We’re excited to release our policy priorities for Long Island – our 2021-2022 Long Island Policy Agenda.
We will focus our advocacy and programming on combating climate change and protecting people and natural resources. We will push for and educate the public about initiatives related to energy, transportation, resiliency, solid waste, clean water, sustainable development, parks and open spaces, and farms and local foods.
The full agenda is available here. >>>
This past year brought heightened awareness of the need to take action to help avert the worst effects of climate change and reduce pollution in disadvantaged communities. The State laid out aggressive climate standards and local governments are key to achieving these standards. We also need more local policies that improve water infrastructure and keep our drinking water free of contaminants. This agenda can help guide localities on Long Island about how to implement these important policies and initiatives.
We look forward to working with county and town officials to champion these priorities.
Our top priorities include:
Sustainable Development: Municipalities can combat climate change by creating livable, sustainable communities. We will advance modernized zoning to encourage mixed land use, compact development, downtown revitalization, open space protection, and historic preservation.
Renewables: Renewable energy like offshore wind and solar power reduces greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution across the region, but it is challenging to site large-scale renewable energy installations and can be needlessly difficult to install small-scale renewable technology. We will work with municipal and county governments to reduce red tape and create new incentives for small-scale renewable energy.
Clean Air: We will work to speed up conversions from home heating oil to cleaner, more efficient heating systems. We will continue working to reduce emissions from power plants and automobiles, including a push for more electric school buses and targeted interventions to protect environmental justice communities.
Electric Vehicles: EVs reduce greenhouse gas emissions and produce zero emissions, improving air quality. We will continue our successful advocacy efforts to increase the number of EVs in municipal fleets and expand the EV charging station network throughout Long Island.
The agenda was created with input from our Long Island Chapter, which works to identify and advocate for solutions to the region’s most pressing environmental issues.