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Hydropower has been a staple of power production in New York for centuries. It generates electricity by capturing the energy of falling water. The School Street hydroelectric plant in Cohoes now generates 172 gigawatt hours per year and Cornell University also has its own hydropower plant.

A process called holistic grazing can help combat global warming by pulling carbon out of the atmosphere into “sinks,” or giant carbon repositories. Farmers that use holistic grazing practices move grazing animals from one place to another for limited periods of time.

The tunnels under the Hudson River, which are over 100 years old, are deteriorating and face the risk of closing permanently. Luckily, there is a solution: the Gateway Tunnel project. Recently, a coalition of civic, labor and business leaders, including NYLCV, formed the Build Gateway Now Coalition to advocate for and spread awareness of the importance of this project.

The New York City Council held a hearing on lead poisoning prevention and to discuss a package of 25 new bills aimed at combating lead hazards. In our testimony we emphasized the need to optimize and streamline efforts to prevent childhood lead poisoning.

In New York, Harmful Algal Blooms are rising at an alarming rate. One cause of HABs is agricultural runoff, which occurs when chemicals from fertilizer end up in our waterways. Some houses in rural New York neighborhood leach nitrogen into waterways because they are not connected to a public sewer system. Another cause of HABs is climate change.

Organic materials comprise about 30% of NYC's waste stream, which amounts to 1 million tons of waste. That’s why the NYC Department of Sanitation launched a voluntary composting pilot program. It expanded over the past few years to serve 3.5 million residents but expansion was recently paused.

The impacts of Florence were and continue to be deadly. As hurricanes become more severe and more frequent, scientists have been able to better predict just how much of a role climate change has played in the intensity of these storms.

Governor Cuomo and DEC announced that the settlement funds will be invested in clean transportation including earmarking 40% for buses - a successful step forward in our Clean Buses for Healthy Niños advocacy campaign. DEC will prioritize these emissions reduction projects in environmental justice communities that have traditionally been overburdened by pollution, which leads to higher rates of asthma and other respiratory illnesses.