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Highlights
Celebrating our Annual Gala
We celebrated our 41st year of working to protect our environment and public health with over 400 hundred of our friends and colleagues at our annual gala. Thank you so much to everyone who came out and made the night a big success. This year, we honored Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine for his dedication to improving water quality and advancing renewable energy. Special thanks to our speakers, Commissioner Amanda Lefton from the NYS DEC and Doreen Harris, President and CEO of NYSERDA.
U.S. Senate Passes Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Reauthorization!
In late September, the U.S. Senate voted to reauthorize the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) for four more years at $475 million annually. The GLRI has been wildly successful to date, investing over $576 million in on over 1,371 projects in New York State, including projects to clean up the Buffalo River and Rochester Embayment, fight invasive species, prevent harmful algal blooms, and much more. Earlier this year, the U.S. House voted to reauthorize the GLRI for five years. We will be pushing the House and Senate to secure agreement on a final matching bill before the end of the year.
Bill Passed to Protect NY’s Drinking Water from PFAS—Now we Need the Governor’s Signature!
In June, the NYS Assembly and Senate passed legislation to further limit PFAS in our drinking water. While the EPA is working to roll back and delay federal PFAS standards, New York is moving forward with stronger, science-based measures to protect millions of New Yorkers from these toxic "forever chemicals." Now, we need Governor Hochul to sign the bill into law. She has until the end of the year, but the sooner the Governor signs the bill the more protected New Yorkers will be. Email Governor Hochul and urge her to sign legislation to implement stronger drinking water standards for toxic PFAS “forever chemicals”!
Happenings
Cleaning up the Calverton Plume
In September, we joined U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer at a press conference calling on the U.S. Navy to take immediate action to address the contamination from the Calverton plume. For decades, Long Island communities have been waiting for them to take urgent action. Every delay has allowed this problem to grow, which will make clean-up efforts more expensive. We are calling on the Navy to accept the science, take accountability, provide greater transparency, and deliver a real clean up plan. It’s been 30 years too long. Long Islanders need this contamination cleaned up now!
Presenting at the Great Lakes National Conference
We traveled to Detroit to attend the Healing Our Waters Great Lakes Conference in September. CCE’s Brian Smith joined our partners at Environmental Advocates NY and Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper to present at the conference on our successful advocacy related to New York’s Clean Water Infrastructure Act, which has invested a nation-leading $6.5 billion in protecting NY’s water from its source to our taps!
Talking Environmental Protection with the Attorney General
We had the pleasure of joining NYS Attorney General Letitia James’ Environmental Roundtable last month on Long Island. It was an honor to join with environmental leaders and legislators to discuss important actions and opportunities to protect our local community. We had a productive discussion and thank the AG for her continued efforts to defend our environment and public health throughout NY.
Protecting Endangered Species
We were happy to host the Endangered Species Coalition at our office on Long Island for a robust discussion of endangered species protection. We strategized with local and national experts on policies to help these critical species thrive. Thank you to the diverse range of groups that attended and made it a successful event.
Upcoming: South Shore Estuary Reserve Plastic Pollution Conference
We are joining our partners at Operation SPLASH and Atlantic Marine Conservation Society to host the first South Shore Estuary Reserve Conference focused on challenges and solutions to plastic pollution. This FREE conference will feature the latest science, policy experts, and community leaders who are working on the front lines addressing this problem. Join us on Wednesday, October 28 from 9:30 am – 1:00 pm at The Mansion at West Sayville to get the latest science and find out what we can do to solve the plastic pollution crisis harming our South Shore. Register Here.