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Highlights
Victory! New York Passes Historic Environmental Budget
Governor Hochul and New York State legislature passed the final 2022-23 state budget, providing historic investments in protecting our environment. Some of our top priorities for the year made it into the final budget, including:
Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act ($4.2 billion): The largest environmental bond act in the state’s history, and the first since 1996, this bond act will invest in climate mitigation, clean water, flood risk reduction, open space, environmental justice, and improved recreational opportunities—while supporting nearly 100,000 jobs. New Yorkers will vote on the bond act in November.
Environmental Protection Fund (EPF): Funded at an all-time high of $400 million, with increased funding for Great Lakes and ocean protection, protecting open space, fighting climate change, and more!
Clean Water Infrastructure Act: Includes $500 million to upgrade aging and failing drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, while also protecting the sources of our drinking water.
Wetlands Protection: After nearly two decades of advocacy by CCE and our partners, the freshwater wetlands program was updated and will protect an additional one million acres of critical wetlands across the state.
Offshore Wind Investment: The budget provides $500 million to support the offshore wind supply chain and support job growth in offshore wind industry.
East Coast’s Largest Anaerobic Digester Breaks Ground on Long Island
After 10 years of work, the anaerobic digester in Yaphank, Long Island, broke ground in April! We joined American Organic Energy, Suffolk County Executive Bellone, and our community partners for the groundbreaking ceremony. This facility marks a change in the way we think about food waste on Long Island by converting 180,000 tons of food scraps and create 6 megawatts of locally generated renewable energy. Recycling food waste and fighting climate change is a win for NY!
Happenings
We Are One Step Closer to Banning Unnecessary Uses of Toxic Neonic Pesticides
In April, we joined advocates from across the state in Albany to build support for the Birds and Bees Protection Act, which was recently passed by the NYS Assembly! This bill will ban the use of neonicotinoid (neonic) treated corn, soybean, and wheat seeds, as well as cosmetic uses on lawns and golf courses. A diverse coalition, made up of environmental organizations, health care professionals, and organic farmers, worked for several years to advance the bill. We applaud Assemblyman Steve Englebright for sponsoring and championing this bill and the NYS Assembly, and now look forward to continuing our work with the Senate bill sponsor and champion, Senator Brad Hoylman, to pass this bill through the Senate before session ends on June 2.
Supporting a Strong Climate Plan for New York State
New York State has the most aggressive climate law in the nation, requiring 70% renewable energy by 2030, carbon-free electricity by 2040, and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The state’s Climate Action Council has developed a draft scoping plan to implement these ambitious and critical goals. We recently attended public hearings on the plan in Buffalo and on Long Island, providing support and calling for improvements to the plan. Look for an email alert from us soon with more information and tips to submit your own written comments!
Check out our newly released Offshore Wind Roundtable Discussions
Long Island is on the front lines of climate change and is already seeing the impacts of rising sea levels, extreme weather events, ocean acidification and more. The good news is that we are also in the midst of a massive shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy, especially offshore wind. We sat down with our partners in labor and leading environmental experts for two roundtable discussions on the benefits of offshore wind for Long Island. Learn more and check out the videos here.
Clean Energy Will Soon Be on the Way to NYC
The NY Public Service Commission voted 5-2 last month to approve Clean Path New York and Hydro-Quebec's Champlain Hudson Power Express, two transmission projects that will deliver a combined 2500+ MW of renewable power to the downstate NY grid and significantly slash harmful emissions in NYC. Want to learn more about these two important projects? Check out our Lunch and Learn series on each proposal, co-hosted with New York League of Conservation Voters: Bringing Hydropower to NY and Clean Path NY.
Celebrating Earth Day 2022
In celebration of Earth Day, advocates from across New York came together to voice their support for a comprehensive legislative agenda to protect our water, land, and pollinators; improve recycling, reduce toxics, and fight climate change! CCE joined the efforts in Albany and virtually and were successful in passing several of priority bills through the Assembly and Senate. We had a very busy Earth Week and some of our favorite events were when we:
Joined Congressman Tom Suozzi and our Long Island Sound protection partners to celebrate $31 million in federal funding for Long Island Sound, $1 million for North Hempstead Beach Park, $1 million for Glen Coves Nancy Court pump station, and $300,000 for shellfish seeding in Hempstead Harbor.
Joined best-selling author Keith O’Brien in Niagara Falls as he spoke about his new book Paradise Falls, which tells the human story behind the environmental disaster at Love Canal.
Attended an event with Governor Hochul to highlight the environmental victories in this year’s budget, including an all-time high Environmental Protection Fund and $4.2 billion environmental bond act.
Supported our friends at the Long Island Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO for an event honoring Attorney General Leticia James and Roger Clayman.
Hosted a Lunch and Learn with the NY League of Conservation Voters and NYSERDA president Doreen Harris to discuss the latest on offshore wind in New York.
Had a great time at “What’s Brewin’ Offshore?” at the Brickhouse Brewery in Patchogue, where we co-hosted a fun and informational session about everything offshore wind and jobs it will create.
Upcoming: Protecting Long lsland Sound
We are working with our partners at The Nature Conservancy and Save the Sound to host a 3-part webinar series “Long Island Sound: Driving Local Actions to Tackle Water Pollution” to discuss, convene, and share solutions to marine debris, nitrogen, and fecal bacteria pollution. Last month we kicked off the series with our first webinar “Local Actions to Tackle Marine Debris and Plastic Pollution”. The May 12th webinar will include presentations and a panel on nitrogen pollution and reduction practices in the Sound, including:
Residential Lawn Fertilizer Use and Nitrogen Loading
Healthy Lawns, Health River Fertilizer Reduction Campaign
Collaborating to Speed Up Clean Water Implementation on Long Island’s North Shore
Each webinar will allow time for a question-and-answer session with the panelists and technical break-out groups for those that want to take a deeper dive into pollution issues. Register now!