School buses are the largest form of mass transit in the United States, and they desperately need an upgrade. Emissions from diesel school buses are linked to asthma, chronic respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, cancers, and even higher mortality rates. No one should have to breathe in dangerous pollutants while riding the bus, especially when cleaner, safer alternatives, such as all-electric school buses, are available.

We held a policy forum about the negative impacts of diesel school buses and pathways to transitioning to an electric school bus fleet. Read the background paper here. Read a recap of the forum here.

We were joined by a panel of experts and local activists:

Peggy Shepard, WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Matt Casale, US PIRG
Adam Armstrong, Resilient Red Hook
Tevin C.S. Grant, Esq., Electric School Bus Campaign
Kevin Cromar, NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management
Zachary Lerner, ALIGN NY

This policy forum focused on the economic, social, and environmental benefits of green infrastructure (GI) as an approach to managing stormwater. We brought together expert speakers and panelists to provide an overview of green infrastructure vs. traditional gray approaches and how it can be used to protect and restore water quality in the Delaware River Watershed region. From innovative examples to barriers and opportunities, this policy forum helped to equip local landowners and municipal leaders with the information and tools needed to get involved and bring more GI to their communities. Read the background paper here.

Speakers/Panelists

• George Schuler, The Nature Conservancy
• Freda Eisenberg, Commissioner, Sullivan County Department of Planning 
• Paul Beyer, Director of Smart Growth, NY State Dept. of State
• Stephanie P. Dalke, Pinchot Institute for Conservation
• Bryan Quinn, Environmental Entrepreneur, founder and principal of One Nature
• Jeff Skelding, Executive Director of Friends of the Upper Delaware River
• Molly Oliver, Delaware County Department of Watershed Affairs
• Diana Weiner, Sullivan Renaissance

Children’s products sold in the United States are presumed to be safe by parents but recent studies have proven otherwise. Since 2014, NYLCVEF has worked with its partners to raise awareness about the issue throughout the state and encourage action by state and local governments.

In 2014 and 2015, we conducted tests in stores throughout the state and released six reports showing that dangerous chemicals were present in children's jewelry, toy cars, clothing, and more. To produce these reports, NYLCVEF partnered with Clean and Healthy New York to analyze popular toys in area stores for toxic chemicals and heavy metals. Results of this test found products containing antimony, arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, lead, and mercury.

Toxic Toys in Albany County
Toxic Toys in Erie County
Toxic Toys on Long Island
Toxic Toys in Monroe County
Toxic Toys in Onondaga County
Toxic Toys in Westchester County

Many of the chemicals we found are known carcinogens and can lead to serious developmental disorders in children. Even with a federal law on the books, it's hard for anyone to know exactly what chemicals are present in the item they're buying. Thanks to the support of various foundations, we reached more people than ever about this issue by reaching out to new members from across the state. We even got Santa Claus into the action around the holidays to help educate even more people about these dangerous chemicals.

After the release of our reports and our grassroots advocacy, state and local lawmakers sprung into action:

• New York State introduced the Child Safe Products Act  identified and eliminated the most dangerous chemicals currently present in children's products sold throughout New York State.
• Albany becomes the first county in New York State to enact legislation protecting children from toxic toys in January.
• Westchester County executive signs bill to ban toxic toys from store shelves in May.
• Suffolk County becomes third to take action on toxic toys in June.
• Also in June of 2015, New York City introduced a bill that would ban hazardous chemicals from children's toys and clothes
• Rockland County unanimously passed legislation in July 2015.

In 2017, our statewide efforts continued with the introduction of the Toxic Show and Tell Act, a bill that would require children's product makers to disclose the presence of a set of chemicals of concern to children's health in the products they make.

In 2018, NYLCVEF and its partner Clean and Healthy New York teamed up again to produce a new report, "Tell Me More: Missing Information on Harmful Chemicals in Children's Products" that screened children’s products purchased on Long Island, in Westchester County and Albany finding heavy metals, such as cadmium and antimony, and flame retardants. The report also includes findings of chemicals of concern in children's products that was conducted and published in peer-reviewed journals by researchers from the New York State Department of Health’s Wadsworth Laboratory.

While we continue to work on a statewide solution, our local work will continue in New York City and other counties to protect children from toxic toys.

Interested in learning more about our Toxic Toys campaign?

• Report: Arsenic, Mercury, Lead Found in Toys Sold at Low to High-Endtores
• Environmental group identifies Dirty Dozen of toys
• Coalition works to push for state laws restricting chemicals in toys
• Supporters see progress on child-products regulation
• Report: Toxic toys being sold in Erie County
• Clean & Healthy NY, League of Conservation Voters, Poloncarz release 'Toxic Toys in Erie County' report
• Groups urge passage of toxic-toy law
• Round Two for the Child Safe Products Act
• Report Finds Toxic Chemicals in Albany Toys
• New Westchester Report Finds Toxic Toys Throughout County
• New Report Shows Toxic Toys in Long Island Stores
  

Many thanks to League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, Passport Capital, Myron Blumenfeld/ the Macy’s Foundation, and the Seventh Generation Foundation for their generous support.

On April 27, 2018, together with our partners at Sustainable Westchester, we hosted a policy forum on electric vehicles. Bringing together state and local lawmakers, industry experts, community partners, and more, this policy forum looked at the current status of EVs and EV infrastructure in Westchester County. We discussed what local leaders can do to increase the use of EVs at the personal, municipal, and commercial levels. We also talked about what challenges we face in fleet adoption, and what policies or mechanisms we can leverage to increase EV use in the county.

View the full program here. 

Achieving Our Goals

As a follow-up from the policy forum, we've put together a list of policy recommendations for how we can achieve our goals of transitioning municipal fleets, coordinating a plan for infrastructure, and getting an EV in every garage. Released jointly with Sustainable Westchester, these recommendations lay out specific ways for how we can increase the use of EVs in Westchester and achieve our goals. Check them out here. 

Get Involved by Taking a Pledge Today

Help us achieve our goal of getting an EV in every garage by pledging to test drive an EV and see if it's right for your family and by pledging to tell your decision-makers to electrify your local fleet. Contact list for municipal elected officials can be found here.

Thank you to our generous supporter.

The Town of East Hampton has a long record of sustainability leadership, particularly on the issue of open space. But there are many steps the town can take to continue to improve its environmental performance–and the town’s elected leaders will play a critical role in this effort.]

For this reason, the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, on behalf of the East Hampton Environmental Coalition is pleased to present the East Hampton Green Guide as a resource for all candidates running for town office in 2017.

The East Hampton Green Guide is a one-stop-shop for candidates, policy makers and current elected officials to learn about new opportunities and approaches to persistent sustainability challenges.

On September 25, 2017 members of the EHEC gathered to announce the release of the Green Guide

Members of the EHEC also had a chance to meet with the candidates for town board and to brief them on the important issues articulated in the Green Guide.

NYLCVEF would like to thank the following groups who contributed content for the guide and are supportive the overall goals:
CONTRIBUTORS: Accabonac Protection Committee, Amagansett Springs Aquifer Protection, Concerned Citizens of Montauk, International Dark Sky Association – New York Chapter, Long Island, Businesses for Responsible Energy (LIBFRE), New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, Northwest Alliance, Renewable Energy Long Island, Quiet Skies Coalition
SUPPORTERS: Defend H2O, Ditch Plains Association, Friends of Georgica Pond Foundation, Group for the East End, Peconic Baykeeper, Perfect Earth Project, Surfrider Foundation: Eastern Long Island Chapter, Third House Nature Center

Click here to download the 2017 East Hampton Green Guide

In September 2014, Mayor de Blasio announced an aggressive carbon reduction goal for New York City to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% below 2005 levels by 2050. In order to address some of the key topics and major challenges to reaching these goals, NYLCVEF hosted a 4-part forum series this summer to address the 80x50 targets in the sectors of transportation, buildings, waste, and energy. Experts representing a variety of stakeholders debated and discussed the future of the city and the most effective way to achieve these goals, guided by questions from both the moderator and the audience.

The transportation forum focused on topics of equity, transportation availability, and infrastructure so that New Yorkers in all boroughs will have access to low-carbon transit. Buildings, as the largest contributor to greenhouse gas in the city, focused on the costs of improving energy efficiency particularly in existing buildings that have high retrofit costs. In the waste forum, panelists tackled the daunting question of how the city will completely eliminate waste sent to landfills and where waste will be sent instead. Finally, the energy forum looked at the challenge of transmission and connecting New York City with clean energy upstate.

The city officials, experts, advocated, and private sector leaders all added valuable insight into the feasibility of 80x50 and the best way forward. The conversations mimicked the type of cross-sector collaboration needed to craft the most effective policies, and NYLCVEF is hoping to make recommendations based on this dialogue that will shape the city’s path to achieving 80x50 with maximum stakeholder engagement. Learn more about any of these forums by clicking the links below.

Getting to 80x50: Transportation
How can we ensure sustainable mobility for all New Yorkers?
Download the Background Paper

Getting to 80x50: Buildings
Getting to Net Zero: What needs to be done to radically improve efficiency of heating and cooling systems in buildings, and how will it be funded?
Download the Background Paper

Getting to 80x50: Waste
Reimagining the waste stream: If we send Zero Waste to Landfills, where will it go instead?
Download the Background Paper

Getting to 80x50: Energy
The transmission challenge: How do we get enough clean energy to New York City?
Download the Background Paper

The New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund is pleased to present this 2017 Green Guide as a resource for all candidates running for public office in New York City. This document, released at our Environmental Candidate School, is a one-stop-shop for candidates to learn about new opportunities and approaches to persistent sustainability problems. It also provides contact information for citywide and local organizations that work on the front lines of these issues, available as a resource to any candidate. NYLCVEF developed this guide in close consultation with our environmental, transportation, public health, parks and environmental justice partners to embrace a wide range of views and perspectives.

Click here to download our 2017 NYC Green Guide

Each year, NYLCV and the NYLCV Education Fund work closely with New York’s leading environmental, public health, conservation, energy, environmental justice, and transportation organizations to identify the state’s most pressing priorities on fighting climate change, conserving land and water, and protecting public health. The result of that effort is our 2017 New York State legislative policy agenda. This agenda will drive NYLCV’s advocacy work throughout the legislative session as we push for legislation and appropriations in the budget that fulfill our policy goals.

Our 2017 agenda charges the legislature and executive with five distinct but interconnected directives: ensure adequate funding for the environment, address the causes and effects of climate change, protect the health of New Yorkers and their communities, protect natural resources, and invest in better, smarter infrastructure. Though there are nearly fifty policies we will support this year, there are three priority areas that are at the top of our list: clean drinking water, leadership on climate, and farms, food, and organic waste.

With progress stalled at the federal level, these problems must be solved at the state and local levels. Our leaders will need to be thoughtful, work across the aisle, and make tough compromises. But we fully expect them to do whatever it takes to create a greener, healthier and more prosperous New York in 2017.

Click here to view our 2017 NYS Agenda

On October 11, 2016, in partnership with local officials and community-based organizations, NYLCVEF hosted a forum on the topic of green infrastructure in the Buffalo-Niagara metropolitan region. The forum featured two panel discussions of policymakers and green infrastructure experts:

Panel 1: Lynda Schneekloth, Professor Emeritus at the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning (Moderator)
Julie Barrett O’Neill, General Counsel, Buffalo Sewer Authority
Maris Grundy, Sustainable Landscaping Manager, PUSH Buffalo
Kathleen Buckler, Wetland Ecologist, Army Corps of Engineers
Scott Rybarczyk, Associate Principal and Senior Stormwater Engineer, Wendel
Sean Burkholder, Professor of Landscape and Urban Design, University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning

Panel 2: Carley Hill, Safety Director and Environmental Officer, Union Concrete and NYLCV Education Fund Board Member (Moderator)
Jill Jedlicka, Executive Director and Riverkeeper, Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper
Justin Booth, Executive Director, Go Bike Buffalo
Brian Kulpa, Mayor, Village of Williamsville
Bart Roberts, Associate Director of Research and Faculty Engagement, UB Regional Institute

The first panel discussion reviewed the innovative work of the green infrastructure work being done by the Buffalo Sewer Authority, PUSH Buffalo, the Army Corps of Engineers, Wendel and the UB School of Architecture and Planning. Each panelist emphasized the importance of collaboration, and the City of Buffalo was recognized for its innovation and continued leadership on the issue. Drawing from varied experience in wastewater treatment, workforce development, wetland ecology, engineering and design, the multidisciplinary panel identified some early successes in the region's efforts to capture and control stormwater runoff. Panelists also discussed some of the key challenges to implementing these projects in the future, including the need for maintenance funding and civic engagement to broaden public understanding of the importance of investing public funds in green infrastructure projects.

The second group of panelists from Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper, Go Bike Buffalo, the Village of Williamsville and the UB Regional Institute followed this conversation by taking a bigger picture view of the role that green infrastructure could play in future regional planning efforts and watershed management. Despite this different focus, panelists echoed many sentiments of the previous group. Specific projects such as the Niagara Street Gateway were lauded for including a complete streets model in design and implementation, a feature that can maximize the multiple positive effects of green infrastructure investments in the future. The importance of leadership from policymakers, another recurring theme from the first panel, was also raised as a significant opportunity for envisioning and implementing green infrastructure in local municipalities and across the region. Panelists agreed that continued public engagement will be essential for all of these reasons, ultimately enabling the region to capture the benefits of the One Region Forward planning process.

The forum was hosted by the Buffalo History Museum, generously sponsored by Roux Associates and Union Concrete, and featured by WBFO Buffalo.

Download our reccomendations here!