Putting Out the Planetary Fire

On Saturday, September 13, more than a hundred environmentalists rallied at the State Capitol to call for passage of the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act. Many criticized Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie for refusing to allow the bill to come up to a vote the last two sessions under pressure from more than 60 paid industry lobbyists. In Part one of our coverage, we start off with...

On Saturday, Sept. 20 tens of thousands joined Make Billionaires Pay marches across the United States. As world leaders gather in New York City to discuss climate action and peace at the United Nations, we’ll be sending a clear message: Shut down billionaires. Fund our future. The money to solve the climate crisis already exists — it’s just in the wrong hands. New research1 shows that the U.S. gov...

Sunday, September 21, was a national day of action on climate. SUN Day had a particular focus on promoting solar and other renewable energy sources such as wind and geothermal to respond to global warming. In Albany, there were displays and workshops beneath the Egg at the Empire State Plaza. Workshop topics included packaging reduction, solar, and how your local community can promote sustainabili...

On July 23, 2025, the Trump administration issued an Artificial Intelligence Action Plan. The plan is viewed as heavily promoting the AI industry and seeks to reduce the ability of individual states to adopt their own regulations. Environmental groups are concerned about the massive electricity and water demands of the AI Industry. Ben Murray, a Senior Researcher with Food and Water Watch, discuss...

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has proposed a significant reduction in funding for the Empower+ program, which aims to assist low- and moderate-income households with energy efficiency upgrades. The proposed budget cut from $220 million to $80 million in 2027 has raised concerns among advocates and lawmakers, especially as the program has been a key tool in...

Governor Hochul is pushing New York to heavily invest in an expansion of nuclear power. Not only has she directed the NY Power Authority to build a nuclear plant but now she has proposed extending former Governor Cuomo’s controversial bailout of 4 old upstate nuclear power plants, with an additional price tag of as much as $30 billion. Anne Rabe of Don’t Waste NY talks to Mark Dunlea of Hudson Moh...

The New York Power Authority is holding hearings on itsproposal to build 7 GW of renewable electricity to meet the mandates of the Build Public Renewables Act. Climate activists want that target increased to 15 GW. We hear first from Robert Ciesielski of the NYS Sierra Club Energy Committee; Michael Richardson of Third Act Upstate; Jeanne Bergman of Sane Energy Project; and Anne Erling of Albany o...

Climate and environmental justice groups in March filed a lawsuit against the DEC for not releasing greenhouse gas reduction regulations mandated by the CLCPA, the state's climate law.. There will be a court hearing on Friday July 25th in Kingston. Caroline Chen of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest talks to Mark Dunlea of Hudson Mohawk Magazine about the status of the lawsuit.

The EcoAction Committee of the Green Party of the US hosted a webinar on Nuclear is a False Climate Solution on Monday, July 14. Gov. Hochul recently directed the NY Power Authority to build a new nuclear power plant. Nuclear power is pushing for a big revival both in the US and worldwide, partially on the false premise that it is carbon free – ignoring its carbon footprint from the construction o...

The EcoAction Committee of the Green Party of the US hosted a webinar on Nuclear is a False Climate Solution on Monday, July 14. Gov. Hochul recently directed the NY Power Authority to build a new nuclear power plant. Nuclear power is pushing for a big revival both in the US and worldwide, partially on the false premise that it is carbon free – ignoring its carbon footprint from the construction o...

On May 5, 2025, the Environmental Protection Network (EPN) hosted a media briefing to discuss the recent proposed 55% budget cuts by the Trump administration to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the cuts and reorganization of the agency’s Office of Research and Development (ORD), and the potential impact of these cuts on American communities. We hear from three speakers. Michelle Roos,...

On Monday May 12 the EcoAction Committee of the Green Party held a webinar on Zero Waste. You can view the webinar on the Green Party’s youtube channel. Zero waste, or waste minimization, is a set of principles focused on waste prevention that encourages redesigning resource life cycles so that all products are repurposed and/or reused. The goal is to avoid sending trash to landfills, incinerators...

On June 4, Beyond Plastics organized a news conference to support the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act and to respond to lobbying from the chemical and plastics industry, which is attempting to mislead environmental justice communities in order to protect their own profits. Chemicals found in plastic packaging are linked to health problems like cancer and developmental disorder...

New York State’s climate law , the CLCPA, set a goal of installing six gigawatts of distributed rooftop and community solar energy generation by 2025. New York achieved the 6 GW goal in 2024 – one year ahead of schedule and $421 million under budget! While the state decided to expand distributed solar goal to 10 GW by 2030, the state’s Public Services Commission decided to reallocate $271 million...

Rather than passing the full NY Heat Act, the Assembly instead just passed the elimination of the gas subsidy called the “100-ft rule”. By repealing this rule, utility companies will no longer be required to pay for gas infrastructure to within 100 feet of a building upon a developer’s request, costs that the utilities pass along to New Yorkers via their utility bills. Pete Sikora of New York Comm...

For the second year in a row, the Democratic supermajority- controlled New York State Assembly failed to vote on the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (A1749 Glick) despite the bill having enough votes to pass. Beyond Plastics held a news conference with leaders from Brookhaven Landfill Action and Remediation Group, NAACP NYS Niagara Falls branch, and NYPIRG to discuss the impli...

NY Governor Kathy Hochul, on the Monday after the legislature left town for the yea,r announced that she was directing the New York Power Authority to build a nuclear plant, probably in Central New York. One of the main reasons is to met the energy needs of the new chip factory that MIcron plans to build in Syracuse. The announcement was quickly greeted with dismay by climate and environmental gro...

Clean Earth has submitted an application to the NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to conduct a two-week pilot thermal desorption treatment of 5,000 tons of PFAS-Contaminated soil at their Ft. Edwards facility. While described as a research project, none of the staff of Clean Earth have sufficient scientific credentials for such a study. Angela Pressley, Ph. D., of The Fort Stops PFAS,...

July 1 was the deadline for public comments on NYS’s reporting regulations for greenhouse gas emissions. Bob Cohen of Citizen Action talks about the regs but notes that far more important and not yet issued are the state’s regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. With Mark Dunlea for Hudson Mohawk Magazine.

Climate activists several years ago successfully got a moratorium on the use of fossil fueled power plants for cryptomining while an environmental impact assessment was completed by the NYS DEC (Dept. of Environmental Conservation). While the moratorium has expired, the draft Environmental Impact Statement was recently released. Irene Weiser of Fossil Free Tompkins discusses the EIS with Mark Dunl...

Four climate justice groups have sued NYS, claiming it is failing to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as mandated in the CLCPA climate law. Much of the suit focused on the Governor's delay in implementing her cap and invest program to reduce emissions, “prolonging New Yorkers’ exposure to air pollution … especially in disadvantaged communities.” Caroline Chen of New York Lawyers...

The State Legislature this week passed their one house budget resolutions. As usual, the state Senate was stronger on climate than the Assembly or Governor. Pete Sikora of New York Communities for Change discusses the climate proposals with Mark Dunlea for Hudson Mohawk Magazine.

Several hundred New Yorkers traveled to the state Capitol on Wednesday March 19 as part of the Renewable Heat Now campaign. A main focus was the passage of the NY Heat Act, which passed the Senate last year but stalled in the State Assembly. NY Heat would require state agencies – especially the Public Service Commission – to align their policies and regulations with the state’s climate law (CLCPA)...

A press conference was held at the State Capitol on Wednesday March 19 to promote the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act. We hear from the lead sponsors, Senator Pete Harckham and Assemblymember Deborah Glick, Chairs of the Environmental Conservation Committees, Kathy Nolan of the Physicians for Social Responsibility NY; and Judith Enck of Beyond Plastic.

Several hundred New Yorkers rallied at the state Capitol on Wednesday, March 19 as part of the Renewable Heat Now campaign. The lobbyists gathered for a lunch time rally on the Million Dollar Staircase to encourage state lawmakers and the Governor to include the NY Heat in the State Budget which is due April 1. NY Heat would require state agencies – especially the Public Service Commission – to al...