Yonkers Insider: New York League of Conservation Voters: Environmental News for March 7th.

 

Here’s what we’re reading this week:

Electric School Bus Ride & Drive Event in Albany!  On Wednesday, March 2nd, NYLCV held a ride and drive event for New York State Legislators with some electric school bus manufacturers. Electric school buses from Blue Bird, Lion Electric Company, and a retrofitted diesel to electric school bus done by Unique Electric Solutions and operated by Logan Bus Company, all made the trip to Albany to showcase the electric school bus market. New York State legislators stopped by throughout the day to take a ride, and to learn more about the school buses as they make their decisions on including funding for electric school buses in the 2022 State Budget.  Read More

Green Promises Following a record high level of turnover among City Council seats in addition to a new Mayor, Comptroller, and four borough president seats, the first time since the implementation of term limits in 2001, there are new opportunities to make sustainability and environmental justice key priorities in the City. To ensure council members maintain their campaign promises of delivering crucial environmental policy, NYLCVEF, WE ACT and South Bronx Unite formed the Green Our City Now coalition. This coalition will hold elected officials accountable on their promises, by providing information and guidance on environmental policy priorities and tracking their environmental commitments.   Read More

The nonprofit League of Conservation Voters (LCV) has published a National Environmental Scorecard every Congress since 1970, the year it was founded by leaders of the environmental movement following the first Earth Day. LCV believes our earth is worth fighting for because everyone has a right to clean air, water, lands, and a safe, healthy community. This year’s National Environmental Scorecard reflects a year that was truly like no other. In 2021, communities across the country were harmed by the undeniable, negative impacts of climate change—nearly 40% of our country’s population was affected by a climate changefueled disaster in 2021. Costs are also piling up, with over $145 billion in damages accumulating for just the top 20 worst extreme weather disasters in 2021. And these economic costs do not account for all of the other harms the climate crisis has caused, including approximately 700 lives lost last year, the livelihoods destroyed by disasters, or cumulative health effects fueled by climate change.   (League of Conservation Voters)

NYLCV President Julie Tighe joined Senator Schumer in Greenpoint for the announcement.  The long-delayed cleanup of the Newtown Creek Superfund site needs to be sped up, and an influx of federal dollars toward National Superfund cleanup should put the wind in the sails of the Environmental Protection Agency and the parties responsible for funding the process, said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Friday. “Unfortunately, the polluters, even when they agree to pay, want to delay and minimize,” he said at a press conference in front of the creek. “We want the polluters to speed things up and maximize.” Brooklyn is home to three Superfund sites — Newtown Creek, the Gowanus Canal, and the Wolff-Alport Chemical Company. The heavily-polluted, often-dangerous sites are usually a result of years of irresponsible dumping of waste and chemicals by large industrial companies. Once the EPA designates a Superfund site, they can identify the “potentially responsible parties,” or PRPs, and force them to contribute money to the cleanup.   (Brooklyn Paper)

Photo Credit: NYC Mayor's Office New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced an agreement that will transform the city-owned South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) into one of the largest offshore wind port facilities in the nation. The agreement will help establish New York as a leader in offshore wind and help the New York City meet its nation-leading climate goals of 100 percent clean electricity by 2040. As part of the deal finalized by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), Equinor, its partner and Sustainable South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, L.P. (SSBMT) will upgrade and build out the terminal as an operations and maintenance base. The terminal will become a power interconnection site for the Empire Wind 1 project , and heavy lift platforms will be built on the 39th Street Pier for wind turbine staging and installation for Equinor and other developers.   (NYC Mayor)