Demand a Clean, Renewable Energy Future Thursday, June 29 2:00 PM DEC office 270 Michigan Ave Buffalo. Sponsored by NYPIRG, Sierra Club Niagara Group, WNY Peace Center, WNYEA

Declaration of Independence from Fossil Fuels

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary to act on global warming, in 2017 we declare the urgent need to dissolve our reliance on fossil fuels.

We hold these truths to be self evident, that the burning of fossil fuels is a leading contributor to climate change. As a result of our addiction to fossil fuels, extreme weather, melting ice caps and glaciers, global sea level rise, diminishing food and water supplies, forced migration, and damage to public health threaten the world’s populations.

Big Oil and Gas has known that their extractive industry would doom the planet for decades. Yet, instead of acting, they began a campaign to manufacture doubt and undermine action. We can no longer ignore the inconvenient truth understood by climate experts.

We are joining forces to protect communities from fossil fuel polluters that have damaged our air, plundered our land, and captured our governments. We are joining together to end the dirty energy era and bring about a just transition to a future that relies on renewable energy while also providing jobs.

We need action now to complete this transition, within a few decades at most. But we must start in earnest and without haste now. There is not a moment more to lose.

We urge Governor Cuomo to use the State’s powers to say no to fossil fuel infrastructure.

Governor Cuomo and the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation and Public Service Commission must deny permits, water quality certifications, or other regulatory approvals for transmission pipelines, power generating plants, compressor stations, and all fossil fuel infrastructure projects.