Climate Change News

Governor Cuomo recently announced a proposal for stricter regulations on ozone standards. The proposed regulations include restrictions on emissions and increased controls on New York’s dirtiest power plants, called peaker power plants, which produce exceedingly harmful emissions during the ozone season.

As more school districts are looking to electrify their bus fleets, they are struggling to afford the costs associated with electric school buses. One solution is the Pay As You Save system. The model would allow utilities to invest in the charger and battery for a bus.

Last weekend, the New York State Legislature and Governor Andrew Cuomo finalized a progressive state budget for Fiscal Year 2020, establishing several important environmental policies including congestion pricing in Manhattan, a ban on carry-out plastic bags, and legislation to reduce food waste in New York.

Our NYC Program Director, Adriana Espinoza, testified at a City Council Committee on Environmental Protection oversight hearing on wastewater treatment plants and discussed how the City can improve these plants. Investing in the long term sustainability and resiliency of these plants is critical.

At a City Council Sanitation Committee preliminary budget hearing, we proposed investing $10 million in a public education program around the organic waste and recycling programs available to residents.

As part of our efforts to advocate for congestion pricing to be included in this year’s state budget, we released new digital tools for state legislators to show their support for fixing our region’s public transportation system while fighting climate change and improving air quality.

To the outrage of groups across the country, the Trump Administration recently released its Fiscal Year 2020 budget proposal which slashes funding for important environmental programs and agencies. So what does this mean for New Yorkers?

NYLCV joined New Yorkers for Parks and DC 37 as founding members of the Play Fair for Parks Coalition to call for increasing the NYC Parks Department expense budget by $100 million next year in order to better maintain parks citywide.