July 13, 2009

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 tidbits and observations carefully gleaned from the halls of the Capitol.

NEW YORK'S LONG LEGISLATIVE RAIN DELAY IS OVER     

Last Thursday, just a few hours after the Governor presented his new Lieutenant Governor (the well-respected public transit advocate and all around good guy Richard Ravitch) to the public, Albany was ablaze in rumor and innuendo about how a new Lt. Gov would help or hurt the ongoing Senate stalemate.

And then the real news of the day broke: Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. (D-Bronx), the man whose actions sparked the coup in the first place, rejoined the Democratic Conference. As Majority Leader.

That’s right. Senator Espada of “the Amigos” fame (quick refresher: a small but important group of senators, two of whom were behind the coup that got the Senate into this mess in the first place), is now the Majority Leader of the New York State Senate. The rest of the lineup is as follows: Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans) is Temporary President, John Sampson (D-Brooklyn) is Conference Leader, and Jeff Klein (D-Bronx) is Deputy Majority Leader. And so far as we know, Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) remains Minority Leader.

After officially making Senator Espada Majority Leader, the entire State Senate, Republican and Democrats alike, passed more than 100 bills.  

Most of these were non-controversial in nature but after a month of waiting around, passing legislation feels like progress to us.

The Senate will reportedly be back in the Chamber next week, voting on bills and taking care of business. We’ll be there too, pushing to get environmental bills on the agenda and watching each and every vote.

Read more here, and here, and here, and here, and also here, and last but not least, here.

THE GOVERNOR BRINGS IN AN ACE RELIEVER      

Just a few hours before deal-making in the State Senate got lawmakers back to work, Governor David Paterson tapped Richard Ravitch as New York’s new Lieutenant Governor. The move may or may not be legal, but that’s for the courts to decide. The post has remained vacant since Governor Spitzer resigned last year.

As Lt. Gov, Ravitch will be next in line should something happen to the Gov.

Richard Ravitch is a well-known, well-respected and generally well-liked public advocate, who for years has helped New York City (and State) get itself out of nasty financial jams. Environmental Advocates of New York can’t think of anyone better suited to help the State during this time of need. But the courts will have the last word.

Read more here. And here, and here.

ENVIRONMENTAL ALL (SUPER) STARS      

The New York State Assembly has a green and proud history of supporting legislation to protect the natural environment; and 2009 was no exception.

On July 16, we’ll release the names of those lawmakers who voted “yes” on each and every one of the environmental community’s priority Super Bills, including legislation to cut global warming pollution, protect wetlands, recycle electronic waste, and more.

NO CONSENSUS ON GHG AT G8      

At the G8 summit in Italy last week, several of the world’s fastest-developing countries refused to commit to binding targets to cut global warming pollution by mid-century. This came as a surprise to no one, as there are longstanding differences of opinion between countries like the United States and developing nations such as China and India as to who should shoulder the burden of reducing global warming pollution.

Some progress was made, however. Negotiators agreed to an aspirational goal of preventing temperatures from rising more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit; and developing nations did agree to reduce climate pollution. They just didn’t specify how much.

Read more here, and here, and here. 

Clips and pics. 

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