(New York, NY) Children’s health, climate resiliency and brownfields have emerged as the top sustainability issues of the year in Albany, and action on these issues will factor heavily into environmentalists’ support for state leaders in their re-election campaigns later this year.
The New York League of Conservation Voters — which elects for the environment — has identified three issues that are critical for Gov. Andrew Cuomo and lawmakers to address during the current legislative session. The list of priorities was developed in close consultation with NYLCV’s partners in the environmental, public health and conservation communities.
Support for these three priorities will receive extra weight in NYLCV’s Legislative Progress Report, which we will issue after session ends in June. Most importantly, lawmakers’ action on the three issues will play a key role in NYLCV’s environmental endorsements and electoral activities later this year. NYLCV has the only political action committee — called NYLCV PAC — that runs electoral campaigns to elect environmental leaders.
“Today, we are setting the goalpost for environmental progress in Albany,” said New York League of Conservation Voters President Marcia Bystryn. “These three issues consistently rank as top priorities for the state’s leading green groups and the political climate is ripe for action. In just a matter of weeks, NYLCV will begin our candidate screening process. The first question we will ask is how lawmakers helped advance these bills. We will then make our endorsements and campaign decisions accordingly.”
NYLCV’s top environmental priorities for the 2014 legislative session are:
- Protect children from toxic chemicals in toys and children’s products. Until recently, parents assumed that children’s products purchased in the United States were safe. In 2007, 35 percent out of 1,500 tested children’s products contained lead; right now, other toxic chemicals and substances could be lurking in a child’s toy chest. The Legislature is currently discussing a bill (S. 4614 / A. 6328) that would require disclosure of toxic chemicals in children’s products and phase out those chemicals most threatening to children’s health.
- Prepare New York State for a changing climate. Recent severe storms like Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Irene caused devastation throughout the state. While the state is still rebuilding its infrastructure from these deadly weather events, it must prepare for the next big storm. A bill now under consideration (S. 6617 / A.6558) would require most publicly funded infrastructure projects to take New York’s changing climate into consideration when planning so that they can be made more resilient.
- Renew and reform the Brownfield Cleanup Program. Thousands of properties contaminated with highly toxic substances sit vacant throughout the state awaiting cleanup. The state’s program to clean those sites and encourage their redevelopment, the Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP), will expire next year. NYLCV will work to ensure that the BCP will revitalize abandoned industrial and commercial sites in upstate communities, low-income communities and urban areas throughout the state.
For more ideas about how New York’s elected leaders can improve the environment and transition to a clean-energy future in 2014, check out NYLCV’s State Policy Agenda.
Celebrating its 25th anniversary year, the New York League of Conservation Voters (NYLCV) is a nonpartisan, policy-making and political action organization that works to make environmental protection a top priority with elected officials, decision makers and voters by evaluating incumbent performance and endorsing and electing environmental leaders to office in New York State.
