*** Lobby for America's mountains! You are invited to participate in
“End Mountaintop Removal Week” in Washington, DC, March 14th-18th.
Free training and most meals provided.  Join Rochester Sierra members
who will be attending.  People are expected from all across the
country, but especially from Appalachian areas affected by mountaintop
removal coal mining.  A chance to meet amazing, like-minded people and
make new friends! Lobbying will advocate for passage of the Clean
Water Protection Act in the House of Representatives.  Please contact
either Paul Ciavarri: 42p...@gmail.com; (585) 734-4866, or Bette
Heger: btehe...@juno.com, 473-1529.  Registration deadline is February
25th (or Feb. 20th for assistance with travel costs).  Additional
information at: www.ilovemountains.org.

*** “LET’S TALK CYCLING” - A discussion to help reduce your carbon
footprint presented by the Monroe County Office of Traffic Safety,
Thursday March 19, 2009 at 7:00 PM at the Brighton Town Auditorium,
2300 Elmwood Avenue, Rochester, NY 14618. This discussion will provide
information on the vehicle and traffic laws of NYS and how they apply
to bicyclists.  We will cover common collision scenarios and how to
avoid them and discuss safe riding techniques to keep bicyclists safe
on the streets. Whether you are a new or experienced cyclist, this
discussion will provide useful information on riding safely and
legally in traffic.  The event will include a brief rundown of this
year’s plans for the Low Carbon Diet Challenge, now called “Cool
Communities: Rochester on a Low Carbon Diet.”  Check out more
transportation issues at: http://newyork.sierraclub.org/rochester/Transportation/Transportation...

*** WANT to MAKE a DIFFERENCE? --GREEN JOBS/GREEN PLANET --- The
Sierra Club wants to make a difference. Budget cuts are being
disproportionately applied to environmental areas. Federal aide is in
jeopardy of being spent foolishly. Join us March 6th in speaking to
our State Assembly and Senate representatives. There are many ways to
help.  As citizens we are being encouraged to take part in the
democratic process and make a real difference. Now is the time. Let's
make this the largest political event in Sierra Club history. Your
help is needed. If the funds for environmental defense and regulation
are cut we will pay more in the future. It always costs much more to
fix than to prevent problems. Federal aide should be spent creating
green jobs that last and contribute to the future. The money should
not wasted on dead end jobs that are making our environment worse.
Your emails, letters, phone calls, or presence can make a difference.
Contact us at rochestersierraclubpoliti...@gmail.com to see how you
can help or to learn more. We'll provide all the tools you need - no
experience necessary.

*** Sign Up - Biking Rochester Traffic Class  - A biking class on how
to prepare to commute by bicycle and using your bicycle for
utilitarian purposes - When: Thursday, May 21st, 7PM - 9PM -  Where:
Genesee Waterways Center, 149 Elmwood Avenue, Rochester, NY 14611
(585) 328-3960 Course open only to Sierra Club and Rochester Bicycling
Club members. Cost is $30 with application.  The money to be
refunded.  If you don't show, the application fee will be a donation
to the sponsors. Family rate: Two adults, same household, separate
application, one $30.00 check. Sponsored by the Rochester Bicycling
Club and the Rochester Regional Group of the Sierra Club. More
information about the course, who is conducting the class, and the
application are here: http://newyork.sierraclub.org/rochester/Transportation/Bike_Course.html

*** On March 6th, you and other Atlantic Chapter Sierrans will have
the opportunity to visit your State Senators and Assemblymembers
simultaneously in every corner of New York State, urging them to
prioritize green jobs that protect our precious natural resources. The
Green Jobs/Green Planet Lobby Day will be the Sierra Club Atlantic
Chapter's first-ever statewide district office lobby day. Visit your
State Legislator without coming to Albany! RSVP today! -
http://action.sierraclub.org/site/Calendar/1946781987?view=Detail&id=...

*** Sierra Club Zero Waste Committee | Next Meeting: February 23rd,
6:30pm-8:30PM, Winton Branch Library - Address:  611 Winton Rd. North
- Rochester, NY 14609 - Phone:  (585) 428-8204 - Please show up for
our February Zero Waste meeting - We’re going forward. This meeting
will include Sierra Club policy on Zero Waste, partnerships we have
created, planning recycling tours, developing the best resources we
can for recycling in our area using online resources, and developing a
campaign for the proper recycling of TV from the delayed Digital TV
signal conversion date. For more info:  http://www.sierraclub.org/committees/zerowaste/

*** Earth Day is just around the corner. Actually, this year, with
climate change a top issue across the globe, every day is Earth
Day.The year will be full of festivals, fairs, and environmental
events
that provide opportunities for us to talk informally with kids of all
ages about how we can make a difference in caring for our community
and our world. So far, we will have tables at the following events:

March 4, St. John Fisher College, 11a-2p
April 22nd at Victor Junior High School, 5:30-9 PM

April 25th at Hamlin Beach State Park, 9 AM - 1 PM

April 25th at the Penfield Community Center, 9-noon

June 13th at Mendon Ponds Park for the Adirondack Mountain Club’s
Outdoor Expo.
We’ll certainly add more as the season progresses. We
need you!

We need volunteers to team up with already active members to meet and
greet the public and pass out literature. Each shift will be about 2-3
hours. No experience or knowledge of specific environmental issues is
necessary. If you are outgoing, have a friendly smile and some energy,
and enjoy talking with kids and grown-ups alike, please give us a
call. You’ll get to enjoy the festival or fair on your own before and/
or after your volunteer time! Call 585-234-1056 or e-mail
lci_...@hotmail.com

*** Global Warming & Energy Committee: Our next meeting is Monday,
February 23rd, 7-9PM at St. Thomas Episcopal Church,
downstairsconference room, corner of Highland Ave. & Winton Rd.   This
meeting is the best way to get involved with plans for the biggest
carbon reduction effort to hit the Rochester region: (see below)

*** Cool Rochester This Cool effort will build on last year’s
successful Low Carbon Diet Challenge, in which 119 households saved
over 400 thousand pounds of household carbon emissions. Community
leaders including Mayor Duffy praised the program at the Awards
Celebration and called for it to grow, and thus spread the savings
deeply throughout the community. We are now working with David
Gershon, the author of Low Carbon Diet workbook to make Rochester &
Monroe County a national leader by involving about 40,000 households
over a three- year timeframe. To reach this very ambitious goal, we
need you! We would like to form teams of folks who would work together
alongside a leader on the following activities:

1) Coordinating Events- Press conferences, major launch/kickoff event,
training events, etc.
2) Engaging Partners: A partner could be a business large or small, a
municipality, a faith community, a neighborhood group, a school or
university—anywhere that social networks already exist. Partners
would commit to sponsoring some number of “eco-teams” and/or to
supporting the effort in other ways.
3) Website Content Coordination- no HTML skills or other website
programming necessary; this team is simply responsible for feeding up-
to-date content regarding program status to the webmaster
4) Fundraising- both major grants and smaller donations
5) Media/Marketing- to establish relationships with media outlets,
write Press Releases, coordinate TV and radio spots, keep the
information fresh and in the public eye
6) Project Management- this team helps keep us organized, on schedule,
and communicating with each other effectively

If you have experience in any of the above areas, we need you! If you
would like to learn along with us, this is the perfect opportunity- we
are all volunteers, donating whatever time we can, and learning as we
go along. If you are just curious, we welcome your questions. Please
plan to attend the Jan. 26th meeting- no commitment required.
Questions: leave message 585-234-1056, or send e-mail to the addresses
below.

If you are interested but cannot attend the meeting, please contact
Jim Tappon: JTap...@Rochester.rr.com or Bob Siegel:
BoboL...@Rochester.rr.com. In your e-mail, PLEASE PUT IN THE SUBJECT
LINE: “COOL ROCHESTER- INQUIRY” so that your message doesn’t get
lost amongst the junk mail. THANK YOU!! http://newyork.sierraclub.org/rochester/LCD.htm

*** 2009 Environmental Forum | Local and Sustainable Food – Local Food
Choices |

Thursday, April 16th, 2009|  5:30 PM - 9:PM | First Unitarian Church,
220 S. Winton Rd, Rochester, N.Y. The Focus of the “Local and
Sustainable – Local Food Choices” Environmental Forum 2009 By the
Rochester Regional Group of the Sierra Club: |The focus of the
Environmental Forum is to educate our community that every aspect of
environmental wellbeing is touched by how we eat and to help to
provide a link to the local options that are available to everyone. |
Reasoning: Daily dietary choices are some of the most critical
decisions that we make as a human population. In our lifetimes, we are
directly responsible for what these daily choices do to our planet,
our health, and our future generations.  Because of this we strive to
eat as healthy and environmentally sound as possible. | Environmental
Forum Speakers/Time-Table | 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm – Doors open to the
public.  Information tabling begins - many local Food producers and
Non-Profits will be represented.  Food will be available in the front
lobby.  Programs will be available at the door. 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm –
Speaker program begins. See information to the left for details.
http://newyork.sierraclub.org/rochester/Food_Forum.html

*** Volunteers to Help Write A Master Plan Needed!  Under the guidance
of Peter Debes, Chair of the Coalition to Restore and Protect the
Washington Grove at Cobb's Hill, a team has surveyed the interests of
all the various users of the Grove and catalogued the problems it is
facing. Like many parks, it is a problem of too much love. It is easy
to understand why. All the users share at least one thing in common,
they love the Grove. Most also have noticed the toll that our love is
taking, widening trails, gullies from overuse of steep pathways,
trampled vegetation, broken saplings, a decline in ground-nesting
birds, and perplexingly, very few young oaks to replace the giants as
they complete their lives and fall. The group that has been working on
the project to restore and protect the Grove is now finalizing a draft
of all the options that have been proposed and considered valuable for
taking action. We wish to prepare a finalized copy of a Master Plan by
the end of March so we can begin work in April and May. The draft is
in an outline form and needs to be converted to a Master Plan from
that outline. We are seeking volunteers who enjoy and have skill in
writing to join us to help complete the document.  Anyone interested
in joining the coalition may come to our next meeting on March 17, 7pm
at the School Without Walls. Contact Peter Debes at
phde...@frontiernet.net, or call 585-820-2018.

*** Great Lakes Committee: http://newyork.sierraclub.org/rochester/Great_Lakes/Great%20Lakes.html

Great Lakes Colleagues, The New York Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem
Conservation Council  released their draft report detailing the steps
the state must take to improve the management of our coastal resources
by focusing on Ecosystem Based Management. Even if you missed the
Community Conversation meeting on February 10th in Rochester, you can
review the report http://www.nyoglecc.org/media/Great%20Lakes%20Working%20Group%20Draft...
) and comment ( http://www.nyoglecc.org/comments.aspx ) on the report
and the importance of converting the Council's recommendation into
action for now and for future generations.

February 24/25 - "Great Lakes Day" in Washington,D.C to lobby House
and Senate members to pass legislation and approve funding for
protecting the Great Lakes.  See Healthylakes.org for conference
details

February 24th and March 24th - Great Lakes Committee Meeting at 7 PM,
Twelve Corners Middle School 2nd floor, Brighton

April 28th – Great Lakes Day in Albany.  Email Katherine Nadeau
(knad...@eany.org) for more details

*** SIERRA CLUB BOOK GROUP -  WINTER 2009 BOOKS -
http://newyork.sierraclub.org/rochester/Book_Club/Book_Club.html  New
Location:  Starting in January 2009 we will meet at the Unitarian
Church, 220 S. Winton Rd., Rochester, in the Susan B. Anthony Lounge
(first floor, straight ahead of the building’s main door)  - Time:
7:00 – 8:30 p.m. - Day:  2nd Monday of each month - Books chosen for
the next 4 months:

Mar. 9:  Vapor Trails, by “our own” Bob Siegel and Roger Saillant.
This novel is available from the authors ($15), and also will be
passed around by people who have already bought and read it. Go to
www.vaportrails.org People can learn more about the book there and
read the first 20 pages online.    (See Nancy or Janet)

April 13:  Sustainable Planet, edited by Juliet Schor.   Articles on
many related subjects -  read the ones that interest you most.  (No
need to read the whole book in sequence!)

*** Our web presents is growing. Check out our new website that is
soon to be a major part of our group’s ability to broadcast our
message to the public: http://newyork.sierraclub.org/rochester/default.html
Got Suggestions? Contact our webmaster at
FrankRe...@RochesterEnvironment.com

*** "The Wetlands Committee is involved in an effort to create a
wetland on Buckland Creek at the Twelve Corners Brighton School
District campus in Brighton. A wetland on this creek would filter
water that eventually empties into Allen's Creek and Lake Ontario,
would provide some flood prevention for the Panorama Plaza area,
create an urban habitat corridor bringing many native insects, birds
and amphibians back to central Brighton, and establish a great outdoor
classroom for environmental studies. If you are a Brighton resident or
someone with a passion for wetlands, a background in environmental
education, an expertise in grant applications or fund raising and
would like to contribute to this effort, please contact Sara Rubin
585.442.6890  rubin...@aol.com  " For more info, go to our Wetlands
page: http://newyork.sierraclub.org/rochester/Wetlands/Wetlands.html

*** Zero Waste: Waste Management for the 21st Century | Public
Information Forum
Wednesday, March 4, 2009 7:00 – 8:30 pm | Albright Auditorium, 300
Pulteney Street | Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, New York
| Dr. Paul Connett, world-renowned waste management expert and
chemist, will speak on 21st Century sustainable solutions to waste
management. Dr. Connett’s lecture will include a comparison of
gasification incineration with mass burn incineration, the arguments
against incineration (including the health dangers), and an analysis
of the gasification technology proposed by Casella Waste Systems for
the Ontario County Landfill. Connett will also give more details on
sustainable solutions to waste management, and progress on these
around the world.

Dr. Paul Connett is a graduate of Cambridge University and holds a
Ph.D. in chemistry from Dartmouth College. In May 2006, he retired
from his full professorship in chemistry at St. Lawrence University,
Canton, NY, where he taught for 23 years. His specialty was
environmental chemistry and toxicology. Over the past 23 years his
research on waste management has taken him to 49 U.S. states, and 50
other countries, where he has given approximately 2,000 public, pro
bono presentations. Ralph Nader said of Connett, “He is the only
person I know who can make waste interesting.” He has co-authored 6
peer-reviewed articles on dioxin and numerous other articles on waste
management. For further information, call the Finger Lakes Zero Waste
Coalition
at 315-412-0401, or email us at 0wa...@earthlink.net.

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 *** Let your voice be heard on environmental matters around our
community -  Rochester Sierra Club Blog http://rochestersierraclubblog.blogspot.com/
- Our group now has a blog - The purpose of this blog is to provide
information and enhance both communication and participation of Sierra
Club members and concerned citizens in preserving our environment.
What is a blog? http://www.sierraclub.org/policy/blogs/  Surf over and
makes some comments, begin a dialogue about environmental issues and
our group.

*** Here's a great way to stay informed on environmental issues by the
Sierra Club: Getting more news from the Sierra Club online - How to
subscribe to the Sierra Club Radio Podcast http://www.sierraclub.org/radio/subscribe.asp

*** For all Rochester Regional Group of the Sierra Club's events,
check the web at: http://newyork.sierraclub.org/rochester/calendar/calendar.htm

*** Note:  Only group owners can post messages to this group, so you
cannot reply to this message.  Contact
FrankRe...@RochesterEnvironment.com  if you have questions or comments
about this e-mail list. http://groupseta.google.com/group/Rochester-Regional-Group

*** If you are not a member, please become one.  It's easy, just
check our brochure http://newyork.sierraclub.org/rochester/pdf/0704%20Brochure%20clr.pdf

*** Please encourage all who would be interested in all Rochester
Sierra Club actions and events to join this unofficial Rochester Group
list. Rochester Regional Group of the Sierra Club
http://newyork.sierraclub.org/rochester/index.html