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Highlights
Telling Governor Hochul to Save the Bees!
Bees are one of the most important species on the planet. Unfortunately, they are dying at an alarming rate. This loss of our bees and other pollinators has been largely linked to the excessive use of neonic pesticides. The Birds and Bees Protection Act was resoundingly passed by the NYS Legislature and is now waiting to be signed by Governor Hochul. This bill would ban the most harmful and unnecessary uses of toxic neonic pesticides. In November, we held a press conference on Long Island with our partners urging the Governor to sign this crucial bill into law, which you can watch here. Several of our partner groups also held a big rally in NYC. There was also a great op-ed in Newsday, check it out if you missed it. Help us fight the pesticide industry and protect our pollinators by sending an email to Governor Hochul and tell her it is time to save the bees and to sign the Birds and Bees Protection Act!
Happenings
Transitioning to Offshore Wind. There were a lot of big developments for offshore wind in November:
NY Announces New Bidding for Offshore Wind Projects. Due to the pandemic, supply chain issues and inflation, the offshore wind developers for the projects already selected in NY (Sunrise, Empire, & Beacon Wind) requested subsidies from NYS to ensure they could viably move forward with their projects. In October, their request was rejected. We joined many of our Wind Works NY partners in supporting the subsidies and have been pushing for an expedited rebidding process so that projects can move forward to meet our climate change mandate of 70% renewables by 2030. In November, New York State announced they will be holding the rebidding process with a very quick turnaround timeline (bids due in January, selection of winners in February) and that the existing contracts will not be canceled. This will allow early projects, if re-selected, to move forward on a reasonable timeline. This is very good news!
New York State also announced plans to hold a fourth solicitation for additional offshore wind projects. Last month, we joined Governor Hochul as she announced three projects (Excelsior Wind, Community Offshore Wind, and Attentive) that will power over two million homes as a result of the third offshore wind solicitation. Another round of projects, in addition to the re-bidding process, is a huge step in moving offshore wind forward and achieving 9,000 mw of offshore wind by 2035.
BOEM NY & NJ Environmental Justice Forum. We attended an excellent NY and NJ Environmental Justice Forum at UPROSE in Brooklyn last month. We toured Equinor’s facility at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, a large offshore wind port that will house operations and maintenance for several large offshore wind farms. It was a great discussion and was very exciting to tour the facility and see that an abandoned industrial facility will be transformed into a productive offshore wind terminal.
Lunch and Learn: Why Wind Works. We joined our partners at the NY League of Conservation Voters to host a virtual presentation on Why Wind Works last month, featuring expert panelists from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, NYS Energy Research and Development Authority, and US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. We want to provide the facts on why offshore wind works, why it is needed in our state, and what benefits it brings to several regions throughout New York. Thanks to the almost 200 people who joined. If you missed it, check it out here.
Fighting to protect the Great Lakes in Washington
We joined with NY partners from the Healing our Waters Great Lakes Coalition for a trip to Washington DC last month. We had very productive meetings with our US Senators and Representatives from NYS—calling for continued investment in the successful Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and programs to upgrade our drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. We need Congress to support clean water in the final 2024 budget!
South Shore Estuary Reserve Stewardship Awards
We joined Deputy Secretary of State Kisha Santiago-Martinez to host the South Shore Estuary Reserve 2023 Stewardship Awards. The SSER Stewardship Award program is designed to recognize citizens and organizations that have made significant contributions to the improvement of the estuary. Congratulations to Richard Groh, Chief Environmental Analyst at the Town of Babylon and Dr. Artie Kopelman, President of the Coastal Research & Education Society of Long Island (CRESLI), who won awards for their dedication in protecting and restoring the Reserve!
Understanding the Health Risks of 1,4-Dioxane on Long Island
Yale Superfund Research Center has crafted a study to better understand the impact of 1,4-dioxane exposure on Long Island residents. This spring, we launched our partnership with Yale to provide education and outreach to inform Long Islanders about this new, exciting program. If you live on Long Island and are interested in participating and finding out if you have been exposed to 1,4-dioxane, you can find out more here.
UBS Arena Sustainability
We joined UBS Arena for their launch of new sustainability goals—100% renewable energy and zero waste! UBS Arena, located in Belmont, Long Island, is a certified LEED building and is now going further with their sustainability goals. The venue will make its own renewable energy and meet a zero waste goal, which includes donating and composting excess food. We applaud these efforts by UBS Arena and thank you for a terrific event.
Talking Pollinators at REI
REI held a grand opening for the new location in Huntington Station, Long Island, and we were there to talk about bees! We spent the day at the store opening, educating shoppers about the Birds & Bees Protection Act and the importance of banning neonic pesticides. Shoppers were eager to sign on and urge Gov Hochul to sign the Birds & Bees Protection Act!
Celebrating Board Member Richard Olsen-Harbich
We were honored to attend the book signing of our longtime board member Richard Olsen-Harbich at Bedell Cellars. Check out his great book, “Sun, Sea, Soil, Wine” available for purchase here. Congrats Rich!