Putting Out the Planetary Fire

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...

Keanu Arpels-Josiah is an organizer with Fridays For Future NYC. He was at the state Capitol on Tuesday April 9 pushing lawmakers to include the full NY Heat Act, Climate Superfund Act, and Stop Climate Polluters in the state budget. FFF is also organizing a climate strike on Friday April 19 – including at the State Capitol – to get President Biden to declare a climate emergency. Keanu talks with...

The Justice Center of Rensselaer County held a forum on Environmental Justice on Sunday, April 14 in Rensselaer. In this segment, Joe Ritchie and Dave Publow of Lights Out Norlite provide an update on their effort to permanently close the plant, including a proposed county law to require Norlite to properly dispose its hazardous waste ash.

Friday April 19 was a global day of climate strikes called for by Fridays For Future. A rally was held at the State Capitol in Albany, with a call for NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli to divest both from fossil fuels and Israel. We hear from local Friday for Future organizers, followed by local peace and justice advocate Eleanor Stein and Matt Oill of Extinction Rebellion. With Mark Dunlea for Hudson...

April 29 is the deadline to submit comments to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation about the expansion of the Iroquois pipeline. The company wants to drastically increase the amount of gas they push through their 37-year-old, 414-mile fossil gas pipeline running from the Canadian border to Long Island and NYC. They are seeking a permit from DEC to double the size of compressor station...

During Earth Week, negotiators from 175 countries are gathering in Ottawa to discuss progress in drafting a first-ever legally-binding global treaty to end plastic pollution. Key issues include goals for reducing the amount of plastics produced, and the role of recycling of plastics, including chemical recycling which many view as a form of incineration. Dr. Ahja Brandon, Associate Director of US...

This is Hudson Mohawk Magazine End of the Year Holiday Special, a Review of Climate in 2023 from segments we have broadcast. For our climate special, we have parts of six segments from this year. After a summary of the state of the climate, Mark Dunlea and Sina Basila Hickey review the recent COP28 climate meeting. After Justin Wood of the NY Lawyers for the Public Interest discusses NY Renews 202...

On Dec. 28, Governor Hochul received two letters from 280 local elected officials in Elected Officials to Protect America (EOPA) and youth groups such as Fridays for the Future, urging her to include the Climate Change Superfund Act in her Executive Budget next month. NYPIRG also released an analysis showing that NYS taxpayers directly paid over $2 billion in climate costs from December 2022 to De...

NY Renews held a virtual ‘Climate State of the State’ press conference on Monday, January 8 to discuss their climate justice priorities for 2024: the People's Climate Justice Budget and Climate Jobs and Justice Package. In part one of our two-part coverage, we here from Catherine Nadeau of Catskill Mountain Keeper; Assemblymembers Pat Fahy and Jeff Dinowitz; and State Senator Liz Kruger. By Ma...