Third Act Upstate New York

New York reverses course, grants Greenidge new air permit amid fierce backlash | Fingerlakes1.com New York State has approved a new five-year Title V Air Permit for Greenidge Generation in Dresden, ending years of litigation and reopening a fierce political and environmental battle over the future...

Hochul again refuses to protect the people & environment of NYS.

"The reaction from environmental groups was blistering. @senecalakeguardian.bsky.social accused Gov. Kathy Hochul of 'abandoning the Finger Lakes,' weakening the state’s climate law, and siding with a 'fossil-fueled Bitcoin mine.'"

PS I usually post about on health harms of fossil fuel bullshit but since affordability is the theme this week, I’ll repeat the price tag: the NESE pipeline will cost New Yorkers $2.2 billion+ and force ratepayers to pay > $200 million/year for the next 15 yrs
readme.readmedia.com/Advocates-Co...

How Cutting Barriers To Solar Permits Could Power Up 18 Million Homes. A new report reveals how changing the permitting process could save U.S. families trillions >

🤯 This new @permitpower.bsky.social report reveals that if we cut down on red tape for solar installations, we could unlock solar power for almost 20 MILLION families across the U.S. 🇺🇸 If it’s already working in countries like Australia & Germany, why can’t it work here? 👇🧵

A cure for doomerism SARANAC LAKE — Sam Balzac believes that laughter is the best medicine for people feeling dread about the state of the Earth’s climate. With concerns that human pollution will push the state of the nat...

November 9, 3:00 PM, Saranac Lake Free Library

Sam Balzac's climate doomerism musical comedy “Existential Questions of the 21st Century”

Includes a climate activism forum with @protectadkpark.bsky.social, Third Act Upstate NY & @publicpowerny.bsky.social

Reservations information in the article

Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado, New York Communities for Change, Citizen Action of NY, Third Act Upstate and Third Act NYC Slam Governor Hochul’s Approval of the NESE Pipeline - Antonio Delgado f... Governor Hochul’s Department of Environmental Conservation just approved the same toxic, unnecessary pipeline that New York has already rejected multiple times. Nothing about this project has changed:...

"...we must ask why Governor Hochul has aligned with the fossil fuel industry to inject more climate disrupting fracked-gas methane into the atmosphere...Hochul is literally stealing from our children's future..."

@thirdactnyc.bsky.social
@citizenactionny.org
@nychange.bsky.social

BREAKING: Just weeks after a court ruled @governor.ny.gov violated the climate law, she's at it again by approving an expensive, costly, and dangerous pipeline project. Gov Hochul, you have a responsibility to make life safer, cleaner, and more affordable in NY — and you're failing miserably.

Elizabeth Yeampierre: the climate defender who put Brooklyn on the map for environmental justice - La Revista Binacional Elizabeth Yeampierre grew up in Brooklyn, in a Puerto Rican family that taught her early on that justice begins at home… and in the neighborhood. For many, activism is born in marches and speeches; fo...

La Revista Binacional just profiled our executive director, Elizabeth Yeampierre @yeampierre.bsky.social and told the story right!

Climate justice is cultural. It's political. It's emotional. It's about our communities having a seat at the table. 🇵🇷✊🏽

larevistabinacional.com/latino-excel...

New York Approves Trump-Backed Gas Pipeline The Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline had been rejected by environmental regulators three times but was revived this spring after talks between Hochul…

Yes to the NESE underwater pipeline.

No to the Constitution pipeline.

"'Hochul has shown New Yorkers she’d prefer to do Trump’s dirty work rather than protect our waterways from pollution,' said Laura Shindell, New York state director at Food & Water Watch."

Flyer advertising book talk: Here Comes the Sun, Bill McKibben Book Talk by Bill McKibben Friday, November 21 5:30 pm Meet Community Organizations 6:00 Lecture and Q & A 7:00 Reception Paul Smith's VIC 8023 NY-30 Paul Smiths, NY 12970 Free and open to all

Bill McKibben's Book Tour:

Paul Smith's VIC, in Paul Smiths, NY

Friday, November 21, starting at 5:30 with an opportunity to meet community organizations

Free and open to all!

Net zero is an insidious loophole that distracts from the scientific imperative to eliminate fossil fuels | Joëlle Gergis History tells us that polite incrementalism and political kowtowing will prevail at Cop30 – even as catastrophe unfolds around us

As COP30 begins, here's a gentle reminder that well-intentioned half measures aren't going to solve the climate crisis. The era of fossil fuels must come to an end. My latest in The Guardian... www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

New York Climate Advocates Celebrate Mamdani’s Victory, Prepare to Hold Him Accountable - Inside Climate News For the first time in years, New York’s environmental justice advocates say they’ll be working with the city’s government—rather than against it.

Zaz Scott, @nyrenews.bsky.social:

“No one from the federal government is coming to save us,” Scott said. “Action at the state level is crucial, and Mamdani’s win increases the pressure on Albany to deliver.”

Just another day at FWW building the movement to defeat Trump's plan to force fracked gas pipelines on NY!

Talked to hundreds of Staten Islanders today, and it's clear they want @governor.ny.gov to reject the NESE fracked gas pipeline!

A few years ago, Republicans were talking about turning Puerto Rico into a fossil fuel playground. But reconstruction has failed so badly that it's instead become a testing ground for distributed solar, which has become one of the few bright spots. Remarkable.

www.canarymedia.com/articles/dis...

Free Electricity. Like, at no cost. For everyone. Now. Let's talk about affordability, abundance, and Australia--and why thanks to Trump we can't have nice things

If I were running in next year's midterms, I'd be saying: Aussies are getting free electricity, and we're getting huge price spikes.

Because they built solar, and Trump is blocking it.
open.substack.com/pub/billmcki...

Yes, yes, yes. This is the message climate activists continue to scream from the rooftops.

We wrote a BOOK! 📘 “The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It's Too Late” is due out from @thenewpress.bsky.social on Dec. 2.🗓️ But you can pre-order your copy right now🖱️at: www.beyondplastics.org/problem-with... #toxicplastic #planetorplastic #environmentaljustice

What Zohran Mamdani’s Win Means for New York's Climate Politics The mayor-elect’s approach reflects a view that is going mainstream: To succeed, climate policies may need to lose the label.

“'Climate and quality of life are not two separate concerns,' Mamdani told The Nation magazine in April. 'They are, in fact, one and the same.'”

Zohran Mamdani’s Next Big Battle is in Albany Zohran Mamdani made history last night, romping to a decisive victory over former Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York City’s mayoral election. In January, he will become New York’s first Muslim mayor,…

Zohran Mamdani made history last night, romping to a decisive victory over former Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York City’s mayoral election.

via @nysfocus.bsky.social

Puerto Rico’s energy future: distributed solar or centralized grid? A judge has called for the Trump administration to reevaluate assumptions as it works to redirect rooftop solar funds toward the grid and fossil fuel…

"For decades, Puerto Ricans have struggled with a dysfunctional energy system. Now residents are grappling with two very different plans for how to fix it."

Stacked time series showing the share of humanity's energy system (in input-equivalent primary energy) derived from various sources. In 2024, the share due to fossil fuels ticked down slightly to 76%, the lowest level since the 1960s.

I thoroughly believe in celebrating the small victories, so here is a tiny one.

The percentage of humanity's energy system that is derived from fossil fuels, ticked down again in 2024 and is now technically at the lowest level since the 1960s, though fossil fuels still dominate.

Bearing the costs of climate catastrophe in New York A new report from the State Comptroller found that severe weather events in the state are more frequent and that these storms require New York taxpayers to shoulder a growing financial burden.

Blair Horner, @nypirg.bsky.social, comments on a report from the State Comptroller that shows storms are more frequent and more costly to the NY taxpayer without mentioning the Climate Change Superfund Act, which would require fossil fuel polluters to pay for some of those costs.

Hochul blames private sector for climate failures, critics say she’s ignoring public solution | Fingerlakes1.com Governor Kathy Hochul is under fire from climate advocates after acknowledging that New York’s for-profit energy model isn’t delivering the renewable power the state needs — while continuing to sidest...

Gov. Hochul could stop pointing fingers and instead use the New York Power Authority's powers under the Build Public Renewables Act to build publicly owned renewable energy projects.

Now on Netflix, the documentary "The White House Effect" uses archival footage and documents to show how the George H. W. Bush administration changed course with regard to the Greenhouse Effect. The documentary examines how climate change evolved from a nonpartisan topic to a divisive issue.

New York said this pipeline would contaminate Staten Island waters. Now it’s back for a 4th try; will the state approve it this time? The Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline is seeking approval for a certificate that has been denied three times in the past.

"According to the DEC, the agency has until Nov. 30, 2025, to take action in regard to the pipeline’s Water Quality Certification process...

The WQC is where the project has been halted every time in the past."

Reuters, New York Times Top List of Fossil Fuel Industry’s Favorite Media Partners Taking a hard look at the media industry’s relationship with the fossil fuel industry.

when we did the most *conservative* accounting of this (using advertising data, because of course they're also not transparent about it), the NYT alone had taken in $20 million from oil and gas companies in just THREE years. it's absolutely wild drilled.media/news/drilled...

Let me excerpt the concluding paragraph:

Climate Education: Factors to Consider in Developing a 100% Renewable Energy Future Monday, November 10, 12:00 to 1:00 PM

Climate Education:

Factors to Consider in Developing a 100% Renewable Energy Future

November 10, 12:00 PM

@nyforcleanpower.org hosts a presentation by Dr. Richard Perez, Senior Research Faculty, Emeritus, Atmospheric Sciences Research Center.

To register: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

50th Anniversary State of the Park Report highlights ADK wins, threats The Adirondack Council released its 44th annual State of the Park Report, which outlines progress, setbacks, and priorities for the six-million-acre park, including increased funding for environmen…

"The Adirondack Council released its 44th annual State of the Park Report, a comprehensive scorecard marking the organization’s 50th anniversary that outlines recent progress, major setbacks, and future priorities for the six-million-acre park."

See the link to the report at the end of the article.

CBS News kills its climate unit David Ellison, the new pro-Trump chief executive of Paramount Skydance, has dismantled the best climate change reporting team in cable news.

A scoop that I’m not happy to report:

CBS News has gutted its climate change reporting team, one of the best in the business, and one of the only ones on cable news that consistently called out fossil fuels as the main source of climate pollution.

heated.world/p/cbs-news-k...

Climate Gates Maybe we don't need billionaire opinions on everything

Bill McKibben's latest in The Crucial Years:

Climate Gates

"Any conversation about Bill Gates and climate should begin by acknowledging that he’s been wrong about it over and over again."

billmckibben.substack.com/p/climate-ga...