Here’s what we’re reading this week:
Green Tips: Conserving Water at Home: Freshwater sources are currently under threat due to drought conditions. We need to reduce our water use at home to save enough freshwater for all New Yorkers.
Advocates Call for Revision of Health Code to Fix Loophole: Recently passed legislation requiring more rigorous lead testing in New York City has a dangerous loophole which must be addressed.
The Economic Impact of Offshore Wind Energy: Offshore wind has the potential to deliver clean energy to millions of households, support major job growth, and inject billions of dollars in capital investment into the U.S. economy.
News Roundup:
Due to heavy winds during Tropical Storm Isaias, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers were left without power for many days. Amid the ever-worsening climate crisis, we will see more outages in the future if we don’t take steps to prepare critical infrastructure now. Some basic steps, such as burying power lines underground, could make the grid more resilient. We could also store energy to use when hurricanes hit. Building out microgrids, which can operate independently of the main electrical grid indefinitely, could also play an important role. (Gizmodo)
In what environmentalists are hailing as the closing of a loophole and a blow to the hydrofracking industry in neighboring Pennsylvania, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday last week signed a bill banning the importation of hazardous fracking waste into New York. The loophole had long existed because of the prior definition of hazardous waste that excluded substances like drilling fluids and other material used in exploration and extraction of oil or natural gas. (Times Union)
A new study shows that if the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management makes land available to be leased for offshore wind energy production, nearly $2 billion in revenue for the federal government would be generated by 2022 and 80,000 jobs would be created annually from 2025 to 2035. Accelerating the development of offshore wind power would bring a significant economic boost to a national economy battered by the COVID pandemic. (Public News Service)
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand held a press conference calling for an additional $3.9 billion in federal funding for the MTA to be included in upcoming COVID-19 federal legislation to address the massive budget deficit the transit agency is facing through the end of this year due to revenue losses and increased COVID-19-related expenses. This is top priority for NYLCV because system decay would usher in “carmaggedon,” or the sustained influx of people driving cars instead of taking transit. (Hudson Valley Press)
The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation announced that the Emerald ash borer, a destructive invasive bug, was found in Warren County. They are taking measures to remove the infected trees and stop their spread. (Adirondack Daily Enterprise)
The New York Farm Bureau released a survey that found mostly negative impacts from COVID on farming, including a loss in sales, cash flow issues, and mental health issues. (Genesee County Express)
As part of an ongoing state-county partnership, the Department of Environmental Conservation is using New York State Oil Spill Funds administered by the State Comptroller’s Office to oversee the removal of contamination at four sites in St. Lawrence County, which can then be developed and returned to the tax rolls. (NNY 360)
Sincerely,
New York League of Conservation Voters
