Late last week City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams announced her appointees for committee chairs. The most important chairs to keep an eye on for sustainability, and building a greener city, are those for environmental protection, transportation, parks, sanitation, and resiliency. Housing, health, and finance are also important chairs that can help facilitate environmental legislation.
Learn MoreAs New York City begins strategizing for the new year, our new administration and Council Members have the opportunity to start making transformative investments in our environmental infrastructure and resiliency. NYLCV’s newest Policy Agenda lists what issues should be made top priority in the transportation, energy, public health, conservation, and environmental justice sectors, and highlights the legislative opportunities that will get us there. We hope to build upon our progress made last year and continue making bold policy decisions for the good of our community. Below are some of the main points made in this year’s Policy Agenda.
Learn MoreRead more about The New York League of Conservation Voters (NYLCV) and NYLCV Education Fund (NYLCVEF) 2022 State Policy Agenda.
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Each year, approximately 40% of food produced in the United States is left uneaten, equating to an annual loss of $218 billion, while approximately 2.2 million New Yorkers are food insecure. Across New York State, restaurants alone are estimated to waste around 25.4 billion pounds of food waste, and grocery stores generate around 21 billion pounds. Food waste is also detrimental to the environment, emitting methane and other greenhouse gases when sent to landfills, making up a total of 6-8% of human-caused emissions worldwide. Not only is the food itself wasted when thrown out, but so are the energy and water used to grow and transport it around the world.
Learn MoreEvery day, almost 100 million plastic utensils are discarded across the United States. The cost to dispose of single-use food ware in a single year is estimated at about 1 billion dollars. Despite these shocking numbers, many restaurants still give out disposable cutlery with every take-out and delivery order. Intro 1775-B is a bill that would require food establishments to only provide non-reusable utensils, condiments, and napkins upon request. While similar bills have been successfully passed in major cities such as Los Angeles, the New York City Council has yet to even have a council hearing concerning this bill. The New York League of Conservation Voters supports the passage of Intro 1775-B to reduce the city’s residential waste.
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The NYC Department of Sanitation will resume its program to collect residential organic waste. Residents must sign up to request the service, either through an online form or by calling 311.
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We're excited to release latest NYC Council Environmental Scorecard, in which Council Members are evaluated based on their support of environmental issues
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We are excited to release our 2021-2022 Westchester Policy Agenda. We will focus our advocacy and programming on combating climate
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