DOUBLING DOWN: THE FURLOUGH LOW-DOWN
In an effort to save cash, Governor Paterson announced a few weeks ago that he would include a one-day-a-week furlough plan for certain New York State employees in his emergency spending bills — the bills that keep New York State government running without a budget. Although the Legislature held their noses and signed-off on the Governor’s legislation that would have forced 100,000 state workers to take mandatory unpaid leaves of absence, a federal judge swiftly intervened at the request of the public employees unions. On May 10, U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Kahn issued a temporary restraining order and blocked the plan that would have taken effect today.
And it’s a good thing too, especially for the state’s primary environmental agency, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Environmental Advocates of New York learned that under the Governor’s plan, oil spill responders would have been furloughed, despite their clear public health and safety function. If the furloughs were to go into effect, DEC regional offices would have had drastically reduced capacity to respond to oil spills on certain days. Currently, the DEC employs 90 people across the state to oversee chemical, pesticide and oil spills.
Given all the attention paid to the ecological disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico, the proposal to furlough these critical state workers is startling.
We don’t want a massive oil spill in our Great Lakes, or off Long Island Sound, or New York Harbor. New York/New Jersey has the biggest harbor on the east coast; an oil spill from one of the thousands of ships arriving each day would devastate the region, and without the proper number of staff, would be almost impossible to clean up. The agency needs the staff available to safely and effectively clean up contamination. Under Governor Paterson’s plan, we won’t have that guarantee. Talk about risky business.
Now the unions and the Governor’s lawyers get to fight this out in court. Let’s hope furloughs get axed once and for all and keep New York State from playing oil spill roulette.
Read more about the furloughs here.
MID-TERM GRADES: NEW YORK STATE SENATE REPORT CARD
Last week our sister organization, EPL/Environmental Advocates, released mid-term report cards for the New York State Senate. It might not surprise some that 29 State Senators and nearly 90 percent of the Republican minority conference are currently receiving failing grades for 2010.
To date, the Senator’s scores are largely influenced by their individual votes on the Environmental Access to Justice Act, a bill that would restore the right of citizens to challenge the results of environmental reviews, a high-priority bill for the environmental community in 2010. The bill was defeated on the floor of the Senate on April 22 by a vote of 32 to 29. The 32 “No” votes were a major factor in separating the green villains from the superstars.
The Republican minority in the Senate has a house average of 48, with 26 of the 30 members receiving failing grades. Among those failing is Senator Vincent Leibell (R-Brewster), who has a score of 50. Senator Leibell has long been a champion of measures to protect water quality, parklands, and drinking water, but his failure to vote for the Environmental Access to Justice Act in April is a black mark on his green credentials.
A few Democrats should also be very concerned about their green grades. Among them are Senators Darrel Aubertine (D-Watertown), William Stachowski (D-Buffalo) and David Valesky (D-Syracuse) who all have scores of 60, bringing their conference’s average down to 86. All three Senators voted against the Environmental Access to Justice Act.
But EPL/Environmental Advocates pointed out that there’s still time for these three Senators, and others, to improve their grades. A favorable vote on the Global Warming Pollution Control Act—a bill that would reduce climate change pollution from all sources until total greenhouse gas emissions are reduced 80 percent by the year 2050—and votes to restore the State’s Environmental Protection Fund and securing agency funding in the budget, as well as keeping state parks open, would give under-performing legislators a munch-needed boost in this year’s Voters’ Guide, due out in October.
Click here to see your Senator’s score.
Click here to read more.INTRODUCING: THE AMERICAN POWER ACT
After nearly a year spent trying to craft a comprehensive climate and energy bill, draft legislation made its debut in the United States Senate last week. The American Power Act, sponsored by Senators John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) and Joe Lieberman (I-Connecticut), is a 987-page document that its sponsors claim limits climate-altering emissions, reduce oil imports and creates millions of new energy-related jobs.
The bill’s overall goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, and by 83 percent by 2050. The reduction targets generally match those in a House bill passed last year, although the 2020 target is slightly less ambitious.
But with the defection of the bill’s Republican sponsor, Senator Lindsey Graham (R – South Carolina), prior to introduction the big question is whether the bill still has legs. And the oil spill in the Gulf continues to cast a long black shadow over bill’s give-aways to fossil fuel companies contained in the Senate draft.
What is clear is that the U.S. Senate needs to pass the strongest climate change package possible and that this bill is far from final. New Yorkers should be pressing their Senators to up the ante.
Read more about the legislation here.
And here.
and here.
BACK TO THE GLOBAL WARMING ROUNDTABLE
With prospects of federal legislation looking uncertain, New York State Senator Antoine Thompson, Chair of the New York State Senate Committee on Environmental Conservation, is hosting a roundtable discussion today to discuss his proposal to reduce New York’s portion of the pollution that causes global climate change — the Climate Change Pollution Act (S.4315).
This bill would direct the Department of Environmental Conservation to establish a greenhouse gas emissions limit from all sources in New York State and require that the limit not be greater than statewide emissions for the year 1990. The bill would then further reduce pollution until overall emissions reach 80 percent below 1990 levels.
Reducing the pollution that is changing our climate is one of the greatest challenges we face today. According to scientists, setting reduction targets like those in the Global Warming Pollution Control Act are necessary in order to stave off the worst effects of climate change.
Although the bill has already passed the State Assembly, the Senator is convening the discussion to entertain amendments. We’ll report back on what gets discussed and whether the changes make sense.
Staff and members of Environmental Advocates of New York are on hand at the roundtable to show their support for this legislation and state-based actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
GULF, OIL & THE DELTA
Jim Tripp, Environmental Advocates of New York board member and General Counsel at Environmental Defense Fund, appeared on Charlie Rose last week as part of a discussion of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Jim has been involved with restoration efforts in Louisiana for many years. Click here for more information.
BILLS ON THE MOVE
It’s that time again! Every week during the Legislative Session, Environmental Advocates of New York looks at the measures that will impact the environment for good or ill. Here are this week's Bills on the Move:
One tree for Oil Spill Fund Environmental Liens – This bill would give the New York Environmental Protection and Oil Spill Compensation Fund (Oil Spill Fund) priority over most other liens on property where an oil spill has occurred and the owner is financially responsible for the cleanup.
Three trees for Solar Industry Development & Jobs Act - This bill establishes a solar photovoltaic market by creating an obligation for utilities and energy service companies to acquire tradable solar renewable energy credits. The act also establishes a target of 5,000 MW of installed solar PV capacity by 2025.
Click here to learn more about these measures and what each will do to help or hurt New York’s natural resources.
ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES OF NEW YORK IS A MEMBER OF EARTH SHARE OF NEW YORK
Environmental Advocates is a member of EarthShare, a federation of the nation’s most respected environmental charities. To find out more about how and your workplace can support Environmental Advocates through an EarthShare campaign, please call us at 518.462.5526, or visit www.earthshare.org. To donate through EarthShare, designate your donation to Environmental Advocates of New York, CFC #97425.
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