mean, I'm I'm biased because of the work that I do.

And and I think because of our, our experience here in New York State, but I, you know, I haven't seen too much of that.

Okay.

You know, New York State really has invested quite a lot in, in climate over the years and is continuing to do that.

And, I, I, you know, I do focus mostly on, on New York State because, because of what I believe is possible here, and because of the relationships and the connections that we have with state legislators in, in Monroe County.

but I, you know, I, I do have a lot of hope that that, that these programs will, will continue to exist.

And, and, you know, the clean energy hub that I mentioned that the accelerator runs that's funded by New York state, the Empower Plus program is a huge program that, the Clean Energy Hub, helps homeowners take advantage of that's funded by New York State.

Are there particular projects or areas of climate work that feel most urgent locally right now?

Well, the the the areas that feel most urgent to me are the the areas that both address climate and address the cost of living crisis that people have.

You know, it's very expensive to to live even in a place like Rochester.

Housing costs are, are are very high.

energy costs are very high.

the, you know, we all lived through inflation after the, after the pandemic, and people's wages have not caught up.

So anything that addresses both the climate crisis and the cost of living crisis is what's most urgent to me.

And that that is why, I tend to focus a lot in the building sector and on decarbonizing buildings.

So I mentioned it's either the second or the third, largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, the building sector locally.

but it's also, you know, that's housing.

That's mostly what we're talking about when we're talking about building sectors, housing.

And so investments in, you know, the, the work that our clean energy hub does, for example, those investments in, you know, getting a heat pump installed in your home or getting the, the, your insulation redone.

they lead to lower housing costs because they lead to lower energy costs.

and, you know, our state partners, New York renews their, their, their big goal for or one of their big goals for the cap and invest program is an affordable, climate ready homes program.

They want the billions of dollars that will be raised through cap and invest to be spent, helping people who are low and moderate income decarbonize their homes for free so that that's what I that's what I focus on, things that address both the climate crisis in the cost of living crisis.

So let me ask you, with cuts also to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it seems that not only will we lose early warning of extreme weather events, but we may also lose some data collection related to climate change.

Do you know of any organizations that are stepping up to fill that gap in knowledge?

You know, not, not at the level that that agency, works?

I, I'm not familiar of any, any groups, organizations that will step up, but I will say that the accelerator and some of our local partners collect a lot of data and report a lot of data on, various, you know, climate indicators.

So there is there's a lot of local work being done to to collect data and report on, you know, the, the emissions and the progress that we're making.

My understanding is that much of Rochester is electricity is from hydropower, which is climate friendly, but that it mostly comes from Canada and could be at risk if Canada strikes back at tariffs by surcharging electricity, as Ontario recently threatened to do so.

And if you don't know, the answer to this is fine.

Clearly, this has been on my mind.

Maybe at 2 a.m. every day.

Whatever.

Where would our electricity come from if Canada's supply becomes prohibitively expensive or unavailable?

And would it be worse for the climate?

Or should I just continue to wake up and worry about it?

You know, I don't know the answer to that.

Maybe one of my my fellow guests here would know the answer, but I will say that that New York State, has a real opportunity to continue investing in renewable energy technology as a way to address that, that uncertainty and to build our, our clean energy economy.

That's that's the best you're the hope guy I have to be.

I like that I like that about you, John Kastner.

Do you have any insight into that?

yeah.

I think the, the governor of, Quebec, recently threw that out that, that if, they're going to put 25% tariff on all of, Canadian goods coming into the US, that they would raise the, the energy, cost it, 25%.

But I they walked back on that, I think because, they realize that, you know, they don't want to encourage, anybody else going back to fossil fuel to make up the the lack and energy.

I think that would be, you know, shooting themselves in the foot.

And I think they think that, too.

So, you can rest easy on, on on that.

at that point, in terms of a data collection, I just, just read in, Sierra magazine this, this the most current issue that, an interesting, enigma has, has, developed, while, the administration is busily, shutting down all of the agencies that collect data, the armed services of the U.S is taking climate change very seriously.

They are having problems with their military bases being blown away or inundated with, flood waters and, they and it's also going to affect their global operate operations.

So, the U.S. military is still employing private contact contractors to get all of the data that they can, and they're taking some of their own.

And I think, things may, may come to, to a head, within, within the administration and to our advantage, I hope, and I think it's also, important to realize that the United States is not the entire world.

most of the other developed nations are working very hard and collecting, data.

And I just just read that the, the UK, is, investing millions of dollars into, putting solar into all of their schools.

And they've been, also, a leader in, in, wind turbines, that are set up in over water.

so, the, the, the fight to, to, preserve our species from, from the effects of climate change is, is not entirely within our own borders.

It's spread out over the rest of the world, too.

And, with the with the global economy and, many other aspects of globalization.

it this no nation is an island anymore.

It's it's all of us.

We need all of us to, to make it work.

And I think there will be a lot of pressure, put on this administration because, well, for them from the auto industry, for instance, you know, 25% tariffs, a lot of auto parts come from China, come from Canada, come from other countries, Mexico.

And, that is going to you know, Trump is talking about a 25% tariff on, on foreign automobiles.

but it's also going to affect domestic automobiles, right?

John Kastner, executive board member of the Rochester Regional Group of the Sierra Club.

We're going to take a quick break.

When we come back, we're going to dig into grassroots momentum.

What's happening here in Rochester to keep climate action alive despite the headwinds.

We'll also get to some of your emails.

Stay with us.

There's more environmental connections after this.

Coming up in the second hour of environmental connections.

We're zooming in on the hottest climate challenges facing Rochester today, from the growing demand for green jobs to the impact of climate anxiety.

We'll hear from experts about what's happening right here at home and what's being done about it.

That's ahead in the second hour of environmental connections.

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If you're just tuning in, I'm Jasmine Singer and this is Environmental Connections.

The last Friday of every month we let Evan have a day off.

Although it's not really a day off, I know he's still working and we talk about climate issues affecting Rochester and beyond.

And today we're talking about fighting for climate action when the government is actively rolling it back.

I want to go back to you, Graham Graham Hughes, director of policy and advocacy at the Climate Solutions Accelerator.

On a more hopeful note, I'm taking your lead there.

Where are you seeing bright spots in Rochester or in the in the region?

Are there local governments, schools, grassroots projects that are stepping up in surprising ways?

Well, I think, you know, I started off earlier in the hour talking about the resilience of people and, and how, the last time around, local, local organizations and states stepped up.

And I really do think the same thing is happening here.

you know, the the accelerator works with a large number of partners.

one of the one example is a network of local community groups called Color Your Community Green.

There's, 13 or 14 of them all around the region.

And they're they're focused on hyperlocal climate action, like getting their, their towns or villages to, create or expand composting programs, trying to remove, gas lawn equipment.

you know, other kinds of hyperlocal projects that, you know, might seem small in nature, but, do have an impact, regionally, across the state or even even globally.

So those types of things make me, very hopeful to see regular people coming out, trying to improve their communities and do something about climate change in the process.

So in your experience, and I might or might not be asking you this because you're the youngest person in the room here, but where is Gen Z on climate action?

They are, after all, the ones who are truly inheriting this mess.

Are they panicking?

Are you Gen Z?

I'm not.

I'm, I'm 30, so I'm.

I don't know where the I think I think, I think I'm considered a millennial, but probably a young millennial, a very young millennial.

So then tell us about the youngsters.

Yeah.

I mean, from my experience, we are all very worried about this.

you know, I, I still remember learning about climate change at a young age and, and thinking, why are, you know, why are we not doing more about this?

but I think you know, young people are, very easily motivated to take action.

you know, they're they are full of energy.

I'm, you know, I'm still kind of young and full of energy myself.

and, and I see that in my work.

You know, just this, this past February, I took a group of students from the Harley School to Albany with me to fight for the New York Heat Act.

And I think there were seven or 7 or 8 of them, 13, 14, 15, 16 year olds.

And they they did all the work that day.

They sat in meetings with legislators and talked about the impacts that, climate change was having on their lives right now, the issues with mental health that they and their, their fellow, students were facing.

And really, you know, it really made those legislators sweat a little bit in and, and told them that they, they needed to do something.

And that was, you know, that was very powerful for me to, for me to see.

and I think for those, those students to experience in those legislators to experience.

So shout out to the Harley school students that came to, to to Albany with me.

That's helpful to hear.

Right?

Daryl does that, give you the warm fuzzies?

Sure.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Daryl, what do you say is the most inspiring local project that you've seen recently where ordinary citizens are leading despite everything or perhaps upcoming ones that you're excited about?

It's probably the color your community green groups.

and, and that there isn't actually such a group in my town, I will say up front, but I, I, know personally a number of people that are active in groups, particularly on the east side.

But in Henrietta and parents are Penfield and Pittsford and Iran decoy.

And there is actually a west side color west side green group.

But, yeah.

So those those are people that are very thoughtful.

they're smart, and they're, you know, committed to doing what they can locally.

I remember many, many years ago, I knew someone who once said to me, Daryl, change happens from the bottom up, not from the top down.

And, I think that's interesting.

sometimes hard to believe, but sometimes we always expect someone up there to do something for us.

And, it really is powerful to to try to do things as we can locally with people.

anyway, so I think that those are certainly a bright spot, and I should I can't forget, color Fairport green and also color bright and green is is really the flagship organization that started.

I'm not sure how many years ago it must have been at least 15, but, color bright and green is, is a great group, I believe, around quite also as a program.

Yeah, I think I mentioned that, but.

Yeah.

Okay.

Well, so there's lots of towns being colored green.

This is indeed hopeful.

If you're listening to this, I'm Jasmine Singer and this is Environmental Connections.

If you're talking back at the radio right now or perhaps you're watching on YouTube.

shout out to those of you watching on YouTube.

Feel free to be part of the conversation.

I'm about to get to some of your emails.

You can email us any time at Connections at Zorg.

You can also give us a call if you'd like.

844295825 5 or 5 852639994.

All right.

So we have an email from Chaz.

Chaz says occasionally I babysit my nieces and thanks to their awful mother.

Okay.

Tell us how you really feel, Chaz.

They're picky eaters and therefore often do not eat their dinner later in the evening when they claim they're hungry, I remind them that they have a nutritious meal available to them that they failed to eat.

They generally respond by saying that they want something else.

This is the same level of maturity I assign to climate alarmists.

We have a way to significantly reduce fossil fuels right now.

We've had it for years.

It's called nuclear power.

But many of the same people who come on this program and tell us we have to believe in climate change also say they don't want an expansion of nuclear power to fight it.

You're not serious people, and you do not deserve to be taken seriously.

Okay.

Does anyone want to respond to Chaz?

I'll respond to that.

I will remind Chaz that Fukushima is still happening.

It's not making headlines.

There is still not a way to deal with the effluent from, from nuclear power, which, continues to be, poured into the environment.

However, I will say that I think that, there's some promising, technologies now, with, smaller reactors and, other ways to, to, employ nuclear power that doesn't produce the effluent that's still in a, in a research, stage, I believe and I do believe in continuing the research because we're going to need, all of the, non-fossil fuel, alternatives that we can.

But right now, I think, nuclear power as it is, is currently, used presents a terrible problem.

You know, nobody wants to waste.

And if somebody does want the waste, you have to transport the waste there.

And any time you transport anything, there's going to be spills.

And, they can be catastrophic.

if anybody wants a lesson in just how bad it is, they can, they can read Midnight and Chernobyl about, what happened there and, there are, I don't know how many reactors all over the spread.

All over the world.

It can be really bad.

not to mention the fact that, there's, also, circumstances beyond our control, such as, seismic events.

they had a couple of reactors in California built right over the the San Andreas fault.

I think they've been decommissioned.

the effect on and on water, which is also going to be in diminishing, availability in the future.

the, the plant on, the what Indian point plant on the Hudson.

It was leaking.

was it tritium into the into the water there?

so there's we have to be careful with that one.

it's we we don't have, as much control over the technology as we would would like to.

they're also prime targets.

Well, even in, in the Ukraine war.

Now, the, the, Chernobyl, reactor and some other reactors are taking hits.

we haven't had a repeat disaster, but, I hope that it addresses stories.

And what do you have to say about it?

Graham, I see you.

I see smoke starting to come out of your ears.

Yeah, well, no, you know, I think I think nuclear has a place in our, network or, of of energy.

But I don't think building new nuclear is really a feasible option.

It takes ten years at least to build a new nuclear reactor, and it costs hundreds of billions of dollars.

And those those time and resources are at this point are far better spent, investing in other, types of energy and renewable energy that, you know, is, takes a lot less time to, to get up and running and on to the grid.

And if you want to respond to this in your listening, feel free to give us a call (844) 295-8255 connections at WXXI dawg and I see Darryl.

You also want to weigh in on Chaz's question.

Well, I actually I had another, issue.

Yeah.

Do you want to I just wanted you had asked me what I'm optimistic about.

And I know this has been the subject of some of you are the show, so I don't want to sideline.

That's okay.

But, you know, last night, my wife actually gave a talk on plant based nutrition.

for a group of Spiritus Christi, church here.

and, I would say that's something else I'm excited about and optimistic is about, there are groups locally that are trying to help people, move more toward a plant based diet and, to minimize or decrease the amount of animal products in their diet.

And that actually is a huge issue related to climate change.

it's very possible that that, it's been said by a number of people who looked at the numbers that that's probably the possibly the best thing someone can do is to, you know, move toward a plant based diet if they want to reduce climate change and global warming and climate change.

So, for a variety of reasons, and I'm not an expert on all the numbers.

but, but but, you know, it takes a lot more land to produce animal products, a lot more water to a lot more water and a lot more energy.

So I'm getting back to the original question you posed to me.

That's something I'm, optimistic about because there are groups like Rochester Lifestyle Medicine and Rochester Area Vegan Society, and some of these color your community groups that are helping people learn more about plant based eating.

Thank you.

And that gives me a lot of hope too.

And actually, that's an interesting tie in.

Kramm.

Tell us about the upcoming summit and the reason why I mentioned that is because I was at the Climate Solutions Accelerator summit last year, and it was fully vegan, which made me happy because I've been a vegan for decades.

It'll be fully vegan again this year.

it's next Friday and Saturday, April 4th and fifth.

I'm going to I'm not going to say too much about the summit because my my executive director, Abbe, is coming on in the next hour with, some of the, the, the folks that'll be leading sessions.

but if you're looking for a way to get plugged in to the climate movement to learn about local, regional, statewide climate solutions, the summit is a great place to go into it to meet folks.

so it'll be Friday, I think it starts at 1230 and Saturday morning starting at 830 or 9.

Wonderful.

And yes, I just wanted to chime in here that Brighton High School Climate Club is also having a summit tomorrow.

And, I'll be doing a workshop and, not to lose your mind over, over, climate change.

How do you, you not lose your mind over climate change, John?

there are there are many ways.

I think the the first, the first thing is to, it's very important to realize that you're not alone.

another big one is to find something to do in a group.

somebody asked Bill McKibben.

Bill McKibben, once.

what's the single most important thing I can do to to, address climate change?

And he says by yourself, you can't do much at all.

Find something to join and get busy.

And that's my advice to, there are environmental organizations and, the, the area Sierra Club being one, climate Solutions accelerator being another, another, citizens Climate lobby.

and you can, you know, just find one and volunteer, get busy and, and, it'll it'll definitely take some of the angst away.

I want to get to our other email, but since we're plugging things, let's go back to the tree planting event.

Why don't you tell us a little bit more about that, Darryl?

Okay, so last seven, first of all, I have to credit John because he's the the largest single force behind this, tree giveaway.

He works very hard on it, so we're very thankful to him.

But anyway, last Saturday in April, we'll be giving away four different kinds of trees.

and we'll be giving them away at Webster Park, Seneca Park, Genesee Valley Park and Northampton Park.

So we cover, you know, four different areas of the county.

and it'll be around what, John nine to, 3 to 10, 10 a.m. till 3:10 a.m. to three.

And we're going to give away, four different kinds, and, you know, we allow people we'd really like people to take as many as they want.

I guess there isn't a hard, fast number, but we have to make sure that people want some.

Get some, tell them what kind.

so anyway, we're giving away burr oak, which is a great, member of the, the Oak group, which are, and also black cherry and and that's a forest cherry.

It's not so much planted for, you know, for, cherries, for pie, for cherry pie or that kind of thing.

it's a forest tree that's native to our region.

And we're also giving away white pine, which is our, evergreen representative, and also, service berry.

So, service berry will be a smaller choice.

the burr oak and the black cherry are particularly, considered, champion and, keystone tree species, which by that we mean, they have important, roles in local ecosystems.

They, they provide great local ecosystem services and, that that translates into, meaning that they support lots of beneficial insects that in turn support birds.

so, so anyway, we, we made sure we had at least two of those.

Actually, all four trees do that.

Really?

And how can people find out more about the event if they want to get involved?

let's see, John, Facebook and, and the Sierra Club, website.

you access that, Sierra club.org/atlantic/rochester and, you'll find more information there, there.

And who's making this event possible?

it's just like we have a list of sponsors here.

All right, go through them quickly because I have more questions, and I want to plug your brains.

Wegmans.

food stores, city of Rochester, Department of forestry.

Climate solutions accelerator, Genesee land Trust, citizens climate lobby, abundance cooperative market, Monroe County Parks Editions printing, Lemonade design, and the members of the Rochester Regional Group Sierra Club.

Wonderful.

Good job.

Yeah, that's also it's helpful to hear, because it's nice to see that there's just so many groups that are involved and and care about this.

I have an email from Alex.

Alex says given the possibility of increased energy costs, whether from tariffs, market instability, yada yada, what are the most immediately achievable green energy projects in the city, county and state?

And how can they compete, compete to become energy independent?

so, Graham, I'll I'll turn that one to you.

There's there's, a little bit more to the question here.

The Nipa strategic plan only outlines one project in our area, a solar farm in Caledonia.

Hydropower in the Genesee area should be scaled up.

An existing roof space optimized with solar power.

Anything to add to that?

No.

You know, not in terms of energy production, but in terms of reducing the cost of energy, scaling up the, the programs that I was talking about earlier, you know, the Affordable Climate Ready Homes program, that would be, a key, investment under Cap and Invest would reduce the cost of energy for consumers, as well as, the New York Heat Act, which would, amend public service law to, facilitate our, our energy grids transition off of fossil fuels and importantly, set a statewide limit on utility bills at 6% of your household income.

So those, those kinds of, state policies and investments would go a long way towards reducing the cost of energy here locally.

And Alex, who wrote the email, I hope that you wind up at the summit, because it sounds like a lot of the issues that they'll be covering are things you care deeply about.

yeah.

So, John, I think you also wanted to add something to, yes.

The, Rochester Regional group of Sierra Club also supports measured Metro justice campaign for, public power utility.

public power utilities get more of their energy from renewable resources and also rates tend to, go down and, when, utilities are owned by the people who are, who consume the, the energy, people in Fairport know that they pay much less for their, for their energy than, customers of, our Jeannie.

part of the reason for that is because as a public utility, Fairport Electric or Fairport Gas Electric is able to purchase power directly from the New York Power Authority.

Gram, sticking with you for just a moment.

There is a great urgency here, and I want to make sure that we're conveying that.

So first, and don't worry, I'll bring back Hope Guy in a second.

But from your vantage point, what's the cost of inaction?

How does failing to invest in climate now hit our local economy, jobs or housing down the line?

Well, the you know, to be frank, the cost of, inaction or or not investing in, in climate, in green technologies is, is quite significant.

you know, just just last year across the country, there were 27 natural disasters that cost more than $1 billion.

and that was not the highest, cost on record.

I have some stats here locally about the cost.

let me see.

Yeah.

Oh, man.

if we achieve the CPA goals, we'll save approximately $260 billion.

And this is, based on an analysis done by the New York Climate Action Council.

improvements in air quality, increase active transportation and energy efficiency interventions would could generate 160 to $170 billion.

So, you know, the cost of natural disasters, even things like, you know, climate change means more frequent cycles in the winter of freezing thaw, you know, it gets cold, gets wet, things freeze and then they fall.

That's what drives potholes, you know?

And nobody likes potholes, but they also cause a lot of damage to cars and vehicles.

they cost a lot to repair.

So even simple things like that, like the cost of, more rapidly deteriorating infrastructure, those are very real and very present in, in Monroe County.

Okay.

So bringing back hope, Guy.

And as we start to wrap up here, on the other hand, could Rochester and the Great Lakes region in general be something of a climate haven?

If we play our cards right and start planning now and and how do we get there?

I mean, you know, no pressure, but definitely I mean it already.

We already are to some degree.

You know, we have an abundance of resources like fresh water.

a recent report done by CJR showed that, in the next eight years alone, there's going to be an increase in, green economy, clean economy, jobs by almost 10,000, 10,000 jobs.

These jobs pay, on average $20,000 more than than your typical job.

and with, you know, continued investments in partnership, across Monroe County.

We can, we can take advantage of I think the real opportunity that is presented by climate change, it's, you know, the it's a challenge.

But, transitioning our economy can be a real opportunity to address historical injustices and, make it make Monroe County a better place to live for everyone.

Any final words for our listeners today that you that each of you would want to leave them with, starting with you?

Graham.

the the climate movement needs your help.

the there's many organizations out there to join the Sierra Club is a great one.

So is the Climate Solutions Accelerator.

If you want to learn more about how to get involved, go to our website.

It's climate gfl.org and sign up to to volunteer.

That's Graham Hughes.

John Kastner, what about you?

What say you?

I think it's important to realize that that the, momentum is is with the climate movement worldwide momentum.

coal is not going to go back, as to be as dominant as it was.

lots of money is being invented and, invested in and, renewable energy sources worldwide.

And, China is making electric vehicles to beat the band.

You.

Yeah.

Well, there's so much to think about here.

Big thanks to our guest today, John Kastner, who you just heard from Daryl Odnr and Graham Hughes for joining me.

If there's one thing to take away, it's this even when federal leadership crumbles, the fight is not over.

Power still lives in local communities and in the simple act of planting a tree, as I think Daryl would agree with from Sky news, I'm Jasmine Singer.

Thanks for making today's environmental connections.

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