5 Things You Need to Know | December ADK Conservation News
By: Mary Godnick- Adirondack Council Marketing and Development Assistant
Friday, December 21, 2018
Adirondack Conservation News is a collection of the most current events taking place in New York’s Adirondack Park, a unique national treasure and legacy we inherited over 100 years ago, that we have to protect for future generations. Adirondack News aims to highlight both threats and opportunities concerning the Park’s ecological integrity, wild character and community vibrancy.
Cuomo Calls for 'Green New Deal' to Eliminate Carbon Footprint in N.Y.
This month, Governor Cuomo announced his agenda for the first 100 days in the next legislative session. He shared what he referred to as a “Green New Deal” for New York, an effort to “make New York's electricity 100% carbon neutral by 2040 and ultimately eliminate the states entire carbon footprint.” He also referenced the Environmental Protection Agency’s lack of oversight on polluted water and shared that this year, New York state would be the leader on clean water and, “do the science, regulate the chemicals, and leave this planet better than we found it. And we're going to do it this year.”
Underwood Allowed into Court Case Against EPA
New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood has been granted permission from the U.S. Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia Circuit to join environmental groups in a case against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for not upholding a part of the Clean Air Act. This means New York, New Jersey and New York City will be part of the suit calling on the EPA to order upwind power plants in the midwest to turn on already-installed pollution control devices to and stop polluting states such as New York.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Accelerate Like a ‘Speeding Freight Train’ in 2018
According to new research conducted by over 100 scientists and 50 different research and academic institutions released this month, worldwide annual greenhouse gas emissions are growing at an accelerated rate despite efforts to move to renewable energy sources. The report cites the increase in number of people owning cars and driving further distances which has offset gains from the growing number of electric vehicles. The report showed that the world is on pace to release 37.1 gigatons of emissions in 2018, with China, the United States and India as the biggest emitters.
Road Salt: The (Other) Acid Rain of Our Time
With 34 percent of the Mirror Lake watershed being developed, this Lake Placid Village water body is heavily impacted by road salt. The roads, sidewalks and parking lots are all treated with road salt, and the runoff drains into the lake. The Ausable River Association has found chloride levels exceeding both chronic and acute toxicity levels for aquatic life defined by the Environmental Protection Agency. This reduces the amount of oxygen at the bottom of the lake and impacts the water’s chemistry, stressing trout populations and making the lake more susceptible to algal blooms.
This month, federal lawmakers reached a compromise on the Farm Bill after a long process that proposed to cut programs such as subsidies to farmers and financial assistance to help feed low-income families. However, many conservation programs proposed to be cut retained funding in the final bill, such as $500 million in mandatory funding for the Local Agriculture Market Program, which combines the Value Added Producer Grant Program (for food processing and marketing), the Farmers Market Promotion Program and the Local Food Promotion Program. The bill now needs to be passed by the Senate and signed into law by the President in order to become law..
|
