Latest News: State Wide

Testimony of Patrick McClellan, State Policy Director, Before the New York State Senate Committees on Transportation and Corporations, Authorities, and

NYLCV President Julie Tighe testified before the New York State Senate Committee on Environmental Conservation's hearing on the Climate & Community Protection Act.

In a rarely before seen act, the State Senate and State Assembly passed not one but two NYLCV priority bills in this the first week in February! One bill will prevent exploration and drilling for oil and natural gas in New York-owned coastal waters. The other bill will prohibit purse seine fishing for menhaden, a species of fish fundamental to the marine ecosystem.

Clean and Healthy New York, which NYLCV works closely with as part of the JustGreen Partnership, this month laid out a road map for identifying and eliminating toxins from everyday consumer products ranging from toothpaste to floor polish as part of a fundamental shift in the way we manufacture these products.

New York is leading the nation in protecting the state’s drinking water from chemical contaminants linked to cancer even as the Trump administration is moving the nation backward when it comes to keeping drinking water safe.

Governor Andrew Cuomo’s recently proposed Green New Deal would mandate that New York be powered 100% by carbon-free electricity by 2040. To meet this goal, the state will increase its targets for offshore wind power to 9,000 megawatts (MW) by 2035, which quadruples the previous goal of 2,400 by 2030; increase the distributed solar energy target to 6,000 MW by 2025, up from 3,000 by 2023; and deploy 3,000 MW of energy storage by 2030.

Last month, Governor Cuomo and the Department of Public Service (DPS) moved to implement landmark new energy efficiency and energy storage targets that will help decrease greenhouse gas emissions.