May 22, 2023: A May afternoon view of Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn.
Last season, the city’s 25 beaches saw a total of 244 closures, either because water quality exceeded the city’s safety standards—determined by testing for the bacteria found in fecal matter—or because of excessive rainfall, which increases the likelihood of pollution entering local waterways. That’s up from 94 such closures during the 2021 season.
This summer, utility companies must submit plans detailing how they’ll implement a series of solutions to make electricity rates more affordable for electric vehicles. But their plan has fallen short of giving the MTA the preferential rate it says it needs to able to foot the bill, as it seeks to transition its 5,800-bus fleet off fossil fuels.
The bill determines how money generated from the program will be spent but fails to include protective measures for disadvantaged communities, environmentalists warn.
The deactivated nuclear power plant, now run by Holtec, wants to discharge 1 million gallons of radioactive waste into the river as early as August. The dumping will release into the air and waterways an element called tritium that can increase the risk of cancer and lead to miscarriages and birth defects.
Los legisladores están intentando evitar el cierre de la central eléctrica de Black River, en Fort Drum, cambiando la definición estatal de energía renovable para incluir la quema de madera, conocida como biomasa forestal. Se ha demostrado científicamente que este proceso contamina más que el carbón.
New York has 123 homes constructed under the environmentally friendly “passive house” building standard certified by Passive House Institute US. But architects and environmental experts say it should become the norm, especially for affordable projects in New York City.
Lawmakers are trying to keep the Black River power plant at Fort Drum from closing by changing the state’s definition of renewable energy to include the burning of wood, known as forest biomass. This process has been scientifically proven to pollute more than coal.
Known as the Climate Change Super Fund, the legislation was included in the Senate’s one-house budget proposal, but didn’t make it into the Assembly’s proposition. Lawmakers are pushing for the bill to make it into the final budget due April 1.
Hudson Yards prometió ser uno de los vecindarios sostenibles más eficientes de Estados Unidos. Pero los datos sobre el consumo de energía que maneja la alcaldía demuestran que muchos de los inmuebles con la certificación “verde” del vecindario ni siquiera llegan a superar el índice de edificios similares en todo el país.
Hudson Yards promised to be one of the most efficient sustainable neighborhoods in the U.S. But public energy consumption data tracked by the city shows many green-certified properties in the neighborhood are failing to outperform similar buildings nationwide.
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