June 9, 2008

Welcome to Environmental Advocates of New York’s online newsletter from the State Capital, your source for environmental news. We’ll update you every other week with tidbits and observations carefully gleaned from the halls of the Capitol.

NYS Senate Moves to Cut Climate Change Pollution

Last week, the New York State Senate Majority introduced legislation that would cut the state’s climate change pollution from all sources—cars, trucks, factories, homes, and more—80 percent by 2050. These are the big cuts that the scientists say are necessary to avert the worst effects of global warming.

The Greenhouse Gas Pollution Control Act was introduced by Senator Thomas Morahan (R-Rockland). Co-sponsors were quick to sign on. Among the first were Senators Flanagan, Fuschillo and Padavan.

The bill is nearly identical to one of the environmental community’s priority Super Bills, the Global Warming Pollution Cap, which was passed by the Assembly as part of the house’s Earth Day agenda. The Cap is sponsored by Environmental Conservation Committee Chair, Assemblyman Robert Sweeney (D-Lindenhurst). And Senator Antoine Thompson (D-Buffalo), ranking Minority Member of the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee, introduced companion legislation in his house earlier this session; so far 15 Senators are signed up as co-sponsors on this version of the Cap.

While the federal Climate Security Act failed to pass in Washington, D.C. last week (see the gory details below), it’s more critical than ever for our leaders in Albany to ensure that cuts in emissions are made at the state level. Or at least that New York State’s Senators get to vote on the measure and it’s not kept bottled up in committee.

The good news is that this year state lawmakers are contemplating several measures designed to address the threat of global warming, including the Climate Change Solutions Act & Fund, which would earmark resources generated by New York’s role in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative for clean energy and energy efficiency. Last week, the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee, chaired by Senator Carl Marcellino (R-Huntington), moved this measure one step closer to a floor vote.

It is an election year, so the climate talk could be just that, talk. But environmental groups in the State Capital are encouraged nonetheless.

Click here to ask your Senator to support a statewide cap on greenhouse gas emissions.

Similar measures to reduce global warming pollution have been passed by several states, including Connecticut just this year, and California and New Jersey in 2006, among other states. Florida recently announced an executive proposal to cut greenhouse gas emissions, as well.

Click here to read the Journal News story on Senator Morahan’s introduction of this measure.

Click here to listen to the New York News Connection’s interviews with Assemblyman Bob Sweeney and Jackson Morris of Environmental Advocates of New York. 

Meanwhile, in our Nation's Capital . . .   

The first climate change measure to get to the floor of the U.S. Senate for consideration, America’s Climate Security Act—sponsored by Senators Boxer (D-CA), Lieberman (I-CT) and Warner (R-VA)—is much like the state-level measure described above and is also designed to make big cuts in global warming pollution from all sources.

A few lawmakers tried to delay meaningful debate on the bill through a variety of means. Nefarious tactics included requiring an eight-hour reading of the bill, word for word, commas and all, and an unusual late-night procedural move that resulted in Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada) sending out the Sergeant at Arms to round up Senators in the dead of night.

While it didn’t pass and probably won’t see the light of day until next year, the bill had its moment on the floor. And like the national version, up or down, the statewide climate cap should be considered on the floor for a vote.

Thanks to our friends at National Wildlife Federation, here are the votes for those of you keeping score:

48 YEAs
Akaka (D-HI); Baucus (D-MT); Bayh (D-IN); Bingaman (D-NM); Boxer (D-CA); Cantwell (D-WA); Cardin (D-MD); Carper (D-DE); Casey (D-PA); Collins (R-ME); Dodd (D-CT); Dole (R-NC); Durbin (D-IL); Feingold (D-WI); Feinstein (D-CA); Harkin (D-IA); Inouye (D-HI); Kerry (D-MA); Klobuchar (D-MN); Kohl (D-WI); Lautenberg (D-NJ); Leahy (D-VT); Levin (D-MI); Lieberman (ID-CT); Lincoln (D-AR); Martinez (R-FL); McCaskill (D-MO); Menendez (D-NJ); Mikulski (D-MD); Murray (D-WA); Nelson (D-FL); Nelson (D-NE); Pryor (D-AR); Reed (D-RI); Reid (D-NV); Rockefeller (D-WV); Salazar (D-CO); Sanders (I-VT); Schumer (D-NY); Smith (R-OR); Snowe (R-ME); Stabenow (D-MI); Sununu (R-NH); Tester (D-MT); Warner (R-VA; Webb (D-VA); Whitehouse (D-RI); Wyden (D-OR).

36 NAYs
Alexander (R-TN); Allard (R-CO); Barrasso (R-WY); Bennett (R-UT); Bond (R-MO); Brown (D-OH); Brownback (R-KS); Bunning (R-KY); Burr (R-NC); Chambliss (R-GA); Coburn (R-OK); Cochran (R-MS); Corker (R-TN); Crapo (R-ID); Domenici (R-NM); Dorgan (D-ND); Ensign (R-NV); Enzi (R-WY); Grassley (R-IA); Hagel (R-NE); Hatch (R-UT); Hutchison (R-TX); Inhofe (R-OK); Isakson (R-GA); Johnson (D-SD); Kyl (R-AZ); Landrieu (D-LA); Lugar (R-IN); McConnell (R-KY); Roberts (R-KS); Sessions (R-AL); Shelby (R-AL); Thune (R-SD); Vitter (R-LA); Voinovich (R-OH); Wicker (R-MS).

16 Senators did not vote on the measure.
Biden (D-DE); Byrd (D-WV); Clinton (D-NY); Coleman (R-MN); Conrad (D-ND); Cornyn (R-TX); Craig (R-ID); DeMint (R-SC); Graham (R-SC); Gregg (R-NH); Kennedy (D-MA); McCain (R-AZ); Murkowski (R-AK; Obama (D-IL); Specter (R-PA); Stevens (R-AK).

Click here to read the New York Times’ analysis of the vote.

Bigger Better Bottle Bill bounces Back

The Bigger Better Bottle Bill, the measure that would update and expand New York State’s bottle deposit law to meet the drinking habits of consumers today and include beverages such as bottled water, iced tea, and sports drinks, is on the move in the Assembly.

The bill will likely make it to the Assembly floor for a vote early this week.  

We’ll keep you posted. The Bigger Better Bottle Bill would also earmark unclaimed nickels (millions of dollars of unclaimed nickels that is) for the state’s Environmental Protection Fund rather than turning the monies over to bottlers, hence their opposition to the legislation.

Bills on the Move

Every week during the Legislative Session, Environmental Advocates of New York looks at the measures the will impact the environment for good or ill. Here are this week's Bills on the Move:

One tree for Solid Waste Landfill Siting. This bill would require the Department of Environmental Conservation, in its rules for siting new landfills, to take into account: (1) impact on drinking water sources; (2) the opinion of the localities most affected; (3) the presence of other such facilities in the area; and (4) municipal land use and zoning restrictions and the natural character of the vicinity.

One smokestack for Forest Management Tax Breaks. This bill would expand the definition of “approved management plan” in New York’s Real Property Tax Law and allow third parties to certify forest management plans on which tax exemptions may be claimed.

One tree Energy Efficiency Building Codes. This bill would require any renovations—substantial or otherwise—to public or private buildings in the state to meet up-to-date efficiency standards in the Energy Code.

One tree for EPF Program Reform. This bill would allow federal monies and other resources to be used as matching funds for projects authorized by New York’s Environmental Protection Fund (EPF). The bill would also authorize the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to make state grants.

Two trees for Brownfield Cleanup Program. This bill would change the state’s Brownfield Cleanup Program to encourage better site cleanups and ensure that certain contaminated sites are not excluded from the program. The legislation would also transfer Brownfield Opportunity Area Program administration from the DEC to the Department of State.

Click here to learn more about these measures.