A major wind farm project slated to begin off the coast of Long Island that is said to power 500,000 homes was halted after an order from U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.
Burgum directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Wednesday to halt construction on Empire Wind, a fully-permitted project. He called for further review, saying the Biden administration rushed the approval.
In recent years, communities across NY, CT and the nation have discovered their drinking water sources are contaminated with harmful PFAS chemicals. PFAS are referred to as “forever chemicals” because they are very persistent, meaning they build up in our bodies and don’t break down in the environment. Exposure to PFAS is linked to higher rates of cancer and other serious health impacts. The EPA has found that there is no safe level of exposure to PFAS in our drinking water.
In April of 2024, EPA adopted strong, science-based drinking water standards for six PFAS chemicals—limiting the toxic chemicals to the lowest level feasible in drinking water. Regrettably, a lawsuit has been brought by water utilities and the chemical industry, attempting to block this much needed drinking water standard. The EPA has until Monday, May 12th to announce its intentions for the PFAS standards – whether to continue defending their adopted standards, weaken the standards significantly, ask for more time, or scrap them altogether. If they do not move forward with the standards, more than 1.3 million New Yorkers and many Connecticut residents will lose critical protections from the toxic “forever chemicals.”
Thank you for taking action!
Sincerely,
All of us at CCE
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum has ordered a halt to an offshore wind project off the coast of Long Island, making good on an executive order from President Donald Trump in January that put a moratorium on new or upcoming offshore wind projects.
Long Island residents living near Port Jefferson Harbor were warned by officials to stay away from the water, and to not even have dogs walk along the shore line. That’s because of a huge sewage spill into the harbor meant high levels of bacteria and viruses were floating around. NBC New York’s Pei-Sze Cheng reports.
A two-hour electrical malfunction led to a sewage spill in Port Jefferson Harbor.
Thirty thousand gallons of partially treated sewage was discharged from its plant, the Department of Environmental Conservation said. The problem was a partial malfunction of the electrical sewage ultraviolet disinfection system.
Approximately 300 students from 17 local high schools and at least one middle school gathered April 4 for the first Long Island Youth Climate Summit at Stony Brook University. Organized by Students for Climate Action and Renewable Energy Long Island, the event centered on environmental education and advocacy, with students encouraged to get involved with grassroots.
More than 1 million New Yorkers depend on public water systems for drinking water, and some are being exposed to manmade "forever chemicals" called PFAS, environmentalists say.
The tap water in New York is said to be safe to drink as it meets federal and state standards, but according to a study by the Environmental Working Group, as of March 2025, PFAS have been detected in public water systems in Westchester, Rockland, Nassau and Suffolk counties.
We recently held a free Climate Change Symposium in Babylon, Long Island for Earth Month. A huge thank you to everyone who came out and contributed to a great discussion. This forum was designed for everyone wanting the facts about climate change, its impacts to our communities, and climate change solutions.
We were excited to welcome Dr. Paul Shepson, Dean of The School for Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, as our keynote speaker. We also heard a fantastic presentation from Dr. J Bret Bennington, Professor and Chair of the Department of Geology, Environment, and Sustainability, Hofstra University. While we are facing an increasing amount of misinformation on climate change and climate science, it was more important than ever to get the facts from the experts.
If you missed the event, be sure to watch the video here.
Thank you for watching!
Sincerely,
All of Us at CCE
Smith Point's Park Beach is where offshore wind energy will soon come ashore. Crews there are laying cables for New York's second wind farm with 84 turbines 30 miles off Montauk.
"We have this untapped renewable resource, the wind... this is going to power millions of homes... with almost zero fossil fuel use," Melissa Parrot, executive director of Renewable Energy Long Island said. "The planet is at sake. We see the glaciers melting... you see the storms, you see the floods... and the number one way to curb climate change is top stop our CO2 output, which is fossil fuel use."
Adrienne Esposito is executive director and a cofounder of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, a nonprofit organization fighting for stronger environmental policies.
Herald: Tell me about yourself.
Esposito: I grew up in Copiague, and I literally grew up with one foot in the water and one foot on the land. As a kid, we went crabbing and fishing and to the beach, and my mom would bring us blueberry-picking in the Pine Barrens. And my dad was a really tremendous fisherman and outdoorsmen, so we grew up on the water. So I think that that really connects you to the natural world and impresses upon you the beauty of it and the need to protect it.
More than 1 million New Yorkers depend on public water systems for drinking water, and some are being exposed to manmade "forever chemicals" called PFAS, environmentalists say.
What It Means For Drinking Water
More than 1.3 million New Yorkers could lose critical protections from toxic “forever chemicals” in their drinking water if the Environmental Protection Agency weakens new federal PFAS standards, according to a report released Wednesday.
Administrator Lee Zeldin will decide fate of landmark ‘forever chemicals’ standards
ALBANY, N.Y. – More than 1.3 million New Yorkers could lose critical protections from the toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS in their tap water if the Environmental Protection Agency rolls back its historic, science-based PFAS drinking water standards.
President Donald Trump’s wild-card pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency has emerged as one of the most devoted public champions for his efforts to demolish the Biden agenda — and MAGA world is taking notice.
New York State is suffering from a solid waste and recycling crisis—recycling costs for municipalities and taxpayers have skyrocketed, recycling rates have declined, and our environment and health are suffering from pollution caused by excessive plastic packaging. Currently, corporate brand owners bear no responsibility in managing the product packaging waste they have created.
To help address this solid waste crisis, the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (S.1464/A.1749) has been introduced in the NYS Legislature. The policy requires product manufacturers—not taxpayers—to be responsible for the cost of collecting and recycling the packaging they create. If passed into law, this legislation will reduce packaging waste, increase recycling, eliminate toxic chemicals in packaging, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and save local governments across the state over $300 million annually!
Recording of the Packaging Waste Reduction Forum: This one-hour zoom presentation (held 4/10/25) includes PRRIA bill sponsors and expert panelists discussing the importance of passing PRRIA and answering frequently asked questions about the policy. View the PowerPoint Presentation from the Forum here.
Frequently Asked Questions: Two-page fact sheet addresses frequently asked questions about PRRIA and the experience of packaging EPR policies around the globe
Studies demonstrating that packaging EPR policies have not had any discernable impact on the price of packaged consumer goods:
Plastic packaging and paper recycling are in crisis: New York generates more than 17 million tons of municipal solid waste annually. An estimated 40 percent of that waste is composed of product packaging and paper products, such as plastic containers, steel cans, plastic film, glass bottles, paper, and cardboard. Unfortunately, less than 20% of this waste is being recycled properly. Instead of being recycled, much of this waste ends up as litter in our communities, shipped to landfills, or burned in trash incinerators.
Costs to local governments—and taxpayers—have skyrocketed: Municipalities were once getting paid for recyclables, but now they must pay to recycle. Instead of generating revenue from recyclables, many municipalities face recycling costs in the hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars per year. The solid waste and recycling crisis is estimated to cost New York’s local governments $300 million annually. Local officials are now forced to consider raising fees on residents and/or reducing the recycling services provided to their communities.
New York’s waterways are suffering from increased plastic pollution: All too often, plastic packaging is littering our communities, ultimately making its way into our treasured rivers, lakes, bays, and ocean. Plastics do not biodegrade once they enter the environment—instead they break down into tiny pieces known as microplastics, which are frequently mistaken for food and ingested by fish and other aquatic wildlife. Recent research indicates that Lake Erie contains 381 metric tons of plastic—more than 50 times greater than the previous estimates at the surface. In NY/NJ Harbor Estuary, there are an estimated 165 million plastic particles floating in the water at any given time. In Long Island Sound coastal communities, voluntary clean ups report finding over 110,000 pounds of marine debris on beaches over the course of 8 years.
Large Brands are Failing to Take Responsibility: Currently, manufacturers bear no responsibility for recycling the packaging waste they create. Large brands have externalized the cost of disposing of and recycling packaging onto our municipal recycling programs and local taxpayers. For example, an estimated 165 billion packages are shipped in the U.S. every year, and yet companies currently bear no responsibility for managing any of this packaging waste that their businesses create. Instead, taxpayers and local governments are shouldering the financial burden of packaging disposal and recycling—the cost to New York State’s local governments is estimated at $300 million annually.
The Solution to Reducing Waste and Saving Taxpayers Money: Hold Manufacturers Responsible for their Waste! The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (often referred to as Extended Producer Responsibility or EPR) would require manufacturers to take responsibility for their products throughout their entire product life cycle, by bearing the cost of properly recycling their packaging. Not only does this provide relief to taxpayers, but it also requires producers to minimize packaging materials, improve recyclability, and reduce the toxicity of their products. These policies have existed in Canada and the EU for decades and resulted in recycling rates upwards of 80%.
Thank you for taking action. Together we make a difference!
Sincerely,
Your friends at CCE
