Hello {{ FirstName | commonize | default: ‘Friend’ }},

Happy new year! We’re excited for all that is on the horizon in 2026, starting with the Midwest Academy Buffalo Hub Training series later this month – register today for this FREE training on Saturday January 24, and please share this link widely. Lunch will be provided, and childcare, interpretation, or other support services are available with registration.
We are aiming for about 125 participants and we need your help getting word out to meet that goal – please share today!

With Bread and Roses,

Bridge, Chris, Cindy and Kiera

Our next General Meeting will be Wednesday January 28 from 5:30-7pm,  both in-person at Trinity Church (371 Delaware Ave) and livestreaming on Zoom. Click here to register!

Please also note – flu rates are particularly high currently, with over 13000 hospitalizations statewide this season as of this week. Clean Air strives to create as safe a space for our meetings as possible – we strongly urge wearing a mask in shared indoor spaces until the end of the flu season. We also provide masks, hold our events in large well ventilated spaces, and wherever feasible offer our meetings online as well as in-person.

Last month Clean Air signed a letter calling for a nationwide moratorium on any new large scale data centers until concerns like spiking electric rates can be investigated and addressed through regulation. NYS led this effort, with over 50 groups statewide signing the joint letter. Partially in response to this letter, Senators Warren, Van Hollen and Blumenthal have opened an investigation into the extent to which big tech data centers are driving up consumers’ electricity costs!

On a related note, check out this new video from Business Insider which gives a very good summary of the current energy crisis and the close links to underinvestment in the grid and rapid data center growth.

The elections in November shook up the elected leadership in Buffalo and WNY, and at Clean Air we’re excited for the potential policy opportunities this opens up. Shortly after the election, we wrote and sent a policy memo to Mayor Sean Ryan’s team of ideas we would love to work with the City on – click here to read the memo, and please reach out to Bridge or Cindy if you’re interested in working with Clean Air to support any of these goals!

Thanks to everyone who supported Clean Air’s 2025 Annual Appeal! Thanks to your support, we not only met our $20,000 goal, but exceeded it, raising $25000! We raised $5173 through over 150 small donations, with our Tonawanda Just Transition Team bringing in the most, raising $1,083, and this year we had the most individual peer to peer fundraisers that we have ever had!

Click here to make a donation to renew your membership today if you have not yet done so!

Our Annual Meeting will be Wednesday February 25 – please save the date, and watch for more details this month!

We have also set the date for our Annual Dinner, April 30 – if you are interested in sponsoring, please reach out to Chris.

The 2025 legislative session in Albany finally wrapped with a series of bill signings and vetoes by Governor Hochul. NYS Focus has a full run down on vetoed bills here, including links to the memos explaining why the Governor vetoed those bills. We were particularly disappointed to see the Governor once again veto Prevailing Wage Requirements for Brownfield projects.

Of the bills signed of note, Public Power NY is celebrating the passage of the Public Renewables Transparency Act, which strengthens public transparency rules for NYPA, and groups statewide are celebrating the signing of the 100-Foot Rule, which ends the requirement that ratepayers subsidize the expansion of the gas system. The Governor also signed the RAISE Act, which strengthens safety requirements for AI models as well as two bills that add requirements for disclosure for the use of AI in content.

The DEC has finalized rules around Greenhouse Gas emissions reporting – read more here and here.

Erie County Department of Health has announced dates in 2026 for free training on Narcan administration and harm reduction – click here to see the list.

The Buffalo District of the Army Corps of Engineers has received additional funding to finish FUSRAP remediation of the Balance of Plant Operable Unit at the Niagara Falls Storage Site. Learn about FUSRAP remediation projects here.

The data center proposal at STAMP is back, and bigger than before – Clean Air will continue to support efforts opposing a data center at the STAMP development. Read more from Investigative Post here.

Starbucks Workers United continue to be on strike, with a big push last month urging customers to boycott “Red Cup Season” – sign up for updates here!

WNYALF’s annual MLK Luncheon will be Friday January 16.
If you’re a member and interested in attending with Clean Air, please contact Chris!

Over the holiday break, our friends at Liberation for One, Liberation for All (LOLA Buffalo) filed an Article 78 challenge to the City of Buffalo’s plans to develop a police training facility at the former Matt Urban Hope Community Center at 389 Paderewski Drive in Buffalo. Check out the court filing here, and learn more about LOLA at their linktree!

NYS Focus, Colin Kinniburgh  – Hochul Buys Time on Pollution Rules

AP News, Matthew Daly and Jennifer McDermott – Federal judge throws out Trump order blocking development of wind energy

The Guardian, Carter Sherman – Trump’s health cuts leave ‘huge void’ in Buffalo, New York – and patients fearing lack of care

DeSmog, Joe Fassler – These 15 Coal Plants Would Have Retired. Then Came AI and Trump.

Bloomberg Business News

Kyle Stock and Mark Chediak – Trump’s Plan For AI Dominance Threatened by His Own Attacks on Solar, Wind Power

Tim Quinson – Banks Notch Higher Fees From Green Bonds Than Fossil Fuel Debt

Inside Climate News

Phil McKenna – Rare Win for Renewable Energy: Trump Administration Funds Geothermal Network Expansion

Phil McKenna – Gas Stoves Account For More Than Half of Some Americans’ Exposure to a Known Toxic Substance, New Research Concludes

Canary Media

Clare Fieseler – ‘Bonkers’: DOI letter halts all five in-progress offshore wind farms

Jeff St. John – The loophole that could give clean heat a boost under Trump

Kathiann M. Kowalski – FirstEnergy bribery scheme sank Lake Erie offshore wind, lawsuit says

All upcoming events that Clean Air is hosting can be found at bit.ly/CleanAirEvents and linktr.ee/cleanairwny

• January 24 – Midwest Academy Buffalo Hub Training, School 77, (429 Plymouth Ave, Buffalo), 10am – 3pm
• January 28 – Clean Air General Meeting, Trinity Church (371 Delaware Ave, Buffalo), 5:30-7pm