January 25, 2010

Welcome to Environmental Advocates of New York’s online newsletter from the State Capital, your source for environmental news. We update you every other week with insider news and observations carefully gleaned from the halls of the Capitol.

GOVERNOR TAKES AXE TO ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS

Governor David Paterson’s spending plan for 2010-11, released early last week, would cut critical environmental programs and state agencies to the bone. Environmental Advocates of New York condemns the Gov’s proposal to cut the State’s Environmental Protection Fund by $69 million, as well as his plans to cut staff at the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Under the Governor’s plan, the DEC will lose 54 staff and the State’s Environmental Protection Fund will be reduced to $143 from $212 million. Land conservation purchases and monies for breast cancer research were zeroed out entirely.

Green groups, ours included, are frustrated. For more than a year Governor Paterson has talked about reigning in spending and the need for state agencies to make sacrifices. And yet, last week he proposed a record-breaking State Budget of $134 billion—$787 million more than last year.

There’s no doubt that the State is faced with fiscally challenging times, but Governor Paterson needs to put down his budget axe and pick up a scalpel. All cuts are not created equal and cuts to environmental programs have negative consequences in both the short and the long term.

As far as we’re concerned, while the Governor’s proposed budget may be in his best interest for 2010, it’s not in New York State’s best interest this year or five years from now. 

Cuts to New York’s primary fund for environmental projects mean that programs ranging from water quality improvement, waterfront revitalization and municipal parks to recycling and land conservation will be drastically reduced or shut down. Parks will close and New Yorkers will lose their jobs.

Proposed cuts to New York’s primary environmental agency mean fewer staff to oversee water and air pollution discharged into the State’s environment, as well as dozens of other critical functions. The loss of 54 staff positions, in addition to the more than 450 staff lost over the last two years due to previous cost-cutting, the hiring freeze, and retirement incentives, will leave the agency at near-record lows.

The short story? Governor Paterson has proposed a bad budget for New York’s environment. Now Environmental Advocates, and millions of New Yorkers, must look to the State Legislature for leadership on environmental issues.  

We’ll keep you posted on how things shake out as the budget season begins.

Read more here. And here. 


NEW YORKERS TO RALLY IN ALBANY, TELL GOVERNOR TO PROTECT DRINKING WATER 

Later today, more than 500 New Yorkers, 20+ environmental and community groups, and dozens of state and county lawmakers will rally at the State Capitol and call on Governor Paterson to dump the State’s draft natural gas drilling guide. Natural gas drilling using a dangerous technique called hydraulic fracturing or “fracking,” has poisoned wells and spilled toxic chemicals across landscapes in other parts of the country, including Pennsylvania. Because of growing industry pressure to drill in Central New York, the Southern Tier and Catskills, fracking has arguably become the most pressing threat to the health of the state’s environment.   

To make things really exciting, an industry-sponsored counter-demonstration is scheduled at the same time!

Among others, speakers include State Senator Tom Duane; Assembly members Barbara Lifton, Brian Kavanagh and James Brennan; Tompkins County Legislature Chair Martha Robertson; Chief Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation; Walter Hang, President of Toxics Targeting; and Al Appleton, Senior Fellow with the Regional Plan Association.  

New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is currently reviewing the more than 13,000 comments submitted on the agency’s draft natural gas drilling guidelines. The draft has been called inadequate by the U.S. EPA, New York City Department of Environmental Protection, and members of Congress, including Representatives Arcuri, Massa and Nadler, among others.

So what’s the rush?

Here’s what we don’t like about the DEC’s draft drilling guide:

• It doesn’t limit the use of toxic chemicals in the drilling process;
• It doesn’t protect streams, rivers, and groundwater from the large water
  withdrawals associated with drilling;
• It doesn’t include a cumulative impact assessment to protect our communities from the large-scale impacts of drilling; and
• It doesn’t provide for “no-drill zones” or processes for declaring sensitive areas unsuitable for drilling.

Last but not least, New York State does not have the staff to oversee natural gas drilling, not by a long shot.

Click here to learn more about natural gas drilling in New York.  

IN HONOR OF BARNABAS MCHENRY

The Open Space Institute, in honor of Barnabas McHenry, gives a $5000 annual award to three young leaders working in collaboration with non-profit organizations to pursue projects in environmental conservation, historic preservation or the arts in the Hudson Valley. Click here for more information about the award:

Any not-for-profit organization working in the Hudson Valley region is eligible to nominate a student for this award. We strongly encourage organizations to seek out talented and motivated students to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity.
 
Please note that the deadline for completed applications is February 12th, 2010.
 

BILLS ON THE MOVE  

It’s that time again! Every week during the Legislative Session, Environmental Advocates of New York looks at the measures that will impact the environment for good or ill. Here are this week's Bills on the Move:

Three trees for the Global Warming Pollution Control Act. One of our legislative priorities for 2010, this bill would reduce statewide greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050. The bill also requires that the statewide limit be reduced by 20 percent in the year 2020, with five-year incremental reduction targets thereafter, until overall emissions in 2050 are capped at 80 percent below 1990 levels. 

Three trees for Low-Sulfur Diesel Heating Oil. This bill would lower the sulfur content in heating oil that is sold in areas of the state that do not meet minimum air quality standards according to the U.S. EPA. Ultra-low sulfur diesel is consistent with industry and public health standards.

Three trees for Electronic Waste Recycling. This bill would require electronics manufacturers in New York State to collect and recycle or reuse a portion of their prod­ucts at the end of their useful lives, reducing the amount of toxic e-waste in our landfills. 

Three trees for Environmental Access to Justice. This bill would restore the original legislative intent of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) by allowing groups or individuals to challenge a SEQRA decision if they can demonstrate that they will suffer injury from a proposed projects’ environmental impact, without having to show that the harm they will suffer is different than that suffered by the public at large. 

One tree for Environmental Justice for All.  This bill would make it the policy of New York State that all people, regardless of race, culture, reli­gion, income, education level or sexual preference be treated equally with respect to the development and enforcement of environmental policies. The bill declares that it is the basic right of all New York­ers to live and work in safe, healthful, productive, aesthetically and culturally pleasing surroundings. 

Click here to learn more about these measures and what each will do to help or hurt New York’s natural resources.  

 

ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES OF NEW YORK IS A MEMBER OF EARTH SHARE OF NEW YORK  

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