News
Each year, approximately 40% of food produced in the United States is left uneaten, equating to an annual loss of $218 billion, while approximately 2.2 million New Yorkers are food insecure. Across New York State, restaurants alone are estimated to waste around 25.4 billion pounds of food waste, and grocery stores generate around 21 billion pounds. Food waste is also detrimental to the environment, emitting methane and other greenhouse gases when sent to landfills, making up a total of 6-8% of human-caused emissions worldwide. Not only is the food itself wasted when thrown out, but so are the energy and water used to grow and transport it around the world.
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NYLCV has been working on an interactive map that shows the location of school bus depots across NYC and gives a visual representation of the disproportionate number of school bus depots located in environmental justice areas, areas with high asthma rates, and areas with poor air quality. We took an original map created by the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) and layered on relevant data showcasing air quality and potential environmental justice (EJ) areas across the city. We used the United Hospital Fund Boundaries to outline different neighborhoods across the City.
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Last week, Senator Michelle Hinchey of New York District 46 held a forum to address key issues facing New York’s water infrastructure. The forum covered key matters facing New York water systems, including aging infrastructure, lead pipelines, and PFAS contaminants. Further, replacing septic systems and lead service lines, conducting private well testing and treatment, and providing local governments with the necessary funds to maintain clean water systems are all necessary priorities.
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With the incoming class of new Councilmembers set after the 2021 general election, the city is turning its attention to the City Council Speaker’s race. The speaker is an incredibly important role, able to control what legislation is voted on in the council, appoint committee chairs, and have a major say in the NYC budget among many other powers.
Therefore, the future of the environment and our fight against climate change in NYC will lie heavily on the shoulders of the next speaker. NYLCV strongly believes that the next speaker will need to be an environmental champion that takes bold and progressive actions to help us reach many of the goals and commitments we have made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect open spaces and natural resources, value public health, and expand transportation alternatives to automobiles.
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Recently NYLCV and the NYC Clean School Bus Coalition held a virtual roundtable discussion in conjunction with NYCSBUS to speak about the importance of school bus electrification in New York City, especially within environmental justice neighborhoods and disadvantaged communities.
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Recently, nearly 40 environmental and public health advocates including NYLCV sent a letter to the Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee (CHPAC) concerning lead in drinking water. According to the EPA website, CHPAC is a “body of external researchers, academicians, health care providers, environmentalists, state and tribal government employees, and members of the public who advise EPA on regulations, research, and communications related to children's health.”
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As global fossil fuel emissions are the leading cause of climate change, leaders all over the world have come up with solutions to lower their region’s carbon footprint. In New York, policies have been implemented to help reduce gas emissions through transportation, industrial, and power sectors. Since the primary source of the city’s emissions comes from buildings, it is evident that building decarbonization is necessary to achieve our climate goals. One of the most critical ways to fight climate change in New York City is to electrify buildings. NYLCV therefore supports Intro 2317, a bill that would place an emissions cap on all new and renovated buildings and encourage building electrification. However, we feel that there need to be some major amendments to the bill so that we approach the complexities of building electrification pragmatically.
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Join us for our 2021 Westchester Cocktail Party on Tuesday, December 7th from 6-8pm at Reid Castle at Manhattanville College. This year we are thrilled to be honoring Joule Community Power.
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