May 16, 2012 · www.gothamgazette.com |
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- David Howard King on Senate Dems Look to Nat'l Issues
- David Howard King on Gov Cuomo Proposes New Agency
- Jonathan Camhi on Indiscretion
- Jonathan Camhi on The Power of Money
- Igor Kossov on Lines Drawn on Minimum Wage
Environment Archive
Legal Ruling Puts a Cork on the Bottle Bill (June 2009) The latest effort to expand the state's law on beverage deposits sputtered to a halt when bottled water companies filed suit to block it. Will the bill survive the challenges, legislative inaction -- and opposition from a prominent environmentalist?
The Brooklyn-Queens Border: As Polluted as Ever (May 2009) The estuary separating Brooklyn and Queens has earned the dubious distinction of being one of the country's most polluted waterways. Residents, advocates and others have long pleaded for a cleanup -- to no avail. Is that finally about to change?
Staten Island's Toxic Stew (May 2009) This area of approximately 5.2 square miles includes more than 20 sites the government or residents consider contaminated -- many of them close to apartment buildings and houses. In March, the community learned of further dangers.
Cleaning Up Pollution at New York's Ports (April 2009) The solution to reducing pollution from the area's vital shipping industry does not stop at the water's edge.
Stimulating a Cleaner Environment (March 2009) The federal stimulus package provides billions of dollars to help New York State improve its environment and expand the use of alternative energy.
Mixing Gas and Water: Drilling in the City's Watershed. (January 2009) Drilling for natural gas upstate could pose a serious threat to the city's pure, tasty drinking water. Will New York City even have a say before the 'fracking' begins?
A Changing Climate on Global Warming: What the Election Means (December 2008) A recent speech by President-elect Obama heralded a major shift in efforts to combat global warming. Rich Kassel looks at some specifics and what they mean for New York.
Candidates Offer Different Plans to Cool Climate Change (October 2008) The economy and national security have drowned out much discussion of climate change in the campaign, but the candidates have staked out positions on climate change that are worth noting.
How the City Has Reduced Soot (July 2008) A series of measures have reduced soot in the city, so much so that the metropolitan area may soon meet federal standards for this type of air pollution for the first time ever. Rich Kassel reports on what's happened -- and what still needs to be done.
A Smoother Ride for Cycling in the City (May 2008) To mark spring and National Bike Month, Rich Kassel celebrates what the city is doing to promote cycling and looks at what else it could do.
Making Black Cars Green (April 2008) Though the city's new gas mileage standards for its black car fleet is admirable, one advocate argues their entire carbon footprint should be regulated.
New Rules Clean Up Dirty Ships (March 2008) The cargo ships and ferries we all need still run on dirty diesel engines. But new rules from the federal and city governments are about to change that.
Next Steps for Congestion Pricing (January 2008) The congestion pricing panel's interim report offered five options for cutting traffic in the city. Rich Kassel looks at the various ideas and what effect they might have.
Recycling Stops and Starts (January 2008)
Measuring the Garbage Glut (January 2008) Thousands of you have played our Garbage Game. What did you do about all that trash? We look at your responses to the game and at what city officials are doing.
Is 'Nalgene' Hazardous to Your Health? (December 2007) Just when you thought pouring New York City tap water into a Nalgene bottle was the safe, eco-friendly thing to do, along come reports that Nalgene can be hazardous to your health.
Breathing Easier in 2030 and Beyond (November 2007) The mayor’s plan for New York’s future promises to give us the best air of any big city in the country? Can we do that – and how?
Good News About Asthma (October 2007) The chronic lung condition sends far fewer kids to city hospitals now than 10 years ago, but no one seems to have noticed.
How Clean (or Dirty) Is Our Air? (September 2007) Mayor Michael Bloomberg has promised to make New York the "cleanest big city in America", so how does New York City’s air measure up now?
Latest Round in the Garbage Wars (June 2007) Opposition to a recycling facility in Manhattan threatens to derail the city’s solid waste plan. Is it NIMBY or not?
Going Green, Saving Green (May 2007) A new apartment complex in the Bronx aims to prove that housing can be both friendly to the environment and the pocketbook.
Energy-Efficient Appliances (December 2006) Buying a better refrigerator not only saves money; it helps save the world. The government of the City of New York has been doing its part to promote energy efficiency in several ways. New York City shoppers can as well.
Green Construction (October 2006) From the proposed Atlantic Yards development in downtown Brooklyn to the water filtration plant in the northern Bronx, critics almost always complain not just about the project itself, but about the inconvenience, pollution and noise they will face during its construction. But another way is emerging.
Noise In New York (August 2006) By many measures, noise (especially from nightclubs and car alarms) has become New Yorkers’ biggest concern.
Off the Farm and Into the Faucet (June 2006) A program to help upstate farmers protect their land helps keep New York City drinking water clean – and could save billions in filtration costs.
Harvesting the Rain (May 2006) Fledgling efforts to collect rainfall save water, reduce pollution – and could change the way we think about our most precious natural resource.
Green Is Gold (Though Not Yet In NYC) (April 2006) Those attending an event known as the Green Trading Summit in midtown this month had two unshakeable convictions, one backed by science, the other by finance: Global warming is doing damage to the environment, and efforts to reduce its severity have proven lucrative; green, they say, is gold -- everywhere (so far) but here.
Wind Power In NYC (March 2006) With the announcement that the Statue of Liberty will soon be powered entirely by windmills, Sam Williams looks at other local efforts – past, present and future -- to use wind power
Erin Brockovich in Greenpoint (February 2006) Sam Williams details renewed activity – including a Brockovich-style class-action lawsuit – over a 30-year-old oil spill in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, bigger than the one caused by the Exxon Valdez, but still only halfway cleaned up.
Online Shopping And Its Impact On The Environment (January 2006) For New Yorkers, shopping online means less travel time and, on occasion, lower costs. It also means more trash to put out at the curbside. Because most online retailers rely on major private carriers such as UPS and FedEx to deliver their goods, this holiday season saw not only a sharp rise in local deliveries but a similar rise in the amount of paper, cardboard and plastic pushed into the city waste stream.
Bio-diesel -- petroleum with...vegetable oil (December 2005) Sam Williams looks at bio-diesel, which mixes petroleum with ordinary vegetable oil for a cleaner, more efficient -- but not perfect -- way of heating homes and powering automobiles.
Cool(er) Roofs (October 2005) A movement is growing to replace New York City’s iconic “tar beach” rooftops with something cooler, literally -- and maybe something greener.
Wetland Restoration in Jamaica Bay: Will Katrina Threaten Its Funding? (September 2005) Sam Williams explores whether the massive federal commitment to rebuild the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina will come at the expense of present or future projects in New York, such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' planned restoration of Jamaica Bay wetlands.
Campaign 2005: The Mayoral Candidates’ Views On Air and Water Quality, Solid Waste, and Sustainability (August 2005) A review of the top candidates' environmental agendas show four main areas where differences in opinion or variations in enthusiasm stand to shape mayoral priorities over the next four years: water and air quality, solid waste, and "sustainability" (energy-efficienr "green" buildings).
Hybrid Vehicles (July 2005) Sam Williams details the pros and cons of the hybrid taxicabs and buses and city fleet – half electric, half gas – about to fill New York City’s streets
Recycling (June 2005) Many New Yorkers don't know which of our garbage we are supposed to recycle (aerosol cans? wire hangers? shampoo bottles?) -- and city officials disagree over how much of it we can.
Putting A Price On Street Trees (May 2005) How many trees are there on New York City streets? Guess right and win a thousand dollars. When officials count for real this summer, writes Sam Williams, they plan to learn not just how many there are, but how much each is worth.
Taking on Carbon Dioxide In Defiance Of Bush; Also, Tracking Detectors For Carbon Monoxide (April 2005) The city, along with half a dozen other governments, is taking on carbon dioxide (global warming), in virtual defiance of the Bush administration. Also: tracking the use of detectors for the “silent killer,” carbon monoxide.
Indicting To Clean Up Newton Creek; Also, Diesel Deaths (March 2005) The watchdog group Riverkeeper found a way to clean up Newton Creek -- by suing, then encouraging the DA to indict, a major polluter. Also, a new report determines that more New Yorkers die each year from diesel exhaust than second-hand smoke.
Pataki Turns Green; Tsunami Speculation (January 2005) Pataki’s budget boosts some environmental initiatives. Also: Could a tsunami happen here?
Saving Two Birds; Saving Staten Island (December 2004) Is environmentalism a religion? Sam Williams ponders the efforts to save two birds on Fifth Avenue -- and the open space on Staten Island.
Saving Oakland Lake (November 2004) How one man saved the last remaining glacier lake in Queens.
The New Garbage Plan; New Worries About Flooding (October 2004) Sam Williams writes about a would-be disaster (flooding), and about the (small) steps being taken to handle a current one (garbage).
Recycling Food Waste (September 2004) New Yorkers throw away more food than people elsewhere in the nation, but, Sam Williams writes, food doesn't have to be wasted - it can be recycled.
Urban Forestry's New York City Roots (August 2004) "Urban Foresters" believe that the Amazon rainforest is not the only kind of habitat deserving of study and protection. Sam Williams takes a hike with some in Inwood Park.
Monitoring City Beaches (July 2004) "In a city with few environmental success stories, the improving state of local beaches is worth celebrating, if not too loudly," writes Sam Williams, who looks at both government and volunteer efforts, including the six-year-old beach monitor program.
Littering On Staten Island (June 2004) “Given the united political disdain Staten Islanders once reserved for the Fresh Kills Landfill , you would think there might be a similar, collective antipathy for litter, blight, and illegal dumping,” writes Sam Williams, who explains how there isn't.
Dreaming Of A Jets Stadium (And Junkyard Cleanup) In Queens (May 2004) Sam Williams details a “long shot” plan to build the new Jets Stadium in Queens rather than the West Side of Manhattan, and thereby help clean up the long-toxic Willets Point – the site of one of Robert Moses’ rare defeats.
Recycling's Next Chapter (April 2004) A look at the return of both glass recycling and once-a-week collection of residential recyclable material.
Taking Action On Jamaica Bay (March 2004) The Army Corps of Engineers is finally going to try to do something to bring Jamaica Bay back to a semblance of its original state. Not everybody is delighted.
Sludge and Scandal (February 2004) The New York Organic Fertilizer Company in the Bronx, which turns the city's sewage into fertilizer for farmers, stinks, in more ways than one.
The Feds And Clean Air (January 2004) Critics say that a proposed change in policy by the Bush administration would roll back advances made toward cleaning the air in New York.
Carbon Monoxide, The Silent Killer (December 2003) The grisly suffocation death of a family in the Bronx has brought attention to what should be on the A-list of feared chemicals - carbon monoxide. Sam Williams explains why, and what can be done.
Stopping The Truckers From Idling At Hunts Point (November 2003) Sam Williams looks at the fight to get the out-of-state truckers at Hunts Point to stop idling, and polluting the community.
Siting The Power Plant at Newtown Creek (October 2003) Sam Williams details the plan to switch the new 1,200 megawatt TransGas Energy power plant from the Williamsburg-Greenpoint waterfront to an already polluted Newtown Creek.
The Alarming Report About The EPA’s Response To 9/11 (September 2003) A recent report alleged that the White House conspired to downplay the environmental impact of 9/11, which was the “worst single-day environmental catastrophe to befall the city,” writes Sam Williams. And the rest of the report offers even more alarming revelations.
Environmental Impact of Rebuilding Lower Manhattan (August 2003) Eric Goldstein reports on the concerns expressed by environmental and civic groups about the effects on the environment of the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site.
Recycling Revived (July 2003) Advocates for recycling were cheered when Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced he would resume the recycling of materials – plastic, glass, yard waste, Christmas trees -- that he had suspended 18 months ago. “In questioning both the financial and environmental merits of civic recycling,” Sam Williams writes, “Mayor Bloomberg had in effect challenged the entire industry.”
Suburban Sprawl, City Troubles (June 2003) Bulldozers in the suburbs represent a direct threat to the future of New York City, says Eric Goldstein.
A Letter About Lead Poisoning (May 2003) Eric Goldstein calls on the city's health commissioner to pay more attention to the issue of lead poisoning of children, which a report has called "the most significant environmental disease in New York City," by supporting the passage of a law that has been tied up in the City Council for more than a year.
Recycling Hangs Tough (April 2003) One year after Mayor Michael Bloomberg's surprise proposal to eliminate the household recycling of metals, glass and plastics, the city's recycling program refuses to surrender, writes Eric Goldstein, who sorts out what exactly the recycling program is now, and what it might be in the future.
The City's New Spending Plan For The Environment (March 2003) Eric Goldstein outlines the Department of Environmental Protection's proposed new, $16.5 billion ten-year spending plan, which would focus on efforts to insure "clean, safe and sufficient" drinking water - and try to shift from sewage treatment.
New Plan to Safeguard New York's Water Supply (February 2003) Development, not terrorism, represents the biggest threat to New York City's water supply. Now environmentalists and other activists have proposed an ambitious plan to protect one of the city's most valuable assets.
The Battles Of 2003 (January 2003) Eric Goldstein predicts what he sees as the major environmental battles in 2003, including the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, recycling, Superfund legislation, and lead paint.
The Elections and New York's Environment (November 2002) “The increasingly visible use of the environment as a 2002 campaign theme in the New York region tells us something about the candidates who sponsored these messages and the voters who responded to them,” writes Eric Goldstein, who assesses the track record and promises of the winning candidates.
After Fresh Kills (April 2001)
Turbine Turmoil (January 2001)
