2026 Annual Meeting – Wednesday February 25 |
Hello {{ FirstName | commonize | default: ‘Friend’ }}, Our 2026 Annual Meeting will be Wednesday February 25 at 5:30pm, both online and in-person at 371 Delaware Ave. We will hear campaign updates from our teams and vote on our new board members – please click here to register, watch your inbox and mail over the next few weeks for your ballots, and be sure to renew your membership today by making a donation. On a related note, our Annual Dinner will be Wednesday May 6. If you are interested in sponsoring, please contact Chris. With Bread and Roses, Bridge, Chris, Cindy and Kiera |
Resist and Fight Mass Deportation |
Clean Air and Showing Up For Racial Justice held a candlelight vigil on January 22 for those the 32 people killed in ICE detainment in 2025 and for those who have been killed and injured in the streets resisting mass deportation, and to call public attention to the Customs and Border Protection facility at 600 Colvin Woods Parkway, which is in part used as a holding center for detainment operations. Please read our joint statement by clicking here. Clean Air and SURJ Buffalo call on Town of Tonawanda officials to take the following actions: - Request an inspection of the facility by Congressmember Kennedy to evaluate the conditions for detainees at 600 Colvin Woods Parkway, and use the zoning code and health and safety related building codes to issue any appropriate fines to Customs & Border Patrol and their private-sector landlord Government Investment Partners for violations
- Pass a non-collusion resolution that would impose consequences on any Town of Tonawanda government agents who collude with federal immigration agents
- Pass a resolution supporting the adoption of the New York for All Act and urge rapid action by our representatives in Albany.
If you are interested in joining this campaign, please reach out to Bridge. |
Midwest Academy Series Debrief |
WOW! A sincere thank you to everyone who attended our cohort Midwest Academy training series, and to everyone who joined us on Saturday the 24th for the Midwest Framework practice session – this series met and exceeded all our goals, and we are pumped to continue to build off this group training! We have a longer round up on our blog, including a bunch more photos – read more by clicking here. |
Save the Date, But Don’t Sit Back and Wait
No Kings March 28 |
NYRenews 10 Year Anniversary Retreat |
Cindy joined our friends with NY Renews in Albany last week to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of NY Renews and participate in the strategic planning retreat! |
EPA, DEC and Regulatory Agency News |
There was a minor fire at the Goodyear Chemical Plant in Niagara Falls last month – Clean Air met with staff at DEC and it was reported to us that, although the smoke was an alarming sight, it was from a PVC plastic divider that caught fire. A heater was being used to warm a lubrication chemical, and the divider was too close to the heater. The chimney in the photos is for a natural gas boiler and is not involved directly in any of the chemical manufacturing, so the risk of residuals in the chimney is also very low. No loss of chemicals is reported based on weighing for loss, and no workers were injured. DEC also currently is accepting comments on two Air State Facility permits for facilities in the City of Buffalo – University at Buffalo South Campus and Mod-Pac Corp at 1801 Elmwood Ave. The news from the EPA continues to be bleak, with a number of headlines this month about how rulemakers are expected to soon release a final proposal to repeal the landmark “endangerment finding” and has stopped estimating the monetary value of lives saved when setting limits on two of the most widespread deadly air pollutants, fine particulate matter and ozone, effectively valuing human life at $0. Given that context, we were pleasantly surprised by the news that the EPA has issued new rules about air emission standards for stationary combustion turbines and stationary gas generators – this is directly in response to Elon Musk’s xAI operation in Memphis Tennessee, and a win for environmental justice here in Buffalo as he pursues a potential supercomputer project at the Tesla plant. Shout out to the organizers in Memphis who highlighted this loophole that Musk was exploiting and fought for these rule changes! |
Pray for the Dead, Fight for the Living |
There were a ton of big wins this month for organizers locally and nationwide, both small and large! For example, we heard this month that the Appalachian Voices v. EPA court case that challenges the revocation of environmental justice grants (including the one that Clean Air would have received) is proceeding, and oral arguments will take place on March 16. Staying on the judicial theme, Judge Fred Biery issued a blistering opinion ordering the release of Adrian Conejo Arias and his son Liam Conejo Ramos (the child with the blue cap and Spider-Man backpack.) They returned home yesterday. Judge Carl J. Nichols also ruled against the Trump administration and ruled that the construction the $5 billion Empire Wind project off Long Island can resume. Unions held a press conference to celebrate the win earlier this month. Locally, people all throughout the region are organizing to resist mass deportation, with residents turning out for town board meetings in Cheektowaga and other suburbs, and Mayor Sean Ryan issuing his first Executive Order formally prohibiting the use of City of Buffalo personnel or resources for federal civil immigration enforcement. Finally, of course, we all owe the residents of Minneapolis an immense debt of gratitude for all their work this past month resisting mass deportation – we recommend reading these three columns which feature interviews with people on the ground. Margaret Killjoy – Our Neighbors in Minneapolis Lydia Polgreen – In Minneapolis, I Glimpsed a Civil War Adam Serwer – Minnesota Proved MAGA Wrong |
Report Industrial Violations |
Headlines in Environmental Justice, Climate Justice, and the Just Transition |
NYS Focus, Colin Kinniburgh – Hochul Could Try to Change New York’s Emissions Math Again. Here’s Why It Matters. The Verge, Justine Calma – It’s a new heyday for gas thanks to data centers Wired Magazine, Molly Taft – Data Centers Are Driving a US Gas Boom Washington Post, Evan Halper – The data center rebellion is here, and it’s reshaping the political landscape Prospect Magazine, Kenny Stancil – The Trump Regime Is Making Disasters Worse The Guardian, Dharna Noor – Red-state Republicans seek climate ‘liability shield’ for fossil fuel industry Daily Yonder, Betsy Froiland – Rural Communities Stand With Somali-American, Other Vulnerable Neighbors Amidst ICE Siege on Minnesota Convergence Magazine, Sulma Arias – How We Can Defeat Authoritarianism Together Labor Notes, Stephanie Luce – How to Spread the General Strike Beyond the Twin Cities Buffalo News Mackenzie Shuman – Trees, sewers and money: Mayor Sean Ryan’s environmental priorities for Buffalo Mackenzie Shuman – Study: WNY leaving billions on the table as Clean Air Initiative remains on hold In These Times Sarah Lazare – How One Minnesota Union Is Helping Members Survive the Federal Siege Alex Han – Maybe a General Strike Isn’t So Impossible Now Inside Climate News Marianne Lavelle, Georgina Gustin – Oil Industry Will Eye Venezuela Warily, Experts Say Dennis Pillion – Oil Executives Non-Committal to Trump’s Venezuela Pitch at the White House Grist Magazine Carrie Klein – These Finnish homes are being heated by a surprising source: Bitcoin Jake Bittle – Trump destroyed offshore wind. The Northeast can’t live without it. Matt Simon – Solar farms can be havens for rare plants. Just ask the threecorner milkvetch. Rebecca Egan McCarthy & Jake Bittle – The winter storm exposed the grid’s real weakness: Lots of old poles Sophie Hurwitz – Data centers are facing an image problem. The tech industry is spending millions to rebrand them. Katie Myers & Jake Bittle – Trump is keeping coal on life support. How long can it last? Matt Simon – Trump is trying to kill clean energy. The market has other plans. Canary Media Maria Gallucci – Startup unveils heat battery it says can decarbonize almost any factory Jeff St. John – After Trump’s clean-energy clawback, tribes ‘turn and face the storm’ Zoya Teirstein – Is Trump’s assault on climate and clean energy reversible? Maria Gallucci – America’s offshore wind farms get back to work after court victories Alexander C. Kaufman – Why automakers are the key to cleaner steelmaking |
We want to share this account from a former Clean Air leader who now lives in Minneapolis – if you want to donate to them to help their mutual aid efforts, please contact Bridge and they will send you their info. You can also donate to any of the organizations listed here – https://www.standwithminnesota.com/ Checking in from South Minneapolis. I live in the handful of blocks between where George Floyd was murdered by a police officer in 2020 and where Renee Good was murdered by an ICE agent last week.
On an ordinary day, my street is full of children giggling, playing games with my dog through the fence, neighbors tending their gardens or shoveling snow, chatting across our yards with our morning coffee. Every October, we block off the street to have a chili cook-off and set up a scavenger hunt. Last spring, my block welcomed three newborn babies, who are now just about old enough to start crawling.
But we are not having ordinary days.
I can’t overstate this: my community is under attack from the federal government. Masked men in tactical gear with weapons are snatching human beings from bus stops, out of pickup lines at daycares and schools, waiting outside houses of worship and stores and restaurants at shift changes to grab people, force them into trucks and SUVs and disappear with them.
Many of my neighbors have been forced into hiding. They cannot go to work or the grocery store without risking abduction. And they still have to pay rent and bills and feed their kids. We’re raising money to give directly to our neighbors for support with this, plus groceries and household supplies. |
Free Trainings – PPG Workshops |
The Partnership for the Public Good is hosting a series of workshops this spring for advocates and organizers – - February 18: Non-profit lobbying vs. advocacy
- March 10: Erie County Legislature 101
- May 5: City of Buffalo budget Proposed 2026
- June 16: Writing for the Media
All workshops will include lunch and will be held at Roswell Park Community Outreach and Engagement Center, 907 Michigan Ave, Buffalo, NY 14204, with workshops on February 18 and March 10 from 12:30–2:00 p.m. and workshops on May 5 and June 16 at 6:00 p.m-7:30pm. Space is limited to 35 participants per workshop, so please register only if you are confident you can attend. To register, click here. |
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