News You Can Use
Clean Energy
New Solar Panels at Historic Brooklyn Army Terminal to Power Sunset Park Community. By NYCEDC, Press Release, Dec 06 2024
"New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), UPROSE, and Working Power today announced the development of Sunset Park Solar, a project to bring clean, reliable, and affordable solar energy to Sunset Park residents and businesses...
The solar array will be co-owned by UPROSE and Working Power, ensuring community control and leadership in the project’s governance and benefits. Beyond providing [electric utility] bill savings, the revenue generated by the community solar array will be directed into a community wealth fund that allows Sunset Park residents to allocate resources to projects based on their priorities, such as funding additional solar initiatives."
For a deeper dive on Sunset Park Solar as a model for community solar projects -
A new solar project in Brooklyn could offer a model for climate justice. Community solar is gaining momentum nationwide, but uptake is low among those who could benefit most. This grassroots NYC project aims to change that. By Maria Gallucci in Canary Media, 6 January 2025
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Lots of demand, too little grid: The state of the US power sector. By Jeff St. John in Canary Media, 2 January 2025
"An underbuilt power grid is preventing the U.S. from meeting surging demand with new clean energy....
In a world where grid congestion wasn’t a problem, clean power could meet most, if not all, of that near-term growth in demand.
But that’s not the world we live in. Instead, the backlog of solar, wind, and battery projects now seeking to interconnect to U.S. grids has ballooned to nearly 2,600 gigawatts’ worth of generation capacity. That’s roughly twice the country’s existing generation capacity, per data from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory."
Composting & Recycling
New York City now mandates composting. Next comes the hard part. Municipal composting programs like NYC’s aim to reduce methane emissions from landfills, but implementing them effectively is a long process. By Keaton Peters in Canary Media, 6 January 2025
“'It’s a huge lift to change the behavior of millions of people,” said Justin Green, executive director of Big Reuse, a community-based environmental organization that has been composting in New York City since 2011'...'A lot of environmental change starts to happen at the community level,' he said".
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Compost Volunteering. In
Gowanus Canal Conservancy News and Events, email newsletter, received 2024, December 17.
"Compost volunteering is back! The renewal of NYC Compost Project funding by City Council this year has provided essential support to GCC's stewardship work. As we await the reopening of the Gowanus Salt Lot, which will support large scale organics recycling, GCC is pleased to host
green waste composting at the Lowlands Nursery
in partnership with Big Reuse."
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NYC to provide more ways to get your compost on with passage of parks bill. By Michelle Bocanegra in
Gothamist, Nov 16, 2024
"The City Council voted overwhelmingly in favor of legislation this week that would require a steady increase in the number of parks with composting facilities through July 2028". [But, will the legislation be signed and funded by the Mayor?]
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New York City official backs composting over codigestion, citing environmental justice concerns. By Jacob Wallace in
Waste Dive, 2024, November 6
"A new report from Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso throws support behind Intro 696, a New York City bill that would require a large expansion in composting capacity across each of the city’s five boroughs...Reynoso’s office released a report after his speech identifying promising sites for composting facilities citywide...
'The existing codigestion program is putting more trucks on the streets of North Brooklyn. When we exempted composting from the waste equity law, we didn’t mean it would be OK to send all of the food scraps and the trucks they come in to one or two places, especially not the neighborhoods like North Brooklyn that are already disproportionately burdened by waste truck traffic', Reynoso said."
Fighting Global Warming
In New York City and St. Louis, innovative laws meant to curb emissions from buildings are kicking in this year. By Akielly Hu in
Canary Media, 7 January 2025
"In New York City, where carbon emission caps apply to most structures over 25,000 square feet, 89 percent of buildings covered by the law
[Local Law 97] have already met 2024 targets."
Growing the Urban Forest & Beating the Heat
Here's how North Brooklyn residents are working to protect vulnerable trees. By Hannah Kliger in
CBS New York. Updated on: December 10, 2024 / 7:53 PM EST.
"Brooklynites are trying to protect the new young trees coming to the borough after an ambitious effort to plant more than 3,000 trees in one district....
'The thing that we've encountered, though, is that when new trees are planted, they're really vulnerable,' [District 33 Councilmember Lincoln] Restler said...To simplify the process and reduce costs, Restler unveiled a partnership with the Big Reuse, a climate-focused nonprofit. The organization provides pre-made tree guards at a quarter of the price, if you choose to install them yourself."
Transportation
43K fewer drivers on Manhattan roads after congestion pricing turned on, MTA says. By Ramsey Khalifeh in Gothamist, Jan 13, 2025 at 4:49 p.m. ET
"The decline in traffic only amounts to a 7.5% reduction...But such a reduction...can be the difference between flowing traffic and gridlock...The Manhattan-bound B39 bus, which crosses the Williamsburg Bridge, ran 28% faster compared to a similar January week last year. Other buses like the SIM24 and and the M50 saw increases in speeds, as well."
Fighting Pollution
New York May Finally Put a Price on Pollution in 2025. By Colin Kinniburgh in
New York Focus, 23 December 2024
"Two years ago, Governor Kathy Hochul offered an answer: corporate polluters. She outlined an economy-wide system, called “cap and invest,” that would put a price on pollution and drive the steep emissions cuts mandated by law.
Regulators are fine-tuning the rules that will structure it; the state’s initial projections show it could generate $3 billion or more a year for the state to invest in green energy and other climate initiatives. Hochul and the legislature will likely negotiate further elements of the policy in the coming year’s budget, setting up what could be New York’s biggest climate fight since 2019."