Latest New York News

Gail Karlsson reports: One of the most encouraging signs I saw in Copenhagen during the UN Climate Change Conference was on the shirt worn by the desk clerk at my hotel in Malmo, Sweden, across the Oresund bridge. It said ‘I am a citizen of Hopenhagen’.

The funding is provided by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to help New York businesses increase their access to markets, customers, investors and partners, and build their capacity to serve a new or expanded customer base.

A new package of legislation will promote Greener, Greater Buildings in New York City. Once implemented, the legislation will reduce citywide greenhouse gas emissions by 4.75 percent.

Mayor Bloomberg attended the Mayor's Climate Summit in Copenhagen, which was held in parallel to the second week of the UN Climate Summit.

The Climate Sustainability Forum was convened by Uchita de Zoysa from the Centre for Environment & Development in Sri Lanka, and brought together civil society representatives from over 30 countries to discuss the importance of linking up initiatives on sustainable development with climate change mitigation efforts. 

Governor Paterson announced that four New York advanced-energy projects will receive more than $88 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the 'Stimulus Plan) to support smart grid demonstration and energy storage projects.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation held a public hearing at Stuyvesant High School on its new Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) for the hydraulic fracturing or "hydrofracking" method of natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale deposits.

Governor Paterson asked the legislature to consider establishing a municipal sustainable energy loan program to assist property owners in installing renewable energy and energy efficiency improvements.                                    

Governor Paterson signed the Green Jobs/Green Homes New York bill, which established a program to create green jobs and stimulate investment in weatherization and energy efficiency improvements for residential and commercial buildings. http://open.nysenate.gov/openleg/api/html/bill/S5888

The public comment period on the proposal to put Newtown Creek on EPA Superfund list has been extended until December 23.