Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

environment

environment

  • The State Building Code Council Must Wield Its Power to Electrify New York

    Building upgrades underway (photo: Mike Groll/Governor's Office)


    This year, New York became the first state to mandate zero emission construction in new buildings through the enacted state budget for 2024. Starting in 2025, the state building code willprohibit the installation of fossil-fuel equipment in most new

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  • Wildfire Smoke Should Help All New Yorkers Understand the Need for Clean Air Solutions Like This One

    Wildfire smoke upon New York City (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    There is an old expression: “Opportunities are like sunrises. If you wait too long, you miss them.” As someone who has lived in and around public housing in Western Queens for more than 40 years and has dedicated my life’s work to this special community, we have lived through a very long night, but now we can sense the sunrise, and we are determined not to miss it.

    The recent unhealthy air from the smoke of Canadian wildfires have given all New

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  • New York City Must Prepare Against Future Air Quality Threats; Here’s How

    Smoke over New York City (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    As all of us are learning quickly, the world is a small place when it comes to the devastating effects of climate change. The eerie, post-apocalyptic orange smoke that engulfed New York City as a result of wildfires raging in Canada last week is the latest sign we need to be better prepared for the climate crisis already underway. 

    Globally we are seeing...

  • Why We Must Pass the Climate Change Superfund Act Before the End of Legislative Session

    Flooding on Long Island (photo: Governor's Office)


    Climate change is eating Long Island away, and is projected to raise our sea level to more than50% higher than the global average. If those estimates are correct,...

  • Cut the Trash: Time for New York to Pass the Waste Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act

    Waste (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    Say you order a pair of shoes online. The oversized box comes in; you cut it open to reveal more packaging and the shoebox, and then you finally get to your shoes, which are surrounded by a pile of cardboard, paper, and plastic. You’re a thoughtful, environmentally conscious New Yorker, so you take the gargantuan box out to the curb for recycling and throw out the extras that you can’t recycle. 

    Here’s the thing, though – your online retailer didn’t have to send you a box three

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  • Max Politics Podcast: New York City's 'Green New Deal' Comes Into Focus, with Pete Sikora

    Pushing an NYC 'Green New Deal' (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography)


    May 22 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: New York City's 'Green New Deal' Comes Into Focus, with Pete Sikora

    Pete Sikora, climate campaigns director for New York Communities for Change, joined the show to discuss implementation of New York City's "Green New Deal" — particularly Local Law 97 that deals with building emissions — and more related to climate action, green jobs, gas bans, and other topics.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter ...

  • Endangered Species Day: How New Yorkers Can Help Heal the Animals, Heal the Earth

    Animal awareness (photo: John McCarten/NYC Council)


    May 19 marks Endangered Species Day, a time when people around the world focus on animals who are in grave danger of becoming extinct or soon endangered.  

    This year is especially poignant, as it also marks the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act — landmark legislation conserving wildlife, fish, and plants, as well as habitats.

    ‘An Unprecedented Commitment’: New State Budget Advances Several Major Climate Policies

    Gov. Hochul talks clean energy (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)


    Climate activists are cheering New York’s $229 billion budget for the 2024 fiscal year, which was approved Tuesday night, celebrating three major policy victories and a series of additional funding allocations. The changes, seen as monumental by supporters and critics alike, include passage of legislation that will ban gas hookups in new construction, allow the state power authority to build and own renewable energy facilities, and create a “cap and invest” system with decreasing caps on greenhouse

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  • Want to Cut Emissions in New York City? Pass This Zoning Amendment

    A solar future (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    Climate change is here – and it is here to stay unless we take immediate action. One simple but meaningful way to make an impact is to empower property owners with the tools they need to reduce or altogether eliminate building emissions. 

    Fortunately, the New York City Department of City Planning’s proposed

    Max Politics Podcast: Major Transit & Climate Issues in State Budget Negotiations, with Betsy Plum & Julie Tighe

    Electric buses are one place transit meets climate (photo: Darren McGee/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)


    April 21, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: Major Transit & Climate Issues in State Budget Negotiations, with Betsy Plum & Julie Tighe

    As New York state budget negotiations continue, there are major transit and climate issues being decided. Betsy Plum of Riders Alliance and Julie Tighe of League of Conservation Voters joined the show to break down the most pressing topics on transit and climate and what to watch for as a state budget deal is finalized by

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  • Major Climate and Energy Policies Being Decided in Albany State Budget Negotiations

    Gov. Hochul talks green energy (photo: Governor's Office)


    As Governor Kathy Hochul and the Legislature continue to hammer out the details of the overdue $230 billion state budget, there are major climate and energy policies at stake that environmental advocates say are crucial to meeting New York’s climate goals.

    Already about three weeks late, the state budget has been held up over the governor’s insistence on further changes to the bail law and wrangling with the Legislature over her ambitious “Housing Compact”

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  • Hochul’s Climate Test: Banning Gas, Stopping Pipelines

    Gov. Hochul talks climate (photo: Governor's Office)


    New York is poised to ban fossil fuels in new buildings statewide. Apolitically popular...

  • New York City Must Ensure Successful Implementation of Its Landmark Building Emissions Law

    Greening buildings (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    This winter had a lot of erratic weather for New Yorkers, including thesecond-warmest January ever. While less frigid temperatures may be a relief to some, they serve as a reminder that our climate is changing and these changes are having devastating impacts. Between 2017 and 2021 the U.S. experienced

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  • The Most Important Infrastructure Project You’ve Never Heard Of: Improving the Massive $52 Billion Flood Protection Plan for NYC

    Storm barriers (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    This week, on the heels of the latest sobering United Nations climate change report, the nextround of public input will close for one of the largest public infrastructure projects ever to be considered for the New York City

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  • He Won Key New York Environmental Battles That Reverberate Today: Celebrating Al Butzel

    Al Butzel at City Hall in 2009 (photo: Tracy Collins @threecee)


    A towering figure in New York environmental law for the past half-century, Albert K. Butzel is relocating to Seattle to be closer to family. Al and his wife Brenda depart this weekend. We worked alongside Al over the years and offer our reflections on his enormous impact below.

    First, Charles Komanoff, a policy analyst who runs the Carbon Tax Center and is

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  • New York Families Demand A Climate Budget

    Rallying for Climate Justice (photo: Chandra Bocci)


    We write this on behalf of parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, educators, and caregivers deeply concerned for our children’s futures. Over the next few weeks, Governor Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie will finalize the state budget for the upcoming fiscal year. When they do, they must remember their littlest constituents and include the full...

  • The Inflation Reduction Act is a Boon for New York’s Economy, Communities, and Climate Efforts

    (Credit: Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)


    Sixty-thousand electric vehicle (EV) chargers on New York’s highways. Dozens of large-scale solar and battery storage plants, many of them in the state’s most disadvantaged counties. The largest planned deployment of offshore wind projects in the United States. Thousands of new good-paying green-energy jobs, with skills training programs to ensure they can be filled. 

    New York’s already robust clean energy economy has been soaring in recent months, especially when

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  • For a Just Energy Transition that Preserves Jobs, Clean Hydrogen Must Be Part of the Playbook

     

    Gov. Hochul celebrates clean hydrogen (photo: Mike Groll/Governor's Office)


    Too often, conversations about how to address climate change have a glaring blind spot. Supporters and opponents frequently debate the merits of various clean energy solutions and argue over where to locate wind turbines and solar fields. But one key piece of the clean energy puzzle remains conspicuously absent: the people who will build and operate clean energy facilities.

    We are encouraged to see that Governor Hochul is addressing the

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  • How New York Will Implement the $4.2 Billion Environmental Bond Act Passed by Voters in 2022

    Projects underway (photo: Mike Groll/Governor's Office)


    After voters overwhelmingly approved it last fall, state officials expect to issue the first bonds under the $4.2 billion Environmental Bond Act in the upcoming fiscal year, which begins April 1. It will take years to spend the entire sum, aimed at addressing some of the state's most dire climate and environmental needs.

    The bond act authorizes the state to raise its general obligation debt to support public works in four broad categories: climate change mitigation, flood risk reduction, water quality improvement, and land

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  • Max Politics Podcast: The Climate Action Council's Plan for New York's Future

     

    Doreen Harris & Basil Seggos (photo: @Doreen_M_Harris)


    December 22, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: The Climate Action Council's Plan for New York's Future

    The Co-Chairs of New York's Climate Action Council -- Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority President and CEO Doreen M. Harris -- joined the show to discuss the newly-passed NYS Climate Action Council Scoping Plan, "which outlines recommended policies and actions to help meet the goals and requirements of the nation-leading Climate

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  • Growing to Love New York City’s Soils

    A community garden (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    As urbanites, it is easy to disregard the ground beneath our feet. As we sidestep tumbleweeds of trash or awkwardly circumvent waste from any of New York City’s 508,000 registered dogs, we tend to lose not only the forestand

    City Council Pushes State on Climate Plan, Allocation of Environmental Bond Act Funds

    Council Members Lincoln Restler, center, & Jim Gennaro (photo: John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit)


    The New York City Council is calling on Governor Kathy Hochul, the State Legislature, and other environmental leaders to strongly consider New York City as they plan and implement the next phases of the state’s sweeping climate agenda.

    In a resolution adopted Wednesday the Council is urging the state to allocate New York City its

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  • Victorious, Now Governor Hochul Needs to Lead on Climate

    Gov. Hochul makes a green jobs announcement (photo: Governor's Office)


    Governor Kathy Hochul won election in a low turnout race thanks to progressive activists, elected officials, and organizations who showed up to get out the vote. Now it’s time for her to deliver on her campaign’s climate promises and pass the Climate, Jobs and Justice legislative package.

    It has been three years since New York passed its landmark climate law, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. In that time, the state has ...

  • New York Voters Approve $4.2 Billion Environmental Bond Act

    Gov. Hochul at a climate action announcement (photo: Mike Groll/Governor's Office)


    Voters across New York have approved $4.2 billion in state borrowing proposed by Governor Kathy Hochul and the State Legislature to pay for major projects environmentalists say are key to developing a more robust response to climate change and pollution.

    In numbers sure to shift as more votes are counted, initial election night tallies showed about 68% of voters approving the measure, 28% disapproving, and 12% of voters not weighing in at all. The Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act

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  • Arguments For and Against Question 1 on the 2022 New York Ballot, The $4.2 Billion Environmental Bond Act

    Then-Lt. Gov. Hochul opens a solar farm (photo: Philip Kamrass/ New York Power Authority)


    On the back of every New Yorker's ballot this fall is a question: whether or not to allow the state to borrow $4.2 billion to pay for major clean environment and climate change mitigation infrastructure.

    The provision, known as the "Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act," would authorize the state comptroller to sell bonds on behalf of the State of New York to pay for projects related to greenhouse gas emissions, flood risk, clean water, land conservation, and other climate-related

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