ALBANY, NY — On Nov. 8, the state's voters will cast their ballots, weighing in on Proposition 1A, the Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022.
This election day, clean water is on the ballot—please don’t forget to vote on this once-in-a-generation opportunity! The Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Bond Act, which is Prop 1 on the ballot, provides $4.2 billion for:
Protecting drinking water and upgrading outdated infrastructure
Safeguarding communities from flooding and extreme weather
Conserving open space and family farms
Fighting climate change
Advancing environmental justice
Strengthening New York’s economy and creating over 100,000 jobs
Don’t forget to flip your ballot and vote “yes” on Prop 1 on November 8th. If you want to learn more, check out our webpage and our videos on the Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Bond Act. Please spread the word far and wide!
Sincerely,
Your Friends at CCE
Long Island is on the front lines on climate change. Our Congressional representatives from districts 1, 2, 3, and 4 will have a crucial role to play in ensuring protections for our coastal communities, local economy, and environment. We invited both major party candidates from each of these districts to have 15-minute discussions with us discussing their plans for fighting climate change. We asked each candidate their plans to mitigate the potential impacts facing Long Islanders, views on promoting renewable energy, climate policy, and support for local green jobs. If you missed the event live, be sure to check our climate chats with:
JACKIE GORDON, Candidate for the 2nd Congressional District
ANDREW GARBARINO, Candidate for the 2nd Congressional District
BRIDGET FLEMING, Candidate for the 1st Congressional District
LAURA GILLEN, Candidate for the 4th Congressional District
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, Candidate for 3rd Congressional District
Long Island is on the front lines of climate change. Our Congressional Representatives from districts 1, 2, 3 and 4 have a crucial role to play in ensuring protections for our coastal communities, local economy, and environment. Students for Climate Action and Citizens Campaign for the Environment invited both major party candidates from each of these districts to have 15-minute discussions with us to talk about their plans for fighting climate change. Join us for these informative climate chats! This zoom event is open and free to the public.
Date: Thursday, October 20, 2022
Time: 7:30pm – 9:00pm
Location: Register for the zoom event today
Schedule:
7:45-8:00 JACKIE GORDON, Candidate for the 2nd Congressional District
8:00-8:15 ANDREW GARBARINO, Candidate for the 2nd Congressional District
8:15-8:30 BRIDGET FLEMING, Candidate for the 1st Congressional District
8:30-8:45 LAURA GILLEN, Candidate for the 4th Congressional District
8:45-9:00 ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, Candidate for 3rd Congressional District
Thank you for joining us!
Sincerely,
Your friends at CCE
Image by lisa runnels from Pixabay
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Celebrating our Annual Equinox Gala
We had an amazing night celebrating 37 years of grassroots accomplishments with our partners, supporters, and friends at our annual Equinox Gala. This year we were overjoyed to honor Matthew Aracich, President of the Long Island Building and Construction Trades, for his work promoting offshore wind and fighting climate change; and Charles Vigliotti, President of American Organic Energy, for his leadership in food waste recycling and his work to reduce solid waste in New York. A huge thank you to everyone who came out and made the night so unforgettable!
Prop 1: NY’s Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Bond Act
On November 8th, New Yorkers will have the opportunity to vote on Prop 1: The Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Bond Act. If enacted, the Bond Act will allocate $4.2 billion to a variety of critical environmental programs and projects from Buffalo to Long Island that will protect drinking water and upgrade infrastructure, protect communities from flooding and extreme weather, conserve open space and family farms, and fight climate change. We are working around the state to educate the public on the benefits of this important funding and reminding everyone to flip your ballot in November and vote on Prop 1. In September, we joined our Senate and Assembly members, Long Island elected officials, labor leaders, community stakeholders, and environmentalists for a press conference and rally in support of the Bond Act. This month, we are also going to be hosting a Lunch and Learn on the importance of the Bond Act on October 18th from 12:00pm -1:00pm. Register for the zoom forum today.
Combatting ‘Forever Chemicals’ in NY
The EPA has indicated that there is no safe level of exposure to PFAS chemicals in drinking water. Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers live in communities that discovered PFOA, PFOS, and other PFAS chemicals in their water, but at levels below NY's current and proposed standards—meaning that these communities are not required to clean up their water. In September, we joined environmental groups, public health advocates, and community leaders to call on the NYS Department of Health and Governor Hochul to strengthen standards for harmful PFAS chemicals in drinking water.
Talking about Long Island’s Offshore Wind Future
Last month we co-hosted the Offshore Wind Developers Meet and Greet Networking Forum with the NY League of Conservation Voters and the New York Offshore Wind Alliance. The event brought together 80 stakeholders—community leaders, labor, businesses, environmental groups, civic organizations, elected officials, and academics—with the wind developers that have projects and/or leases off the coast of New York. Updates were provided by Equinor on the Empire and Beacon Wind Projects, Ørsted on the Sunrise and South Fork projects, and each of the six companies that acquired offshore wind area leases in the New York Bight earlier this year. It was beneficial to have all the developers and so many key decision makers and wind advocates together in one room to get to know one another and to discuss the future of offshore wind for Long Island. Thank you everyone that joined us!
Protecting Crab Meadow Watershed on Long Island
This summer, the Huntington Town Board unanimously accepted a plan 10 years in the making to protect the environmental asset known as the Crab Meadow Watershed. The Crab Meadow Watershed Hydrology Study and Stewardship Plan studied this unique and special area of glacially formed features that drains into Long Island Sound. The Crab Meadow Watershed is designated as a “Long Island Sound Stewardship Area,” meaning that a high level of protection is needed. We stood with local residents to urge the Huntington Town Board to act now to protect this special coastal resource and not continue to approve development that will further degrade it.
Restoring the South Shore Estuary Reserve
Last month, New York released an updated Comprehensive Management Plan for the South Shore Estuary Reserve, which spans the Western Bays to Shinnecock Bay along the south shore of Long Island. This document will drive protection efforts to restore water quality in our bays and to combat nitrogen pollution, climate change, harmful algal blooms, and more. We joined New York Department of State Deputy Secretary of State Kisha Santiago Martinez and our friends at Seatuck, The Nature Conservancy, and Operation Splash for the release of this crucial plan and to take a boat tour of the beautiful SSER bays.
Preserving the Long Pond Greenbelt
PSEG has proposed to drill an underground 69kv transmission cable through Long Pond Greenbelt, a preserved ecologically diverse area which is home to critical vernal ponds, wetlands, and habitat. Millions of dollars have been spent to protect this important resource, which is considered a jewel of the community and a critical public resource. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement for this proposal includes an alternate route, which would leave Long Pond Greenbelt preserved and untouched. In September, we joined community leaders and Southampton residents to urge PSEG to choose this alternate route and protecting the Long Pond Greenbelt.
Educating Visitors at the New York Aquarium
We were thrilled to join the Wildlife Conservation Society at the New York Aquarium in Coney Island for the Blue Beacon Dive into Hudson Canyon event. We had a great time visiting the aquarium and talking to visitors about our work on offshore wind, reducing plastic pollution, the Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Bond Act and more.
Lake Erie rebounded after being declared dead in the 1960s because of pollution controls that were put in place in the Clean Water Act.
But today, the assessment of the ecosystem for Erie, one of the smallest of the Great Lakes, is poor. And the State of the Great Lakes Report by the U.S. and Canadian governments deems Ontario fair, but improving.
Consider the alarming pattern that's repeating too often in recent American history: Substances like lead or human-made organic chemicals like PCBs are used widely in products close to home. At first, their danger is not clear. Then consumers suffer health and environmental consequences. Finally, sometimes many years later, the substances are banned or limited, through regulation, legal action, or buy-in from industry.
New York State updated its plan to protect the Long Island South Shore Estuary Reserve, which stretches from the Hamptons to Nassau County, to factor in climate change, water quality and habitat restoration.
Join CCE, The Nature Conservancy, and the New York League of Conservation Voters for an informative presentation on the Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Bond Act. If approved, this funding will allow our state to undertake urgently needed environmental improvement projects that are vital to New York’s future. This Bond Act, which is Prop 1 on the ballot this November, would provide necessary and overdue investments to solve pressing public health and environmental challenges.
The Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Bond Act would provide $4.2 billion for:
Protecting drinking water and upgrading outdated infrastructure
Safeguarding communities from flooding and extreme weather
Conserving open space and family farms
Fighting climate change
Advancing environmental justice
Strengthening New York’s economy and creating over 100,000 jobs
Join us for this important presentation (free and open to the public):
When: Tuesday, October 18, 12:00pm – 1:00pm
Where: Register for the zoom forum today
Speakers: Adrienne Esposito, Citizens Campaign for the Environment
Julie Tighe, New York League of Conservation Voters
Jessica Ottney Mahar, The Nature Conservancy
Thank you for joining us!
Sincerely,
Your friends at CCE
New York has set ambitious goals of 70% renewable energy by 2030 and carbon-free electrical generation by 2040. A key asset in achieving this critical goal is to harness our vast offshore wind resources, which is why New York has set a goal of 9,000 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind by 2035—enough to power 6 million homes.
Empire Wind 1 will be located approximately 20 miles off the coast of the Rockaways and generate approximately 800 MW of energy, which will power 500,000 homes.
Empire Wind 2 will be located off the coast of Long Beach City, adjacent to Empire Wind 1. This project will generate 1,260 MW of energy for Long Island. Energy will be delivered to the south shore via a cable connection to the E.F. Barrett substation in Oceanside. The turbines will be built 20+ miles offshore.
As these projects advance in New York, it is important for Equinor (the developer for Empire Wind 1 and 2) to give updates and hear from the public. Please join us for the following public meetings:
Thank you for joining us!
Sincerely,
Your friends at CCE
