New York state lawmakers will hold a hearing Tuesday on reducing packaging.

State Senate Environmental Conservation Committee Chair Peter Harckham and Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee Chair Deborah Glick will take testimony aimed to steer legislative solutions to reduce the amount of waste brought on by packaging.

The New York state Legislature will hold a hearing Monday on potentially expanding the state's bottle deposit law.

State Assembly and Senate Environmental Conservation committee chairs Pete Harckham and Deborah Glick will take testimony to examine legislative solutions to increase the effectiveness of the Bottle Bill.

The cost of creating wind power could be going up.

Politico and other news organizations have reported that all New York state Energy Research and Development Authority-contracted wind project developers are asking the Public Service Commission (PSC) for “inflation adjustments."

Business groups from around New York state want to bring what they describe as a more “thoughtful and practical” approach to the climate transition, so they’re supporting several statewide information campaigns designed to educate the public.

According to Paul Zuber, the Business Council of New York State’s executive vice president, the campaign is supported by a diverse coalition of groups, including local chambers of commerce and transportation organizations.

New York has $165 million in funding available to support environmental upgrades to various transportation systems, Gov. Kathy Hochul's office announced Friday.

The funding can be used for projects that create new and enhance existing bicycle and pedestrian facilities, improve access to public transportation, create safe routes to schools, convert abandoned railway corridors to pedestrian trails and help reduce congestion and greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector.

New York will make $100 million available for zero-emission public school buses as fleets transition to zero-emission vehicles, as required by the state's 2019 Climate Act, Gov. Kathy Hochul's office announced Thursday.

This is the first round of funding available for these buses under the $4.2 billion Environmental Bond Act that New York voters approved in 2022. There is a total of $500 million of Environmental Bond Act money available.

This week, business groups around the state are gearing up for a campaign that highlights the unintended costs of the state’s new climate law.

In response, New York Department of Environmental Commissioner Basil Seggos told Capital Tonight that the costs of inaction are much higher.

New Yorkers generate about 4 1/2 pounds of trash daily, according to the Department of Environmental Conservation. That’s about 15 million tons annually — or the weight of more than 41 Empire State buildings.

“We're not doing well at all," said Dawn Timm, environmental coordinator for Niagara County and chair of the New York Product Stewardship Council. "We haven't moved the needle on recycling in probably 20 years.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation aimed to make it easier to access geothermal heating and cooling systems in order to help reach the goals of the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, her office announced Thursday.

The legislation hopes to reduce costs for the installation of geothermal wells, helping New York meet the state’s building decarbonization requirements. It changes how certain wells drilled deeper than 500 feet below the Earth’s surface are regulated. Currently, they are regulated under the same provisions that cover oil and gas mines and drilling. This legislation will create new provisions, streamlining regulation of geothermal boreholes while ensuring that all deep well locations throughout the state are adequately reviewed and that potential impacts from the drilling process are mitigated.

Something is wrong with Cayuga Lake.

Harmful Algal Blooms, or HABs, have been widespread there. While New York state is supposed to be doing assessments and comprehensive watershed cleanup of the blooms, it hasn’t been, according to Walter Hang, president of Toxics Targeting, an independent environmental monitor.

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday announced the state has rolled out a roadmap for public schools to transition bus fleets to zero-emission vehicles, as required by the state's 2019 Climate Act.

The law bars school districts from purchasing additional buses that burn diesel starting in 2027 in preparation for a 2035 deadline.

This week, the state attorney general announced that New York along with more than 20 other states reached an updated $12.5 billion settlement with the company 3M for their role in contaminating drinking water sources with a “forever chemical” known as PFAS.

Rob Hayes, director of clean water for Environmental Advocates NY, told Capital Tonight that “so many drinking water sources in New York and across the country are contaminated by these chemicals and are putting New Yorker’s health at risk when they put on the tap.”

The nonprofit group Protect the Adirondacks called on Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday to release the long-stalled Adirondack Road Salt Reduction Task Force report, according to a letter to the governor.

The Adirondack Road Salt Reduction Task Force was organized in 2021 and completed its deliberations for a report by late 2022. The report, which has the non-profit said was drafted months ago, has yet to be released.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed a bill that bans the dumping of radiological waste from the Indian Point Energy Center nuclear plant as it goes through the decommissioning process.

The measure was passed by the state Legislature back in June as lawmakers and environmental advocates pointed to the economic damage that can be done by discharging the waste into the Hudson River. Opponents, including a labor union that represents workers at the Westchester County site as well as the owner of Indian Point, said the measure is unnecessary and could cost jobs.

We are seeing some early ballpark figures for New York state’s transition to clean energy: The bill appears to be around $44 billion.

It’s an estimate found in the New York state Department of Public Service’s “First Annual Informational Report on Overall Implementation of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.”

LOS ANGELES — A Duarte-based company called LifeArk is taking a unique approach to building affordable housing for homeless people across California — by using plastic as the main material in its pre-fabricated, modular-building system.

Spectrum News got an inside look at the first 19-unit permanent supportive housing community in El Monte built by LifeArk as well as their future projects, including a 30-bed housing project set to open in 2024 in Los Angeles City Council District 5.

Electric vehicle charging infrastructure, as well as consumer rebates, are receiving a $29 million boost, Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday announced.

New York is trying to reach the target of significantly curtailing carbon emissions in the coming years. One of the key challenges is expanding the use of electric vehicles, where demand is in part dictated by the cost as well as concerns over where to find a charger.

New York's top utility regulator Rory Christian acknowledges the transition to cleaner and renewable forms of energy in the coming decades and how that will affect ratepayers in New York will present complications.

"I think that might be one of many challenges we have to face and we're going to need to look at this from a variety of different perspectives," he said. "It's going to require an all-of-government solution."

On Thursday, U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland traveled to New York’s Capital Region to highlight the progress made on offshore wind projects.

Anne Reynolds, executive director of the Alliance for Clean Energy NY, joined Capital Tonight to discuss the “growing pains” and reasons for optimism in the renewable energy field.

Extreme heat continues across the American south this week while Canada experiences its worst wildfire season on record, also driven by extreme heat.

According to Reuters, the searing heat is part of a global pattern of rising temperatures, attributed by scientists to human activity.

New York's shorelines, susceptible to the impact of climate change through flash flooding and erosion, could soon have a new way of being protected.

State lawmakers gave final approval this month to a measure that is meant to encourage the Department of Environmental Conservation to use "nature-based solutions" to stabilize tidal shorelines.

New York lawmakers gave final approval Tuesday to a measure that would ban the dumping of radiological waste from the Indian Point Energy Center nuclear plant as it goes through the decommissioning process.

The Democratic-led Assembly approved the measure with a handful of Republican votes as lawmakers and environmental advocates point to the economic damage that can be done by discharging the waste into the river. Opponents, including a labor union that represents workers at the Westchester County site as well as the owner of Indian Point, contend the measure is unnecessary and could cost jobs.

Liz Moran, policy advocate at Earthjustice, joined Capital Tonight to discuss the NY HEAT Act, which failed to get passed by the end of the scheduled legislative session. It would change state law to stop utility companies from building new natural gas hookups used to generate electricity. It would also cap utility bills at 6% of their income for low-and moderate-income households, which advocates say could save affected families up to $75 per month.

State business leaders have met last-minute changes made to a bill to limit plastic pollution and increase recycling statewide with fierce pushback in efforts to prevent the measure's passage in the last few days of session.

The legislation, nicknamed the Packaging and Recycling Infrastructure Act, would establish an Extended Producer Responsibility system in New York and make producers of packaging responsible for the costs of consumer waste and reduce used toxins. It would limit single-use plastic products for companies that sell packaged goods and charge them a fee to go into a fund to improve recycling infrastructure, increase the amount of waste that's recycled and support other local recyling programs.

Last month, state lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul could not reach an agreement in the $229 billion budget to align utility regulations with the sweeping goals of a climate change provision to reduce carbon emissions in the coming decades.

Now, as state lawmakers wrap up the legislative session this week, a final push is being made to pass the bill, known as the NY Heat Act, among its supporters.

New York's move toward electrification is a massive undertaking, and the timeline to implement it is aggressive. Under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), the state must reduce emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. That’s in less than seven years.

“It’s a crunch; it’s 78 months ‘till 2030,” said Bart Franey, the vice president of Clean Energy Development at National Grid. “That’s like tomorrow for us.”

Back in 1967 when the film “The Graduate” came out, “plastics” may have seemed like the future.

Not today.

Dozens of agricultural organizations and state business leaders are pushing back against a legislative effort to ban the use of neonicotinoid pesticides in New York.

The chemical pest control, more commonly referred to "neonics," is often used to coat treated corn, wheat and soy seeds and is used in insecticides and to maintain decorative vegetation. The measure, dubbed the Birds and Bees Protection Act, would ban the use of seeds treated with the pesticide starting Jan. 1, 2026.

Passing legislation to curb new natural gas hookups before session ends is looking grim.

Lawmakers will not likely pass the measure, coined the NY Home Energy Affordable Transition (NY HEAT) Act, after it was amended and resubmitted Wednesday to the Assembly Corporations, Authorities and Commissions Committee. The committee is not scheduled to meet again before the last day of scheduled legislative session on June 8.

A proposal to ban the discharging of radioactive material into the Hudson River has cleared key legislative committees in the state Senate and Assembly as lawmakers eye a final vote in the coming days.

The measure, proposed as a way of further regulating the decommissioning of the Indian Point Energy Center in Westchester County, has advanced through the Environmental Conservation Committees in both chambers.

The recently passed New York state budget ushered in a new era of electrification: It mandates that new construction in the state is powered by electricity starting in 2026. It also authorizes the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to build renewable energy projects and ensures that the state’s largest buildings and campuses are powered by renewables.

Several of the just-passed proposals were part of the Climate Action Council’s scoping plan, created to ensure that New York meets its goal of reducing carbon emissions 85% by 2050.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- New York state estimates already this year taxpayers are spending more than $800 million for projects related to climate change-caused damages and resiliency projects.

State Sen. Liz Krueger, a Democrat from Manhattan, sponsors legislation that would hold the world's biggest oil and gas companies responsible for at least some of those costs moving forward.

PASADENA, Calif. — You’ve probaby seen smudging, or even done it yourself — the trendy act of lighting sage on fire to cleanse the energy of a space.

But local Gabrielino Tongva member Samantha Johnson says the trendy practice is putting white sage at risk of extinction. It’s being picked and poached faster than it can regrow, and it’s an incredibly sacred and important native plant.

Four companies New York's pension fund has invested in have agreed to analyze and target a reduction in their greenhouse gas emissions, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli on Tuesday said.

The companies included Carrier Global Corp, Papa John's International Inc., Century Aluminum Co. and Spirit Reality. Kraft Heinz, meanwhile, will create a deforestration-free policy of sourcing.

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday shrugged off the potential of New York's plan to end natural gas hookups in newly constructed buildings and homes by 2027 being impacted by a legal challenge to a similar provision in Berkeley, California while also pointing to the rebates for consumers to help make the transition.

"There are court cases happening all over the country, whether they have an effect here is another question," Hochul said on Monday in Buffalo.

New York state is making available $2.1 million in competitive grant money to aid local air quality improvement projects, Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday announced.

Community-based non-profit organizations will qualify for the money to aid disadvantaged communities in New York that have struggled with air pollution.

It was a good New York budget for environmental advocates.

According to Liz Moran, New York public advocate at Earthjustice, the spending plan “exceeded expectations” by attacking greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from buildings.

The state budget was inches from the finish line, but environmental advocates weren't wasting any time to start the fight for legislation to reduce plastic packaging and expand recyclable bottles in New York before the session ends next month.

Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor Blythe Danner joined hundreds of people who met with lawmakers Tuesday to ensure two bills to reduce plastic pollution and expand recycling statewide pass the Legislature within the next five weeks.

New York advocates and legislators rallied at the state Capitol Monday for legislation aimed to protect bees and their role as pollinators by ending the use of a group of insecticides known as neonicotinoids, or neonics.

The Birds and Bees Protection Act (S.1856/A.3226) is in response to a 2020 report from Cornell University finding that using neonics poses a threat to the state's bees while providing few benefits to farmers.

Officials are expected to put the finishing touches on the 2023-24 state budget this weekend, including finalizing programs to protect the environment and satisfy the state's strict benchmarks to fight climate change.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a tentative budget framework in the Capitol on Thursday night with few details.

State lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul have reached a tentative deal to end gas hookups in new construction in the coming years as part of a broader effort to shift the state away from fossil fuels and to more renewable forms of energy.

The agreement is meant to cushion the effect the measure will have on consumers, with pre-existing gas stoves unaffected. But at the same time, it's a tangible push toward making a transition to cleaner forms of energy, a change that will have a wide-ranging effect on energy policy in New York.

A listening tour is being launched by Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration for the public to provide input on how to spend $4.2 billion on environmental infrastructure upgrades around New York.

Hochul's office on Monday also announced $425 million in a new round of water infrastructure improvement projects.

In an attempt to further spur clean technologies in New York amid a push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by midcentury, state officials on Friday announced a multimillion-dollar program to support new insurance policies and products.

Gov. Kathy Hochul's office announced a $6.5 million plan under the Insurance Innovation for Climate-Technology Solutions program as part of an effort to release grants for risk management and insurance market expansion for businesses that are transitioning to climiate-friendly products.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday touted the millions of dollars being sent to states like New York – including $21 million to make improvements to a bridge just south of Albany. And more cash for New York communities may be on the way.

Money is flowing into New York to improve its infrastructure. And Buttigieg says much of that cash is coming with an eye toward the future.

Lawmakers leading the climate fight are turning up the heat about which climate protection measures should be in the final state budget and which are a priority for the remainder of the legislative session as Democrats start to fracture over how to pay to successfully meet New York's emission reduction goals outlined in state law.

Gov. Kathy Hochul has made it clear her administration won't include a provision in the next budget to alter the Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act, or Climate Act, and the timeline used to calculate greenhouse gas emissions. But it doesn't mean it won't be a possibility later this session, or that the other more robust measures climate advocates are pushing for won't advance outside the budget, either.

New York was slow to adopt renewable energy under the administration of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

According to Inside Climate News, New York is number 24 out of 50 states when it comes to generating gigawatts of power, having created just 6,895 gigawatt hours of wind and solar in 2022 compared to Texas’ 136,000 gigawatt hours.

In Albany, where lawmaking can move at the speed of smell, the Hochul administration’s retreat on a new climate policy was breathtaking.

On Monday, DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos and New York State Energy and Research Development Authority President and CEO Doreen Harris told Capital Tonight they were backing a bill sponsored by the Legislature’s Energy Committee chairs to, in effect, weaken the state’s climate laws. The purpose? To prevent New Yorkers from paying “potentially extraordinary costs."

Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration will not prioritize a proposal to re-calculate methane emissions as part of the ongoing state budget negotiations following an uproar from environmental and climate advocacy organizations over the plan.

But Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos and New York State Energy and Research Development Authority President and CEO Doreen Harrris did not rule out further pursuing the idea, warning that "affordability" for consumers needs to be part of the conversations surrounding how to transition New York from carbon-based fuels to more renewable and cleaner forms of energy.

Add climate to the list of issues around which Gov. Kathy Hochul and Legislature leaders are butting heads in budget negotiations.

New York’s climate transition is expected to cost billions of dollars annually, which is one of the reasons the governor included a Cap & Invest program in her executive budget — it’s a pollution credits scheme through which polluters can help pay for the transition’s enormous tab. But until wind, solar and other renewables are more attainable, average New Yorkers will still be on the hook, financially.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Democratic leadership in New York state government wants to begin making natural gas a thing of the past. However, the plans for getting there differ.

Dennis Elsenbeck, head of energy and sustainability at Phillips Lytle, said buildings represent the state's largest single source of carbon emissions at roughly a third with transportation close behind.

New York leaders in Albany are close to an agreement on a first-in-the-nation ban on gas and fossil fuel hook-ups in new construction. The ban would likely start in 2025 or 2026, though that’s still being debated. The legislation will likely include exemptions for restaurants and back-up generators.

While both proposals are similar, the timeline for the legislature’s version of the “all-electric building act," sponsored by Brian Kavanagh and Emily Gallagher (S562A/ A920A), is somewhat more aggressive than the governor’s. It would prohibit “infrastructure, building systems, or equipment used for the combustion of fossil fuels in new construction statewide no later than December 31, 2023 if the building is less than seven stories and July 1, 2027 if the building is seven stories or more."

Who will pay for the ongoing damage caused by climate change?

The Climate Change Superfund Act may be one answer. The bill is sponsored by New York state Sen. Liz Krueger and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz. It was included in the Senate’s one-house budget last week, but not in the Assembly’s.

Antonio Reynoso, who has led Brooklyn for over a year as borough president, is striving to make pregnancy safer for Black Brooklynites and bring affording housing to his borough.

Last year, Reynoso launched a maternal health public education campaign called the Maternal Health Task Force, meant to connect people in Brooklyn with information and resources for better pregnancies.

The specifics differ, but Democratic state lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul are backing the same goal of ending the use of fossil fuels like natural gas in new residential and commercial construction.

The competing plans, advancing to the same goal on different timetables and sizes of buildings, are being considered as lawmakers and Hochul negotiate a $227 billion state budget this month.

With the release of the New York state Senate and Assembly one-house budget resolutions, Capital Tonight spoke with the Business Council of New York State (BCNYS) about the emerging spending plan due April 1, and the organization’s priorities.

Ken Pokalsky, vice president of BCNYS, said Gov. Kathy Hochul’s executive budget is a mixed bag.

A coalition of green groups and unions is pushing the state to decarbonize its largest groups of buildings by replacing fossil fuels with thermal energy.

Buildings are the largest source of emissions in New York state, contributing over 32% of all pollution in the state.

There are several proposals in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s executive budget that could move New York’s 2019 Climate Law from theory into reality, including her “Cap & Invest” plan.

The state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) mandates that New York get 70% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

State lawmakers want to ban the discharging of radioactive waste in the Hudson River amid the decommissioning of Indian Point Energy Center in Westchester County.

The nuclear plant, first opened in 1962, has had waste released into the water for decades, but a concerted environmental effort has significantly cleaned up the river in recent decades.

A measure backed by environmental advocates to reduce packaging waste and expand recycling efforts over the next decade is getting pushback from business organizations.

The New York bill would have companies cut their packaging by 50% in the next decade and have 90% of their packaging be made out of recycled materials within 12 years.

After serving on the board of the New York Power Authority since 2015, Anthony Picente, the Republican Oneida County executive, has resigned, citing disagreements with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration. Picente said it is a “matter of good conscience” to resign and cites policies differences on the environment, economy and public safety.

Picente argues that he is in favor of renewable energy but raises concerns about the speed that the policies are being implemented at. In his resignation letter to the governor, Picente writes that these decisions “that will impact people’s lives and livelihoods … need more thought, more discussion and certainly more input from the entire state.”

Mark Levine, who has led Manhattan for over a year as borough president, says cracking down on the illegal marijuana market and increasing affordable housing are top issues in the borough.

Three cannabis dispensaries have opened in Manhattan, including The Union Square Travel Agency, which opened last week.

New York lawmakers are proposing ways of getting companies responsible for pollution and climate change to pay up.

The proposals range from efforts to have oil and gas firms pay the state to offset the cost of climate change to New York. At the same time, lawmakers have proposed making it easier to sue companies deemed responsible for pollution.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Even as she was delivering good news for three communities — $10 million awarded to the city of Dunkirk and $4.5 million each to the villages of Lancaster and Wellsville for downtown revitalization projects — Gov. Kathy Hochul was aware many of the Western New Yorkers at her event Monday were likely still thinking about what happened in Orchard Park the day before.

"I was proud to be there," she said. "I was proud to see the energy in that stadium, the love of the Buffalo Bills. Win or lose, they are beloved by all. They're an inspiration."

NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. -- A lot of questions remain about New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's to phase out fossil fuel-powered appliances.

Critics expect to get more specifics soon, perhaps when she releases her budget.

Debts owed on past due energy and heating bills in New York will be forgiven under a plan enacted Thursday by state officials.

The $672 million assistance program is considered the largest such action in state history, and will affect an estimated 478,000 residential customers and 56,000 small businesses.

A bill backed by Rep. Elise Stefanik is meant to fund efforts to combat invasive species in New York and around the country.

The measure, re-introduced this week, has support from Democratic Rep. Ed Case of Hawaii.

New York state is set to ban the use of PFAS chemicals in the manufacturing of apparel and clothing under a law signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The measure is set to take effect on the final day of 2023.

The regulatory phase now begins.

That’s the assessment of two of the agency leaders who will be involved in implementing the state’s new climate blueprint.

On Monday, the state’s Climate Action Council approved a scoping plan that will serve as a blueprint for the Empire State to reach its ambitious climate goals.

Ken Pokalsky, vice president at The Business Council of New York State, told Capital Tonight that there are a lot of unknowns when its comes to the cost for businesses and as more businesses learn about the changes needed, there will be some “shock and alarm.”

New York’s climate law requires the state to get 70% of its electricity from renewable energy by 2030.

In order to get there, the state will need to start building large-scale renewables a lot faster than it has been.

A new protection fund for farmland and agriculture is being created following the approval of a measure by Gov. Kathy Hochul, state lawmakers on Tuesday announced.

The fund is meant to provide protection for viable farmland in New York as the state also seeks to expand the development of solar projects in order to make the transition to renewable forms of energy.

New York is adding new members to its Forest Ranger force with 38 graduates from basic school on Friday, Gov. Kathy Hochul's office announced.

The new recruits will join the Department of Environmental Conservation's Division of Forest Protection, bringing its ranks to 159 people.

During a media briefing on Monday, the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) stated that it expects wholesale electricity prices to sharply rise this winter, which is in line with estimates from National Grid and other utilities.

Upstate New Yorkers can expect heating bills to rise 30% or more over the next few months. Heating costs are especially volatile this year due to disruptions in the supply of oil and gas from Eastern Europe.

Environmental organizations in New York on Tuesday evening cheered the approval by Gov. Kathy Hochul of the first-ever moratorium on a process key to the volatile cryptocurrency sector.

But the crypto industry, while expressing a desire to continue to press their concerns in the state Legislature, indicated it may simply leave New York for states that are friendlier.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed into law a two-year moratorium on issuing or renewing air permits for one narrow form of cryptocurrency mining that the state Legislature passed earlier this year.

The new law only applies to what's called behind-the-meter mining that uses carbon-based fuel and proof-of-work validation methods.

Homeowners associations in New York will not be able to prevent the installation of electric vehicle charging stations on private property under a law approved Tuesday by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The measure is meant to make it easier for homeowners to install the charging statiosn as New York seeks to transition to more renewable forms of energy and phase out gas-powered vehicles by the next decade.

A renewed effort to expand New York's bottle deposit law for the first time in years is taking shape in Albany. For advocates like Erica Smitka of the League of Women Voters, the proposal won't just combat litter.

"We will persist until more is done to reduce litter in this state and to reduce the effects from climate change," she said during a news conference on Monday in Albany.

Peter Iwanowicz, the head of Environmental Advocates NY, is stepping down from his leadership position after nine years.

He spoke with Capital Tonight about the outcome of the 2022 election, the just-passed environmental bond proposal, and his tenure at EANY.

New York state Attorney General Letitia James' office and state Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos filed a request in state Supreme Court on Friday asking the court mandate a Capital Region manufacturing and hazardous waste burning plant to monitor emission levels or stop operations amid an ongoing lawsuit.

The state attorney general and DEC filed a lawsuit against Norlite last month seeking to force the company to curb emitting harmful substances into the air.

Peter Iwanowicz, executive director of Environmental Advocates NY (EANY), has announced he will be stepping down from the organization at the end of the year.

Iwanowicz’s nine-year tenure at EANY was a return to the organization where he served as air and energy program director in late 1990s.

LOS ANGELES — The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are working with Singapore to establish a green shipping corridor. The route from Asia across the Pacific will center around low- and zero-carbon shipping fuels and digital efforts to help deploy low- and zero-carbon ships, according to a statement from the Port of LA released Monday.

The collaboration is one of the first announcements to come out of the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Egypt, which kicked off Sunday and will run through Nov. 18. A forum for countries to discuss actions that can help mitigate climate change, COP27 issued a green shipping challenge for governments, ports, maritime carriers and cargo owners to take meaningful steps to decarbonize the industry.

A coalition of environmental organizations and labor unions have been the vocal supporters of a proposal to borrow more than $4 billion to help boost New York's environmental infrastructure to help strengthen the state against the effects of climate change.

The bond act being put to voters also has the backing of the state's main business lobby.

Two separate infrastructure announcements in vastly different regions of the state on Thursday are meant to help New York make its broader transition to more renewable and cleaner forms of energy in the coming years.

Gov. Kathy Hochul in Suffolk County on Long Island announced the state had sealed a land transfer with the county to bring the National Offshore Wind Training Center to New York. At the same time, Hochul announced a $9 million competitive program through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to expand jobs in the sector.

Dozens of advocacy organizations this week raised concerns with potential standards for electrifying buildings in New York as part of a sweeping effort to transition New York to more renewable forms of energy usage and consumption, arguing the changes do not go far enough.

The concerns raised by the groups, which include the New York Public Interest Research Group and a range of environmental and progressive organizations, come as a state panel is developing plans for how to make the shift from carbon-based fuels in the state to cleaner forms of energy like wind, solar and hydroelectric.

The main transit agency that serves New York's Capital Region will receive more than $25 million in federal aid to expand its fleet of electric buses as the state seeks to transition to more renewable and cleaner forms of energy.

The money was announced on Monday at the main garage of the Capital District Transportation Authority, touted by U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and President Joe Biden's main infrastructure advisor, former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu.

State officials are waiting on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to release additional guidance about PFAS, or toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances that poison ground and drinking water, before it expands regulating the chemical at the state level.

The EPA recommended four types of PFAS be no higher than 0.004 parts per trillion in drinking water in new health advisories released this summer.

The New York League of Conservation Voters on Wednesday formally released its final slate of endorsements for the 2022 general election, backing 22 candidates in key races across the state.

The group's endorsements come as environmental organizations are also pushing for the approval of a bond act to boost environmental infrastructure in the state.

A law signed Wednesday by Gov. Kathy Hochul is meant to boost drinking water safety and quality in New York.

The measure will allow local municipalities to take legal action against polluters for claims that had been previously barred due to the statute of limiations that had been capped at three years.

This week, Gov. Kathy Hochul moved to enact a law meant to phase out gas-powered vehicle sales by 2035. Supporters hope the regulations announced by the governor will hasten the transition as New York seeks to curtail the effects of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions.

"Getting it done before the end of the year means we can hit the ground running for the first model year, which is 2026," said Conor Bambrick, the director of climate policy at Environmental Advocates NY.

Regulations are being advanced that will end the sale of gas-powered vehicles in New York by 2035, Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday announced.

If given final approval, New York would join California in the effort to transition to electric vehicles by the middle of the next decade.

A historic $29.5 million federal grant will not be awarded to the Port of Albany for a offshore wind tower manufacturing project as expected.

Officials with the port announced Wednesday it had withdrawn its application for the U.S. Maritime Administration funding to assist constructing the $357 million project on Beacon Island. Delaying the application process will allow more time for a state and federal review of various pending permits and environmental assessments needed to begin the work.

Urban areas that face disproportionate heat conditions will be studied by state environmental officials under a measure signed Friday by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The new law will assess the effects of so-called urban heat islands in low-income and disadvantaged neighborhoods of New York state.

Environmental organizations, labor groups and Gov. Kathy Hochul are making a concerted push in recent days for the approval of a $4.2 billion bond plan to shore up the state's infrastructure against extreme weather events in the coming years.

Hochul on Wednesday in New York City at a joint event with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy urged voters to back the bond act in a coming referendum this November.

New York Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos will be taking personal leave to assist the humanitarian effort in Ukraine, he announced on Twitter Monday.

"We all must do our part to keep Ukrainians safe during this brutal war, and support democracy wherever it is imperiled," the commissioner wrote on the platform.

The Wolfe's Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment in Freeport has received a $35 million federal grant – a figure seven times greater than its annual budget – to promote climate-smart agriculture, Maine's congressional delegation announced last week.

With the five-year award the center will lead a national effort to equip and train workers in climate-smart agriculture, create transition finance incentives for farmers and ranchers, and develop a marketplace for climate-smart commodities, according to a joint statement from U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King and Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden.