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Highlights
Tell 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. 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! Then, join us and our partners on November 15th for a rally in front of Governor Hochul’s NYC office to call on her to sign the Birds and Bees Protection Act into law. We will be hosting a press event on Long Island too, so stay tuned for more news!
NY Selects 4,000MW of Offshore Wind!
Despite some setbacks for offshore wind last month, there was one HUGE step forward. We joined Governor Kathy Hochul and many of our Wind Works partners as she announced the state’s largest ever investment in renewable energy. The state has selected three offshore wind projects, plus 22 land-based renewable energy projects, which will power a total of 2.6 million homes. This is a massive investment in offshore wind, with these three projects making nearly half of the state’s offshore wind goal of 9,000 megawatts (MW) by 2035. Congratulations to the awarded projects: Attentive Energy, Community Offshore Wind, and Excelsior Wind!
Happenings
Testifying in Support of Waste Reduction in Albany
One of our priority bills in NY is the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, which would hold manufacturers—not taxpayers—responsible for their waste. We were in Albany last month to testify to the Senate and Assembly in support of this bill to reduce plastic packaging, improve recycling, and save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars annually! Many thanks to Senator Pete Harckham and Assemblymember Deborah Glick for their leadership on this issue. NY must get the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure act passed in 2024!
Heading to D.C. to Protect Long Island Sound
Our annual Long Island Sound Study Education Day was an absolute success! We met with our NY and CT Representatives to update them on all the progress the coalition made over the last year to restore Long Island Sound, and to push for increased federal funding to further these LIS protection programs. Thank you to all our coalition partners who joined us on the trip, and thanks to all our Representatives and Senators who met with us and who continue to be champions for protecting Long Island Sound.
The Problems with Artificial Turf
Throughout the nation, natural grass playgrounds and athletic fields are being replaced with “artificial” or “synthetic” turf. The use of artificial turf raises significant environmental, health, and safety concerns that parents, schools, and policymakers must be made aware of. Last month, we joined the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) to co-host a virtual educational presentation to discuss the significant problems associated with artificial turf, including water quality impacts, PFAS contamination, microplastic pollution, and more. If you missed it, check it out here.
Transitioning to Offshore Wind
New York is poised to be a national leader in offshore wind, with a mandate of 9,000MW of offshore wind by 2035. In addition to the announcement on 4,000 MW of offshore wind mentioned above, there were other important developments in October:
Empire Wind 2 Public Hearings and Wind Rally
In October, the NY Public Service Commission held public hearings in Long Beach on the Empire 2 project, which would power 600,000 Long Island homes via a cable connection through Long Beach to a substation in Island Park. We had a huge rally ahead of the hearing in support of offshore wind, particularly about the need to move forward with the existing projects and grant needed subsidies for offshore wind so we can hit our Climate Law targets. It was a fantastic rally with our environmental and labor partners.At the hearings, hundreds of people were in attendance and City Hall was packed. One thing is clear – NYS must move the cable route instead of taking their planned route through Long Beach. The Governor recently vetoed a bill alienating parkland to allow for the planned Long Beach cable route, so stay tuned for updates on what is happening Empire Wind 2 and the cable connection!
NY Denies Subsidies for Offshore Wind
Due to Covid, supply chain issues and inflation, the offshore wind developers for the projects already selected in NY (Sunrise, Empire, & Beacon Wind) requested subsidies from New York State to ensure they could viably move forward with their projects. In October, their request was rejected. We had joined many of our Wind Works NY partners in supporting the subsidies, without which we could see years-long delays in bringing these projects online, particularly for the early projects that are nearly through the approval process and have already made massive financial investments in the community. This was a major setback to our ability to reach our climate change mandate of 70% renewables by 2030. We are now urging New York to move forward quickly with a rebidding process to keep these early projects on track and ensure we do not lose four years of work!Our Offshore Wind Future, Part 2.
Back in July, we placed an 8-page educational piece, “Our Offshore Wind Future”, in the Long Island Herald. It was a big hit, so we’ve created another piece with even more great educational info about offshore wind. It just ran in local papers all along the south shore. Check out the new factsheet here.
Long Island Water Quality Summer 2023
We joined Stony Brook University’s Dr. Christopher Gobler in October to announce the water quality results for Long Island’s surface waters this summer. The news was not good! The 2023 Assessment of Water Quality Impairments for Long Island found more dead zones, toxic tides, fish kills, and a record-setting season for harmful algal blooms this past summer. Excessive nitrogen from sewage and septic systems has caused water quality impairments across Long Island and the problem is only going to get worse. This data highlights the need for a recurring revenue stream and significant investments to upgrade our wastewater infrastructure.
Fighting Contamination at the Brookhaven Landfill
Last month, a Newsday investigation found that Brookhaven Town had ignored whistleblower concerns about contaminated and improperly handled ash from local waste incinerators that was sent to the Brookhaven Landfill for disposal. This went on for years, and the Town sided with incinerator despite potential health risks to the local community. We joined the NAACP, Brookhaven Chapter for a press conference to call for an independent investigation into the dumping of potentially hazardous waste at the Brookhaven Landfill. This is just the latest in a long history of health concerns and environmental hazards associated with the Brookhaven Landfill. The community deserves better!
Working Together to Protect and Restore our Great Lakes
In October, we headed to Cleveland for the annual Healing Our Waters (HOW) Great Lakes Coalition Conference. The conference brings together advocates from all eight Great Lakes states to share information, visit successful restoration projects in Cleveland, and develop joint strategies to advance Great Lakes restoration. CCE serves as a state lead for the HOW coalition in New York State, and will continue working with our partners to advance Great Lakes restoration priorities in 2024, including addressing the impacts of climate change, fighting for environmental justice in Great Lakes communities, and more!
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.
