Earth Day Every Day

Last year during the campaign, I vowed to be the greenest Attorney General New York State has ever had. As we commemorate Earth Day, I'm proud to report our progress in reaching that goal, and reaffirm our shared commitment to protecting New York's environmental resources.

As part of this obligation, I've pledged to sue the federal government if it does not commit, in 30 days, to conducting a full, transparent environmental review of proposed regulations that would allow natural gas drilling, including the potentially harmful hydrofracking practice in the Delaware River Basin.

Before opening the door to gas fracking in a water source that provides approximately 50 percent of the drinking water used by over nine million New York residents and visitors every day, we must do everything we can to fully assess the impact of this technique.

This is one part of our all-levers approach to protecting New Yorkers' air, water and soil.

This week, we argued before the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the right of states to sue five polluting power companies to force them to reduce carbon dioxide emissions -- the leading cause of climate change.

We're leading the fight for safety at Indian Point and other nuclear power facilities by challenging a decision by a federal commission that allowed the storage of high-level radioactive waste for at least 60 years after their closure without assessing the public and environmental impacts; calling on federal regulators to include seismicity in the scope of review for the relicensing of Indian Point; and filing a petition to force Indian Point to comply with fire safety regulations.

We've sued out-of-state power plants that are polluting our air, and led a coalition of attorneys general from Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, and Massachusetts, against efforts in the U.S. House of Representatives to remove critical environmental regulations that protect New York communities from toxic pollution.

And that's just the beginning.

Every New Yorker has the right to clean air, safe drinking water and healthy communities to raise their children -- and you can rest assured that I will aggressively protect that right, not just on Earth Day, but every day.

 

Follow Eric T. Schneiderman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AGSchneiderman

Comments

[librainstars]

10:23 AM on 04/24/2011

Are you going to protect these children in NYS
quoted out of the link I found
"Sure, they live here. But WE die here. Hosting an enormous toxic/hazardous waste facility 1 mile from our schools, Lake Ontario, dumping waste water into the Niagara River -- it's killing our community, both literally and figuratively. Hosting ANOTHER one would be the final nail in the Lower Niagara River Region's coffin. That's the difference."
the link.
http://rrgwny.com/truckroutes.htm

A link to not so good sites in western Ny and the history and companys
http://www.niagarafrontier.com/environment.html
can earth day be for that part of nys everyday?

[falconusaf]

05:11 PM on 04/22/2011

I applaud what you have done so far to protect your citizens and make a difference in the fight for a cleaner world, but your actions are reactive not proactive. Here is my suggestion: I'm an airline pilot and I fly over vast stretches of our country, and in many areas I see large storage or manufacturing facilities lined up with 10 to 12 simi-trucks on either side. And on the massive flat roof... nothing. What if we were to install solar panels on all that wasted roof space all across your state? Instead of spending money on litigation, spend it on incentives to companies with large rooftop surface areas to install solar panels. I dare say it would at least put a dent in our energy needs.

[susanpavlik]

02:40 PM on 04/22/2011

Every Michiganian has the right to clean air, safe drinking water and healthy communities to raise their children, too --
Thanks for leading the charge. Your efforts protect all of us. www.susanpavlikwellnessservices.com