Media Center

Report: An Estimated One in Five New Yorkers May Be Drinking Water from Lead Service Lines

July 18, 2023 Press ReleaseNew York City

According to a new report, No Excuses, NYC: Replace Lead Drinking Water Pipes Now, an estimated one in five New Yorkers, or 21% of the City’s residents, may be drinking water transported through lead service lines.

U.S. to Decide Whether Mexico's Failure to Protect Vaquita Warrants Embargo

April 10, 2023 Press ReleaseNew York

In a settlement filed in court Friday, the U.S. Department of the Interior agreed to determine whether Mexico has failed to stop illegal fishing and trade of totoaba that is driving the vaquita porpoise’s extinction. The determination could result in…

Proposed Con Ed Settlement Advances Clean Electric System, but Hinders Transition of Gas System

February 17, 2023 Press ReleaseNew York

The New York Department of Public Service filed a Joint Proposal this week for resolving the electric and gas utility rate proceedings of Con Edison, which serves New York City and Westchester County.

NY’s New Rule Paves the Path for Clean Cars

December 28, 2022 Press ReleaseNew York

ALBANY, NY – Today, New York State became the latest state to adopt the Advanced Clean Cars II rule, which ensures that by 2035 every new car and truck sold in the state will be zero-emission. This will result in a reduction in harmful greenhouse…

NY Crypto Moratorium Gets Governor’s Signature

November 22, 2022 Press ReleaseNew York

ALBANY, NY – Today Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law a limited, two-year moratorium on crypto mining operations in New York State. Under the new bill, the Department of Environmental Conservation will also be required to study the environmental impacts…

Buffalo Community Groups Join Map Project To Find and Replace Lead Water Pipes

July 20, 2022 Press ReleaseBuffalo

Community advocates, the water utility, and mapping experts collaborate to document where Buffalo’s lead pipes are located, as records are incomplete or inaccurate

360,000 Lead Pipes May Deliver Water to Homes in New York

July 19, 2021 Press ReleaseNew York

New York, NY – New York has 360,000 lead pipes delivering water to people’s homes statewide, the fourth highest number of any state in the nation, according to a new survey from NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). New York State has committed, although not entirely allocated, $5 billion in…

Gulf of Maine Lobster Fishery Temporarily Loses Sustainable Seafood Certification

August 5, 2020 Press ReleaseNew York

New York— The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has suspended its certification of the Gulf of Maine lobster fishery after determining that the fishery was potentially jeopardizing the survival of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.

Gov. Cuomo Blocks Williams Pipeline for Third Time

May 15, 2020 Press ReleaseNew York

ALBANY, N.Y. – Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today blocked the Williams Pipeline from moving forward. This decision comes after nearly three years of unrelenting grassroots advocacy in opposition to the fossil…

New York State Adopts Paint Recycling Program

December 18, 2019 Press ReleaseNew York

ALBANY, N.Y. – Governor Andrew Cuomo yesterday signed the paint recycling legislation, a bill designed to tackle a long-standing solid waste disposal problem by making it possible for business and residents to recycle leftover paint at hundreds of convenient locations…

Flint Hearing Most Notable for Key Absences

February 3, 2016 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (February 3, 2016) – The U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing today to explore the Flint water crisis.

Cuomo Lays Out Promising Clean Energy, Environmental Goals in 2016 State of the State Address

January 13, 2016 Press ReleaseNew York

ALBANY, N.Y. (January 13, 2016) – Governor Andrew Cuomo today announced plans to grow the state’s clean energy economy and protect its environment in his annual State of the State address.

New York Governor Formally Sets in Motion the Process to Enact One of the Nation’s Most Aggressive Clean Energy Standards

December 2, 2015 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (Dec. 2, 2015) — New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today directed the State Department of Public Service to design and enact a new Clean Energy Standard mandating that 50 percent of all electricity consumed in New York…

Report: Steam Heat Fixes to NYC Apartments Could Save Owners Nearly $150 Million Annually, Cut Climate Pollution

November 20, 2015 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (November 20, 2015) – Energy efficiency upgrades to the steam heating systems found in the vast majority of New York City apartments could save building owners $147 million in annual energy costs and maintenance savings, help the city…

Ocean Victory: More than Two Dozen Undersea Atlantic Coral Canyons Now Protected

June 10, 2015 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (June 10, 2015) — The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council today voted to protect 27 named deep sea canyons divided into 15 protection zones, as well as a vast swath of surrounding deep sea habitat, off the region’s coast…

New York to Review Risks of Shipping Tar Sands Oil on the Hudson River, Area Train Tracks

May 21, 2015 Press ReleaseNew York

ALBANY, N.Y. (May 21, 2015) — The New York Department of Environmental Conservation today rescinded a previous attempt to avoid an environmental review of the impacts of a proposed expansion of a rail-to-barge transfer terminal in Albany. The decision is…

Good-bye Polystyrene Tray. Hello Compostable Plate.

May 20, 2015 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (May 20, 2015) – The Urban School Food Alliance (Alliance), a coalition of the largest school districts in the United States that includes New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami-Dade, Dallas and Orlando, announced that it will start…

Cuomo Administration Takes Next Step in Making Fracking Ban Official

May 13, 2015 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK, NY (May 13, 2015)—Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Department of Environmental Conservation today took the next step toward making the state’s fracking ban official, releasing its final environmental impact review of the proposed heavy industrial activity in New York.

Five Years After the BP Disaster, We’re Still Not Safe

April 16, 2015 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (April 16, 2015) – Next Monday, April 20, marks five years since the catastrophic BP blowout in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 workers and dumped millions of barrels of crude oil into the sea. Five years…

New Study: Rapid Ocean Acidification Threatens Coastal Economies in 15 States

February 23, 2015 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (February 23, 2015) – The first nationwide vulnerability assessment for ocean acidification, published today in Nature Climate Change, shows that coastal communities in 15 states that depend on the nation’s approximately $1 billion shelled mollusk (e.g., oysters and…