Putting Out the Planetary Fire

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...

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 two of our coverage, we hear from two youth climate activists from We Stay/Nos Quedamos from the South Bronx, Melanie Giller and John Sanchez, followed by some questi...

The major climate news in Governor Hochul's State of the State address this year was her support for most of the NY Heat Act, which is designed to get the state to stop promoting the expansion of fossil fuels like natural gas and to ensure that clean energy is affordable. Lisa Marshall of the Renewable Heat Now campaign and NYers for Clean Power discusses what still remains to be done. The coa...

Liz Moran of Earth Justice discusses Governor Hochul's proposed budget for environmental issues with Mark Dunlea of Hudson Mohawk Magazine. Keep topics include the NY Heat Act and funding for water infrastructure.

On Thursday, January 18, state lawmakers and advocates held a news conference calling for adoption of the state Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act. The bill will reduce plastic packaging by 50% over 12 years. In Part one of our coverage, we hear from Vanessa Fajans-Turner, Executive Director of Environmental Advocates NY, who served as the moderator. We then hear from the lead sp...

On Thursday, January 18, state lawmakers and advocates held a news conference calling for the adoption of the state Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act. The bill will reduce plastic packaging by 50% over 12 years to dramatically reduce waste, improve recyclability of packaging, and slash greenhouse gas emissions associated with plastic (which are currently on track to outpace the...

Climate justice advocates were stunned today to hear that the Hochul administration planned to take 10 years to achieve only a 50% reduction in fossil fuels at the State Plaza complex. State lawmakers, climate groups, and local residents have been asking Hochul to support pending legislation (A5633 / S2689) that would set a 3-year timeline to completely convert the State Capitol complex to 100% re...

Clean Water Advocates gathered at the Capitol on Tuesday January 29 to call for $600 million in state funding for clean water infrastructure after the Governor proposed cutting it in half to $250 million. We hear from a number of speakers: Adrianne Esposito of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, who moderated the event. Senator Pete Harckham, chair of the Senate Environmental Committee; Ass...

The state budget hearing on the Environment on Wednesday February 7 lasted to the midnight hour. Hudson Mohawk Magazine has compiled the testimony of a number of the state’s leading climate activists. While praising the Governor for including major parts of the NY Heat Act, there were calls for much faster action on climate as extreme weather continues to explode globally. Making Polluters Pay, co...

The state budget hearing on the Environment on Wednesday February 7 started at 9:30 AM and lasted to the midnight hour. Hudson Mohawk Magazine has compiled the testimony of a number of the state’s leading climate activists. While praising the Governor for including major parts of the NY Heat Act, there were calls for much faster action on climate as extreme weather continues to explode globally. M...

New York’s leading fossil fuel lobbyists are simultaneously lobbying on behalf of environmental groups, hospitals, universities, cultural institutions, and tech giants such as Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, according to a new report from F Minus and LittleSis. The report argues that such “double agent” lobbyists are part of a strategy by the fossil fuel industry to greenwash its image and dissuade...

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 in...

A newly formed Texan company is attempting to evade New York’s fracking ban with a scheme to drill thousands of wells, frack with carbon dioxide, and construct a dozen gas-burning power plants. The company, Southern Tier Solutions, wants to use carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels to extract even more fossil fuels. It’s a dangerous example of why carbon capture and sequestration – known as CCS...

A proposal from the federal Environmental Protection Agency would impose the strictest limits on lead in drinking water since federal standards were first set 30 years ago. It has a goal of replacing nine million lead pipes within the next 10 years. Rob Hayes of Environmental Advocates explains the proposal, including its impact on Troy and other local communities. With Mark Dunlea for Hudson Moha...

This is Hudson Mohawk Magazine's End of the Year Holiday Special, a Review of Climate in 2023 from segments we have broadcasted. 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 Re...

A review of the recently concluded COP 28 climate meeting. Climate activist Mark Dunlea reviews progress on issues such as climate funding to help developing countries cope with climate change. Fossil fuel companies emerged as the big winners, as they were able to weaken the call to phase out fossil fuels to one to transition away from them without firm goals. Meanwhile, the UN chief says the lack...

The COP28 climate summit will run from November 30 to December 9 in the United Arab Emirates. Key issues to be debated include whether to set a firm deadline to phase out the use of fossil fuels and how industrial polluting nations will provide climate financing to the Global South. David Schwartzman is professor emeritus at Howard University and a biogeochemist who is active with the Global Green...

PepsiCo., the global soft drink company, is being sued by the NYS Attorney General Tish James over the issue of single-use plastics pollution. The lawsuit alleges that the soft drinks giant “substantially causes public harm in Buffalo, has failed to warn consumers about the potential health and environmental risks of its single-use plastic packaging, and misleads consumers and the public about its...