Push for governor to sign Horseshoe Crab Protection Act intensifies as time runs out

SOURCE:

https://riverheadlocal.com/2024/11/18/push-for-governor-to-sign-horseshoe-crab-protection-act-intensifies-as-time-runs-out/

By Denise Civiletti - November 18, 2024

Environmental advocates have launched a full-court press to get Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign a bill that would ban the harvesting of horseshoe crabs in New York.

The Horseshoe Crab Protection Act, passed by the State Legislature in June bans the taking of horseshoe crabs from New York waters for commercial fishing or biomedical purposes. Hochul has until the end of the year to sign the bill into law. 

The legislation aims to protect an ancient species advocates say plays a vital role in the marine ecosystem but its decline is so serious they describe the  arthropod as “on the brink of local extinction.” 

Horseshoe crabs, which evolved more than 200 million years ago, are found from Nova Scotia to Mexico and live year-round in Long Island Sound. Its decline, due to harvesting and habitat loss, is documented by the Long Island Sound Study research.

Horseshoe crabs are an important bait for commercial fishermen of whelk and eel. Horseshoe crab is the only usable bait for commercial fishermen catching whelk, Rob Carpenter of the Long Island Farm Bureau told Times Beacon Record Newspapers in June. The bill would severely impact Long Island’s commercial fishing industry, he said.

Horseshoe crabs are also harvested for biomedical purposes. Their blood is used to perform safety checks for a variety of vaccines, injectable drugs, intravenous solutions and implantable medical devices such as pacemakers. Pharmaceutical companies have been developing synthetic alternatives to the horseshoe crab’s blood, and the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) is in the process of adopting guidelines for synthetic alternatives to horseshoe crab blood. The guidelines are expected to become official in May. 

Under current New York State law, the horseshoe crab is a fishery managed by the State Department of Environmental Conservation, which by regulation has imposed daily trip limits and an annual quota of 150,000 horseshoe crabs.

The Horseshoe Crab Protection Act, sponsored by Assembly Member Deborah Glick  and State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, both Democrats who represent districts in Manhattan, passed the legislature in largely party-line votes in both chambers. 

The East End legislative delegation, State Senator Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) and Assembly Members Fred Thiele (D-Sag Harbor) and Jodi Giglio (R-Baiting Hollow), opposed the bill.

Giglio told Newsday in June she feared the ban would put some commercial fishermen on Long Island out of business because horseshoe crabs are the best bait for conk and eel.

Over the past three decades, the horseshoe crab population has crashed and their habitat is rapidly disappearing, according to a petition by the Center for Biological Diversity in February, asking the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to list the Atlantic horseshoe crab as an endangered or threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act.

“American horseshoe crab populations have crashed primarily due to habitat loss and overharvesting by commercial fisheries and biomedical industries. In 2022, nearly one million crabs were harvested for biomedical bleeding, including female crabs. Biomedical harvests also can occur at any time of year, including during spawning season. Horseshoe crab blood harvests have nearly doubled since 2017,” the petition states.

Overharvesting for bait in the 1990s decimated the populations along the Atlantic coast, the Center for Biological Diversity said in its petition. The populations have never recovered and remain at one-third of what they were before the overharvesting of the 1990s.

“Despite low horseshoe crab populations and egg densities, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission…in 2021… recommend[ed] increased horseshoe crab harvests and harvests of female horseshoe crabs,” the petition states. 

The horseshoe crab’s overall vulnerability to climate change was ranked by NOAA as “very high” in 2023, according to the petition. 

“Sea level rise and extreme weather events fueled by climate change have resulted in the destruction of spawning beach habitat. Shoreline hardening through sea walls, jetties, and bulkheads, has further degraded horseshoe crab habitat. Habitat loss has reduced the available grounds for spawning horseshoe crabs and their eggs. Dredging and harbor deepening have increased across the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and resulted in substantial mortality events for horseshoe crabs and destruction of their habitat,” the petition continues. 

The Group for the East End, based in Southold, has launched an email campaign to urge Hochul to sign the bill. 

“While horseshoe crabs have played an integral role in the biomedical and commercial fishery industries, it has been to their detriment. Alternatives for biomedical use of horseshoe crab blood exist and have become mainstream,” the Group for the East End said. 

“If alternatives are not utilized for commercial bait, the horseshoe crab population will likely continue to decline beyond repair. What impacts might this have on the fishery industry if action isn’t taken?” the organization said on its website.

Connecticut adopted “stringent regulations” last year to help boost horseshoe crab populations, Group for the East End notes. That will likely increase harvest rates in New York waters, the organization said.

The DEC’s management strategy “has brought horseshoe crabs to the brink of local extinction,” Group for the East End says.

The organization has published an online form for sending a message to the governor urging her to sign the legislation. Access the form here.

“This legislation will allow the populations to recover and ensure the survival of this important species,” Citizens Campaign for the Environment said in a press release yesterday. “Governor Hochul has been reluctant to sign the bill, and she only has 6 more weeks to do so.”

The Farmingdale-based organization released a letter yesterday written by conservation scientist Jane Goodall to Hochul on Nov. 12, asking the governor to sign the bill into law.

“By signing this bill, you can ensure the survival of the horseshoe crab and the many species that depend on it,” Goodall wrote.  “I have devoted my life to preserving the planet and I hope together, we can make a lasting difference in this important corner of the world.”

Trump Presidency Looms Over New York’s Ambitious Climate Agenda

SOURCE:

https://www.thecity.nyc/2024/11/15/trump-zeldin-hochul-climate-environment/

BY SAMANTHA MALDONADO - November 15, 2024

With President Donald Trump set to return to the White House, New York is all but on its own to play catch-up with its ambitious, legally mandated climate goals.

The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, passed in 2019 during Trump’s first presidential term, requires the state to have zero-emissions electricity by 2040 and slash greenhouse gas emissions 85% by 2050.

While the state has made some progress — aided in large part by the Biden administration, whose friendly stance toward climate action gave way to smoother offshore wind permitting and tax incentives for cleaner vehicles — it’s got a long way to go. Even with that wind at its back, however, New York had already fallen about three years behind its own benchmarks.

“The role of the state is far more important, in that we can no longer rely on the federal government,” said Michael Gerrard, director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University. “There’s plenty we can do if we have the political will.”

Gerrard said Gov. Kathy Hochul should double down on advancing the climate law’s aims by following the sweeping policy blueprint that plots out a transition away from fossil fuels for all parts of New York’s economy, from home heating and energy sources, to what kinds of cars are on the road. But the state lacks a clear funding source or spending plan to carry that out.

“New York has taken significant steps to implement the Climate Act and we will continue our ongoing efforts to build a clean energy economy,” Paul DiMichele, a spokesperson for Hochul, said in a statement.

One person who could help or hinder Hochul’s efforts is Lee Zeldin, Trump’s appointee to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Zeldin, a former state senator and Congressman representing eastern Long Island, challenged Hochul for governor in 2022 and came within six points of winning. This summer, he called New York’s climate law “unrealistic and unobtainable,” saying its goals amounted to “pathetic political posturing.”

Zeldin said Tuesday that the EPA has the “opportunity to roll back regulations that are forcing businesses to struggle.” That echoes some groups in New York that have raised concerns over the impacts and feasibility of the state’s climate goals. The Business Council of New York gave Zeldin a “top pro-business score” in 2014 when he was a state senator, while just three years earlier, Environmental Advocates New York awarded him an “Oil Slick” award.

Still, Hochul is holding out hope that her former political rival will remember where he’s from: an area vulnerable to flooding and growing more so as sea levels rise, reliant on groundwater as its drinking source, and home to many whose livelihoods depend on a healthy environment.

“Hopefully, these are all factors that the new head of EPA will know, what was happening in his backyard, and try to help solve problems, not create more,” Hochul said this week.

Zeldin does not have a reputation as an environmental champion, though advocates who worked with him locally said he stepped up in crucial times.

Adrienne Esposito, executive director of the Long Island-based Citizens Campaign for the Environment, said she asked Zeldin to publicly oppose Trump’s idea to drill for oil off the East Coast. He did, she said, in part because he recognized the harmful impact that would have had on Long Island fishermen.

“When pressed by his constituents on issues that they really cared about, he would be responsive. What I’m worried about now is that his responsiveness will turn away from the public and more towards Trump’s agenda,” Esposito said. 

Regarding Trump, Esposito added, “He traded the industry’s bottom lines for public health. When he had to choose between the two, he chose industry. What we need Zeldin to do is fight for the public need above corporate greed.” 

Rejecting Climate Science

What Zeldin ultimately decides to do if confirmed as head of the EPA may be a question of how closely he hews to Trump’s vision. 

Trump has long rejected climate science. During his first term, his administration gutted research funding, and the EPA rolled back over 100 policies and rules aimed at lowering planet-warming emissions and protecting the environment. 

Perhaps the biggest impact the EPA could have on New York’s climate aims is rolling back Biden-era rules that limit harmful tailpipe emissions. These rules aimed to slash pollution and push the U.S. vehicle market toward electric and hybrid vehicles.

This rule boosted New York’s efforts to tackle its largest source of planet-warming emissions: the transportation sector. Hochul issued a directive requiring all cars sold in the state to be zero-emissions — that is, powered by hydrogen or electricity — by 2035.

“Whether we’re able to meet the 2035 target, and what happens along the way is mostly out of our hands, it’s mostly a federal matter,” Gerrard said. “That’s the single thing that I think is the greatest problem that the election has for New York’s achievement of these climate goals.”

One person uniquely poised to nudge the Trump administration toward greater support for electric vehicles is Elon Musk, Trump’s confidant, appointee to co-lead a new proposed Department of Government Efficiency, and founder of electric car manufacturer Tesla.

Some New York environmental advocates are pushing for the state to adopt a clean fuel standard, which would require a reduction in the carbon intensity of vehicles, thereby incentivizing a switch from gasoline to a lower-emissions fuels such as biodiesel. The state Senate passed legislation to do so, but the Assembly never held a vote on the measure. Hochul could prioritize state approval of such a standard.

‘Dominance,’ Renewables Included

Zeldin also promised to “pursue energy dominance” for the U.S., without specifying what kind of energy he wants to be dominant. 

“Does that mean only fossil fuels? Trump has been outspoken in opposing offshore wind — do wind and solar and geothermal factor into that equation?” said Judith Enck, a former regional administrator of the EPA. “It’s in the EPA wheelhouse. The EPA sometimes issues permits for coal-fired power plants, fracking, pipelines.”

One clue: When Zeldin ran for governor, he vowed to overturn New York’s ban on fracking and said New York was not “tapping into” a supply of energy, suggesting the state could extract natural gas, which he said would also create jobs.

But clean energy has been a job creator nationwide, and years earlier, Zeldin had recognized its benefits.

“The key is to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, to become more environmentally friendly and pursue clean and green energy,” Zeldin said during a 2016 congressional campaign debate against his Democratic challenger.

Environmental advocates say that fulfilling Zeldin’s “energy dominance” pledge will have to include renewables in the mix at some level.

“I don’t see how the country is energy dominant or energy secure and less reliant on the roller coaster ride of the oil markets if we’re not getting more of our energy, including for our vehicles, from electricity and renewable sources,” said Julie Tighe, president of the New York League of Conservation Voters. 

Zeldin, however, voted against the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, which have been credited with spurring investment in clean energy and manufacturing — including in New York.

Trump has vowed to rescind unspent dollars from the Inflation Reduction Act — a big risk for the state. Already, his transition team is seeking to repeal the IRA’s electric vehicle tax credit.

“New York needs to be cognizant of that when it comes to prioritizing the resources it does have to maximize greenhouse gas reduction,” said Patrick Orecki, director of state studies at the Citizens Budget Commission, in an email. 

He emphasized that while federal dollars and incentives help advance the climate law, the state is ultimately on the hook to find its own funding.

New York is slated to establish a program, known as “cap-and-invest,” that would charge polluters for emissions they spew in an effort to incentivize them to emit less and to raise money to pay for climate-related investments. But the state has yet to write regulations for the program — one of several key deadlines in the Climate Act its missed. 

“If the state keeps missing climate law milestones, nobody else is coming to our rescue,” said Eddie Bautista, executive director of the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance. “We’re all disappointed and waiting to see if she will start taking climate change mitigation and adaptation with the urgency we need.”

The numbers behind Proposition 2 in Suffolk County

SOURCE:

https://www.newsday.com/long-island/environment/li-votes-prop-2-bwelvmgf?utm_medium=web_share_api&utm_campaign=web_share_api

(Click link to watch video)