Putting Out the Planetary Fire

On Tuesday, June 30th, nine events were held across New York State to oppose Governor Hochul’s nuclear proposals as too expensive and bad for the environment. At the state Capitol in Albany, we hear from Mark Dunlea for PAUSE / 350Albany; Ethan Gormley of Citizen Action; Isaac Silberman-Gorn of Frack Action; Peter Lavenia of Green Party of NY; and Tom Ellis of Upper Hudson Peace Action.

On June 30 and July 1, events were held in nine communities to express opposition to Governor Hochul’s proposal to build 5 nuclear power plants. Ann Heindenrich of the Campaign for a Nuclear Free North Country talks to Mark Dunlea for Hudson Mohawk Magazine. about why they feel nuclear is too expensive, too slow, and too toxic.

July 28 - Climate hushing is a strategy where politicians deliberately avoid mentioning climate change. It stems from the belief that emphasizing planetary crises alienates voters or draws unwanted scrutiny amid rising costs of living and political polarization. Following the 2024 elections, many elected Democrats scaled back explicit climate mentions, pivoting instead to narrow messaging on energ...

On August 5, the developers of Kenwood Commons in the South End of Albany made a presentation to the Council of Albany Neighborhood Associations. The proposal includes data and tech centers along with housing, with the goal of adding a grocery store and child care center. The developers also did a Q and A with the 100 or so attendees, which included a number of climate and energy advocates. We her...

On Tuesday, August 11, State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, the lead sponsor of the bill for a one-year moratorium on data centers, held a press conference along with community groups to announce the New York Fights AI Data Centers statewide tour from August 22 to August 30. The Senator will be visiting 13 sites with active or proposed data centers across New York State to hear the concerns from impact...

August 18 - Environmental Advocates of NY has released their annual scorecard of the state legislature on key issues. They also analyze the environmental actions of Governor Hochul.. stating that it has been Two Steps Back, One Step Forward, starting with the weakening of the state’s climate law (CLCPA). Vanessa Fajans-Turner, Executive Director of EA, talks with Mark Dunlea of Hudson Mohawk Magaz...

August 20 - Jason West, the Sustainability Coordinator for the City of Albany, talks with Mark Dunlea of Hudson Mohawk Magazine about the status of the update to the City’s Climate Plan.

Audio from press conference.. On Thursday, August 27, 75 local activists and community leaders gathered at Albany City Hall to highlight overwhelming local resistance to unfettered data center development and call on Gov. Hochul to sign a strong data center moratorium bill, the Responsible Data Center Development Act. The event is part of the statewide ‘Stop Data Centers’ tour being led by bill sp...

Sept. 1, 2026 - A federal court judge has struck down New York’s climate superfund law, holding that the attempt by the state to require companies to pay $75 billion over 25 years for the damages from their air pollution is pre-empted by the federal Clean Air Act. The state is expected to appeal. Blair Horner of NYPIRG, which helped pass the law, discusses the situation with Mark Dunlea for Hudson...

On Thursday, June 4th, Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace is sponsoring a forum on the issue of data centers coming to the Capital District and their impact on electricity and water use. A main focus in the proposal to redevelop the old Kenwood Center in the South End of Albany. Professional engineer Oliver Holmes talks with Mark Dunlea for Hudson Mohawk Magazine. The event will be at 7 PM at the Bethl...

Governor Hochul wants to build 5 new nuclear reactors in New York, starting with one by the New York Power Authority. Legislation has been introduced to enact a 2 and a half year moratorium on any state financing of any nuclear power plants so that an independent financial and environmental analysis can be done. From a press conference on Wednesday May 27th we hear from lead Assembly sponsor JoAnn...

Press conference on last minute push to pass the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act.

On Thursday, June 4, Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace held a forum on data centers with a focus on the proposal for the one in the old Kenwood Convent in the South End of Albany. We hear from one of the presenters, Isaac Silberman-Gorn of Frack Action. Much of the data center explosion in the US is being driven by the development of artificial intelligence. We hear from Joe Lombardo of the United Ant...

In 2021, New Yorkers voted overwhelmingly to amend the state constitution with what became known as the “New York Green Amendment” (NYGA): “Each person shall have the right to clean air and water, and a healthful environment.” The Earth Law Center works with municipalities and community leaders to help translate this constitutional right into meaningful local policies. Flo Perez and Gary Bowitch d...

On Tuesday night, New Yorkers voted in the Democratic primaries to send public power champions, Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier to congress and eight socialists will join the increasingly powerful bloc of state legislators in Albany demanding the New York Power Authority (NYPA) step up and build at least 15 gigawatts (GW) of public renewables. Valdez supports building a federal public...

No Kings Collective Albany joined with Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace and Delmar Indivisible to hold a protest on Saturday, June 20th, against the proposed data center at the old Kenwood Convent in Albany’s South End. The rally took place outside of the offices of the City of Albany Planning Board at 200 Henry Johnson Boulevard. Speakers raised issues such as excessive energy demand, water impacts,...

On Tuesday, June 30 at 11 AM, concerned residents and climate groups will hold a media event at the State Street entrance to the Capitol in Albany to announce opposition to Governor Hochul’s ill-advised plan to drastically expand expensive, dangerous nuclear power production throughout the state. The event is one of 9 events happening throughout New York on Tuesday as part of a statewide day of ac...

The climate crisis is upon us. The upcoming summer is expected to be brutal with dangerous heatwaves, severe drought across the country, wildfires, and extreme storms. We know the solution to the climate crisis is to stop burning fossil fuels, yet, despite his commitment to divest from fossil fuels in 2020, Comptroller DiNapoli continues to invest heavily in Exxon, Shell, Chevron and other Big Oil...

More than one hundred New Yorkers were at the Capitol on Wednesday April 13 calling for a three-year moratorium on new data-center development while the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Public Service Commission (PSC) complete comprehensive reports evaluating the industry’s current and projected effects on electricity rates, energy use, water resources, air quality, greenhous...

On Monday May 11, several hundred people attended Beyond Plastic’s lobby day and rally. The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act – known as PRRIA – would require producers of single use packaging to reduce the amount by 30% over 12 years and ban 13 toxic chemicals from packaging. The bill has twice passed the Senate but the Assembly Speaker has refused to let it come up for a vote...

On Monday May 11, several hundred people attended Beyond Plastic’s lobby day and rally. The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act – known as PRRIA – would require producers of single-use packaging to reduce the amount by 30% over 12 years and ban 13 toxic chemicals from packaging. The bill has twice passed the Senate but the Assembly Speaker has refused to let it come up for a vote...

Environmental groups and Alaskan tribes sued the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency for unlawfully repealing the endangerment finding and motor vehicle emissions standards. The EPA’s 2009 endangerment finding is the scientific determination that greenhouse gas pollution harms public health and welfare.. The rollback ignores established science and removes critical safeguards at...

NYPIRG is conducting a statewide bus tour to highlight the energy waste of AI data centers, which require a tremendous amount of energy, zapping electricity from the public grid. These energy hogs could lead to rising air pollution, industrial use of local clean water, and skyrocketing utility bills. Legislation calling for a moratorium on such data centers has been introduced. A data center is be...

The EcoAction Committee of the Green Party of the United States held its annual Earth Day to May Day webinar on Monday April 13. Speakers were Jill Stein, the recent Green Presidential candidate, and Michael Johnson, Democracy Campaign Manager for Third Act. The event highlights the interconnection of issues such as climate change, economic inequality, war, racial injustice, immigrant rights, and...

Climate activists were back at the State Capitol on April 21, with 19 being arrested after they compared Governor Hochul to Donald Trump due to her efforts to gut the CLCPA, the state’s climate law. We hear from Pete Sikora of NY Communities for Change; Eleanor from Germany; Cornell Professor Bob Howarth; and, Santosh Nandabalan from NYCC.