Gov. Andrew Cuomo has taken a number of steps to revamp New York’s energy policy since taking office, but critics still have found plenty to criticize in the direction the state is moving. At City & State’s State of Our State conference in Albany on Tuesday, panelists took issue with the governor’s proposed overhaul of the Long Island Power Authority, a portion of the New York Energy Highway initiative to upgrade transmission lines, the fate of hydraulic fracturing and more.… [More]

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has done plenty to please environmentalists over the past few months. In his State of the State address Cuomo called for stricter caps on greenhouse gases, unveiled a new “energy czar” and announced plans for a $1 billion “green bank” and a statewide network of charging stations for electric cars. Environmental groups praised the budget he signed this year, which boosts funding for mass transit, increases capital spending for parks and diverts more money to the state’s… [More]

MATTHEW DRISCOLL President and CEO, New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation Q: What does the Environmental Facilities Corporation do? MD: It is the arm of the Cuomo administration that helps communities finance drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. Q: What is your top priority? MD: My top priority is to help municipalities take advantage of our low interest rates to finance infrastructure that is critical to ensuring sustainable communities. Creating an efficient wastewater system or a reliable drinking water supply can be… [More]

Gov. Andrew Cuomo will have the final say over whether hydraulic fracturing is allowed in New York—but some hydrofracking opponents are shifting their focus to lawmakers to pass a two-year moratorium on the controversial method of drilling for natural gas. Drilling foes see a potential for a breakthrough in the state Senate, which has traditionally been more supportive of hydrofracking but where state Sen. Jeff Klein and his breakaway Independent Democratic Conference could be in a position to play a… [More]

A group of construction unions, community groups, and elected officials, including two Brooklyn politicians, City Councilwoman Letitia James and Assemblyman Walter Mosley, filed an Article 78 lawsuit against the Bloomberg administration and developer Acadia Realty Trust calling for the City Point real estate project to be shut down and to commission a new environmental impact statement for the construction site. The suit alleges that the wage rate allowed in the City Point lease would force construction workers to earn substandard… [More]

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer has spent a lot of time at the Capitol recently. He announced a $1.7 billion plan to help state homeowners recover from Hurricane Sandy with Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday and then addressed the Assembly Democratic Conference on Monday afternoon. Schumer touched on a number of federal issues including federal disaster relief and gun control in a private session with Assembly members before greeting members on the floor during a vote. Schumer’s first cousin once removed, Amy Schumer, is also having a big… [More]

Only after Superstorm Sandy slammed Long Island did the governor finally take a serious look at the Long Island Power Authority in search of a solution to its longtime problems. … [More]

After Superstorm Sandy devastated New York City last fall, among the volunteers in Rockaway was a former congressman who left Washington in ignominy. … [More]

With policy makers exploring how to recover from Superstorm Sandy and determining how best to allocate limited federal funds, a panel of experts from across the country are meeting in Albany this afternoon to figure out how exactly to do that. “What we’re trying to do is to have a dialogue with state officials regarding a cost-effective and a more resilient and sustainable recovery and how we smartly use the dollars, those very limited dollars that we have to make… [More]

Josh Fox, the documentary filmmaker who made Gasland, visited the Capitol on Monday to support state Sen. Tony Avella’s bill on workplace safety for the natural gas drilling and to film a sequel. “The state is accountable and has done nothing to fix workplace safety on these sites,” Fox said. Avella said he was confident the bill would pick up support from Republicans and independent Democrats. “In the event that the governor somehow allows high-volume horizontal hydrofracking in addition to vertical hydrofracking,… [More]