CNY ecoBlog

I’ve always been fascinated by crow intelligence and at the same time amazed how few people recognize this intelligence especially since, according to some cognitive research, theirs exceeds that of dogs. This video lecture from a writer Joshua Klein, who has been involved with an amateur study of corvid behavior, highlights this.

Of course [...]

EcoVillage at Ithaca (EVI) is a local “ecovilliage” in upstate New York where residence live share in a variety of community responsibilities, attempt to maintain a sustainable, low-impact lifetyle, and present an alternative vision of suburban living. The “village currently includes two 30-home cohousing neighborhoods, an organic CSA vegetable farm, an organic berry [...]

EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data is now available for 2005 (and previous years as always). The website includes links to the data, and a link to TRI Explorer, EPA’s electronic tool for data analysis.

Links:

EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Site

2005 TRI Public Data Release

Use the TRI Explorer to find out who’s been releasing toxins [...]

For the farmers and agronomists out there, I was alerted to this interesting website that assists with the Nitrogen Management on Dairy Farms on the Cornell servers (via the USDA-ARS New & Events Site):
Efficient nitrogen (N) management on dairy farms is key to profitable and environmentally sound farm operation.

This web site is designed to deliver [...]

The 10th annual Great Backyard Bird begins Friday and continues February 16-19. Audubon and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology are challenging people everywhere to “Count for the Record”. You can take as little as 15 minutes and counts can be submitted on-line. For additional information, go to the Great Backyard Bird Count website: [...]

A collection of articles on green business practice and theory can now be found in a special business section of The New York Times, The Business of Green. The topics range from urban renewal, wind power, green business partnerships, and green marketing, just to name a few.

ESF hosted the NPR program Science Friday yesterday. The first segment discussed alternative energy in upstate New York and the second focused on the decline of Upstate, Green Urban Renewal and Destiny. If you missed the program you can listen to the broadcasts on the NPR website: renewable energy and Mega Mall. [...]

All Things Buffalo points us to a new, “must-read” book chronicling the decline of Buffalo: Power Failure: Politics, Patronage, And the Economic Future of Buffalo, New York. From the description it sounds like this book raises issues confronting many cities and communities in Upstate New York – not just Buffalo. From Publisher’s Weekly:

Buffalo [...]

(At the risk of beating a dead horse…)

This looks like a worthwhile tome if your willing to shell out 80 bucks: The 1800 page Encyclopedia of Appalachia is now available from the University of Tennessee Press. The authors even have a website.

From USA Today:
The authors note that debate continues over exactly where Appalachia is [...]

This Buffalo First article, Albany called on to ‘Unshackle Upstate’, describes an alliance of western New York business groups that’s pretty fed up with Albany’s inattention to the problems of Upstate New York.
“It’s becoming increasingly difficult for upstate business owners to make payroll, let alone compete nationally or globally,” said Robert Brady, CEO of Moog [...]