Latest News

Nearly 250 cities, towns and villages in New York are changing the way they operate to fight climate change. These municipalities are part of the state’s nine-year-old Climate Smart Communities (CSC) program, which capitalizes on the fact local governments have direct control or major influence on most of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The ongoing federal government shutdown has brought several consequences to our environment and public health. Many local projects, such as air quality monitoring and Superfund site cleanups including the Gowanus Canal in New York City, are suspended.

Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt may continue former Secretary Zinke’s anti-environmental legacy of rolling back federal lands protections and stopping progress on climate change.

There are new faces in the State Capitol this legislative session. During last November’s election, voters turned out in high numbers to set a new direction for environmental protection in the State Senate. Read on to learn more about new State Senators.

A new $1.25 million pilot program spearheaded by New York City Council Member Rafael Espinal will put electric school buses on the road in NYC, an effort NYLCV has supported. In addition, the City Council Environmental Protection Committee recently held a hearing on Council Member Danny Dromm’s bill, Intro. 455, to speed up the transition to cleaner school buses.

Late last month, the Trump Administration approved a plan to allow oil companies to conduct seismic testing along the Eastern Atlantic, seen as the first step toward the administration leasing federal waters for oil drilling. Oil and gas exploration not only severely disrupts marine wildlife, but it would also worsen the fight against climate change.

After advocacy by NYLCV and other environmental groups, the Clean Water Infrastructure Act passed last year and brought a $2.5 billion investment to improve drinking water infrastructure and water quality protection across the State. Last month, Governor Cuomo announced specific investments funded by the CWIA for different regions.