Putting Out the Planetary Fire

On Friday July 12 at the State Capitol at noon, environmentalists and climate activists will rally to call upon state officials to more strongly embrace the recent Green amendment to the state constitution to give New York residents the right to clean air and water. Maya van Rossum, the leader of the national Green Amendment Movement, talks to Mark Dunlea of the Hudson Mohawk Magazine about the ev...

New York State’s Fire Prevention and Building Code Council recently met to review proposed building code updates to implement climate-related provisions passed in last year’s state budget for all-electric new buildings. Changes would prohibit fossil fuel furnaces, hot water heaters and stoves in most new construction beginning in 2026. Michael Hernandez of Rewiring America discusses the issue with...

NYSERDA, the state's energy agency, recently admitted that the state is moving too slowly to reach its goal of having 70% of its electricity to come from renewable energy by 2030. This highlights the need for the state (NYPA) to start building renewable energy. Lisa Marshall of New Yorkers for Clean Power discusses the overall problems with the Hochul administration and the state legislature i...

On a day where temperature topped 90 degrees in Albany, several residents and members of the Sheridan Hollow Alliance for Renewable Energy (SHARE) told gripping personal stories about how the climate crisis has impacted their neighborhood, including cancer, flooding and extreme heat. Several residents reported that numerous family members and neighbors had died from various forms of cancer. Reside...

On Monday, July 8, as another heat wave gripped Albany, residents and members of the Sheridan Hollow Alliance for Renewable Energy (SHARE) gathered in front of the state-owned Sheridan Ave. Steam Plant to discuss how the climate crisis has impacted their neighborhood, including cancer, flooding and extreme heat. Residents called upon Governor Hochul to shut down the Plant (SASP), which for more th...

Leaving the electric sector out of New York's proposed cap-trade-and-invest carbon pricing system, as New York officials have indicated they’re leaning toward , would increase harmful pollution from fossil fuel plants according to a new report by Resources for the Future and the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance. Study co-author Molly Robertson talks with Mark Dunlea for Hudson Moha...

Insurance companies invest enormous sums of money in fossil fuels while insurance coverage is often necessary for such projects to move forward. Meanwhile, as climate change accelerates, insurance companies are raising their rates and slashing coverage in communities most threatened by global warming. Jose Gonzalez of New Yorkers for Community Change discusses proposed legislation to address these...

SHARE, the Sheridan Hollow Alliance for Renewable Energy, a coalition of Capital area residents and statewide advocates, released report by geothermal expert Jay Egg and SHARE’s science team demonstrating how the heating and cooling needs of the Capitol complex can be met without fossil fuels. We hear from Bob Cohen and Jay Egg. With Mark Dunlea for Hudson Mohawk Magazine.

In NY, the Hochul administration has cracked the door open to the potential for new nuclear power plants as a way for the state to try to meet its ambitious climate goals. The prospect was once dismissed after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo closed the state’s second-largest nuclear plant, Indian Point in Westchester County, in 2021, though Cuomo also engineered a $7.6 billion bailout of three failing up...

Fridays For Future NYC came to the State Capitol on Wednesday May 29 to call upon the State Assembly to pass the NY Climate Superfund and NY Heat Acts. After rallying in front of the Assembly chambers, the high schoolers staged a die-in. We start off by hearing from organizer Keanu Arpels-Josiah, followed by Michael Magazine, local Muslin leader Sohaib Chekima, Rashida Tyler of the NYS Council of...

At 3:32 AM on Friday morning, in the waning hours of the 2024 NYS Legislative session, the NYS Assembly unexpectedly passed the NYS Climate Superfund Act to require the largest greenhouse gas polluters in the state to pay $3 billion a year to help deal with the damages from their pollution. The unexpected victory came after Governor Hochul shockingly threw the legislative session into chaos by sud...

One of the casualties of the chaos created in the waning hours of the 2024 NYS legislative session when Governor Hochul suddenly announced her decision to pause congestion pricing in NYC was the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act. The Assembly claims it ran out of time to debate the bill after the Senate passed it, especially with Speaker Heastie booked on a flight to take a vaca...

Dr. Sandra Steingraber demonstrated and was arrested at Citibank’s headquarters in New York City in June 2024 as part of the Summer of Heat campaign to end financing for fossil fuels by financial institutions. She talks to Mark Dunlea of Hudson Mohawk Magazine about the campaign and her arrests (she was arrested with both the scientists and the elders contingents), including her statement that &qu...

On Friday, May 3, Third Act and Rivers and Mountains Green Faith is holding a march in downtown Albany (noon start, SUNY Plaza) to target banks that continue to provide tens of billions of dollars in financing to enable fossil fuel companies to expand their operations. John Seakwood talks about Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citibank with Mark Dunlea for Hudson Mohawk Magazine.

With the state legislature returning to Albany through early June, a key issue is whether they will pass the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act. Localities and taxpayers are stuck footing the bill for managing the growing flood of packaging waste. From a May 2 news conference, we hear from Judith Enck of Beyond Plastics; Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger; and Jumaane Williams,...

On Friday, May 3, Third Act and Rivers and Mountains Green Faith, along with several dozen climate and faith groups, held a Stop Funding Climate Chaos march in downtown Albany to target banks that continue to provide tens of billions of dollars in financing to enable fossil fuel companies to expand their operations. The march included a bagpipe player and members of the Red Rebel Brigade. The marc...

On Valentine’s Day, NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli announced that he largely decided against divesting from the billions of dollars the state’s pension fund has in Exxon and other oil and gas companies. DiNapoli, contrary to the evidence, decided that most of the fossil fuel companies are committed to transitioning to a clean energy future. He defended his more than half a billion dollars invested i...

A new analysis finds that regulations to reduce emissions from each power plant and install sector-specific pollution limits would provide more benefits to disadvantaged communities than the policy Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration is considering. The analysis by Resources for the Future and the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance focuses on potential designs of a cap-and-trade style pro...

While both houses of the NYS Legislature have passed their one house budget resolutions, the State Senate is considerably stronger on climate issues than the State Assembly. Anne Rabe of NYPIRG discusses the Senate’s support for the NY Heat Act, Climate Superfund Act, 100% Renewable Capitol, and curtailing tax subsidies for fossil fuels. With Mark Dunlea for Hudson Mohawk Magazine.

On Wednesday March 20, more than 500 climate activists rallied in Albany in support for NY Renews Climate, Jobs & Justice Package that they want included in New York State’s 2024 budget, which is due by April 1. We hear from Theodore Moore, the Executive Director of ALIGN; Dawn Wells-Clyburn of PUSH Buffalo; Rami Dinnawi, the Environmental Justice Coordinator of El Puente; and Sebastian David...

New research in the New England Journal of Medicine, showing that microplastics are linked to increased heart attacks and strokes. Doctors and environmentalists called upon state legislator leaders to pass the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act. We hear from Judith Enck of Beyond Plastics, pediatrician Dr. Phil Landrigan, and Dr. Sandra Selikson. With Mark Dunlea for Hudson Mohaw...

On March 25, the Norlite hazardous waste incinerator and aggregate production facility in Cohoes, announced that they are temporarily closing down the core part of their production, though details are vague as to what this means. Joe Ritchie of Lights Out Norlite, which has called for the plant to be permanently shut down, talks with Mark Dunlea of Hudson Mohawk Magazine. Since this interview, we...

Back in 2015, New York State banned high-volume hydraulic fracturing for gas with water. Now a company known as Southern Tier Solutions has proposed to drill in the Southern Tier using compressed carbon dioxide to extract gas. Alex Beauchamp of Food and Water Watch discusses the campaign to get NYS to ban carbon fracking with Mark Dunlea of Hudson Mohawk Magazine.

Long-time progressive Capital District activists Eleanor Stein and Jeff Jones have an article posted on The Nation website titled “The Single Most Important Thing President Biden Can Do for the Climate Is Enforce an Immediate Cease-Fire in Gaza.” They make the point that US support for Israel’s war in Gaza is deepening the climate crisis—and making it impossible to solve. They talk with Mark Dunle...

A key climate issue still being debated in the pending state budget is the Climate Superfund Act. Of the $3 billion annually that would be raised by the Climate Superfund Act, one-third or a billion dollars would be spent to repair damages in disadvantaged communities. On Tuesday, April 2 supporters of the Climate Superfund held a news conference at the Capitol. We hear from MC Alycia Bacon, NY Re...