Fossil Fuel Industry Mobilizes Front Group To Weaken NY Climate Law – By Rob Galbraith and Derek Seidman of Little Sis – April 19, 2022 – “A corporate front group called New Yorkers for Affordable Energy has emerged to lobby aggressively against climate action, seeking to influence government bodies acting on climate change, including the Climate Action Council, which was created by the CLCPA to lead New York towards its pollution reduction targets. Although New Yorkers for Affordable Energy sounds like the name of a broad grassroots coalition, and the group phrases its communications in terms of benefiting consumers, the truth is that – in typical astroturf fashion –it’s driven by the very same handful of fossil fuel and utility corporations and corporate lobbying interests that tried to stop the CLCPA from passing in the first place. “ Full article here.

History of Gas & Leaks in New York City – from the article Buried-Gudges by Nicholas Pevzner “Today’s infrastructure troubles are directly tied to the very long history of this system in New York. Many streets contain multiple sets of gas pipes in tangles that defy clear logic, and which converge on locations that are no longer clearly marked in the urban form of the city… The confusing underground patterns begin to make sense, though, if we recall that prior to consolidating into New York’s two contemporary gas utilities, there were as many as fifteen competing gas companies in the city — seven in Manhattan alone — each laying their own mains and competing aggressively for customers. Each company dug up the streets, installed miles of pipe, built multiple gas production facilities and gas holders (massive tanks) throughout its service territory, and laid large-diameter transfer mains to connect its major gas holders to one another. On occasion, workers excavated and ripped up the pipes of competing gas companies, or, as legend has it, even battled physically in the streets when competing crews ran into one another on the job.”

Lawmakers Urge Conversion of State Capitol to All-Renewable Energy – Karen DeWitt – Nw York Now from WMHT – “Some New York state lawmakers who represent the districts around the State Capitol say the multi-building complex should set an example for the rest of the state and switch to all-renewable energy to power lights and heating…Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy represents Albany in the chamber. She supports a bill that would require the Capitol complex, where over 12,000 people worked before the COVID-19 pandemic, to be powered by wind, solar or geothermal power… The measure’s sponsor, Assemblyman John McDonald…could not put a price tag on a transition to renewable fuels. But he and local lawmakers who attended the news conference say it’s hypocritical for the state to pursue the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, with a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent by 2050, and still power the Capitol on fossil fuels. Full article here.

Schools Should Install Geo Instead of AC – Sierra Club’s Ellen Banks writes in Amherst Bee – April 20, 2022 – “As the Williamsville School District discusses air conditioning in the schools, in view of increasingly warm weather with climate change, I urge the board to take a step back and consider a better, more climate-friendly and more healthy option for students and staff: Geothermal heating and cooling.” Ellen Banks is the Conservation Chair of the Sierra Club’s Atlantic Chapter. Full article here.