We took on the fossil fuel industry, and WE WON!

We are excited to share that the New York City Council voted FOR Intro 2317, the #GasFreeNYC bill, on Wednesday, December 15! Thank you for your hard work moving this issue forward. It sets an inspiring precedent for other cities, as well as states including New York, to follow. NYPIRG, along with our coalition partners, had a wonderful time celebrating this incredibly important achievement.

For more information, check out the coalition statement announcing the victory. 

Thank you for your help!

NYPIRG advocates and students gathered at the New York City Saint Patrick's Day Parade to grab the attention of Governor Hochul and state legislative leaders to call for an immediate ban on gas for new buildings.

Students to Mayor Adams: Get on Board!

NYPIRG's Straphangers Campaign – along with other transit advocates, students, and elected officials – marked the Mayor's 100th day in office by calling for fast, reliable, accessible, and affordable bus service. We delivered over 1,200 letters endorsing the Student Bus Rider Platform, which calls for the Mayor to:

• Fully fund the NYC Streets Plan and bus improvements.
• Expand Fair Fares to college students.
• Use his bully pulpit to advocate that the MTA institute all-door boarding and permanent OMNY fare capping on buses.

Most New York City college students do not live on campus and rely on City buses to get to classes, jobs, and recreation. Fast, reliable, accessible, and affordable bus service should be available to college students and all New Yorkers. 

NYPIRG – along with other climate activists, elected officials, and students – held a New York City Earth Day news conference and rally to protect Local Law 97, the City's Green New Deal.

Local Law 97 mandates building emissions reductions from large buildings, with reporting, compliance, and fine deadlines coming up in the next year. It is the strongest climate law that tackles building emissions in the nation and a critical step in the fight against climate chaos. But special interests and mega-wealthy real estate tycoons want to paint the law as "unfair." We have to make sure that Mayor Adams fully funds the initiative and does not roll back any parts of the law.

CLIMATE CAN'T WAIT!

Climate activists from all across New York State poured into the capital to tell our Governor and our Legislature that New York State must be a national and global leader in the fight to combat the devastating effects of climate change.

Happy 40th birthday to New York's Bottle Bill!

NYPIRG was joined by other advocates and elected officials for a recycling birthday party in support of Assemblymember Steve Englebright and Senator Rachel May’s “Bigger Better Bottle Bill" (A.10184/S.9164), which was introduced 40 years after passage of the first Bottle Bill. The event celebrated the success of the landmark recycling law, and emphasized the need to modernize the law for 40 more years of success.

Make your voice heard today by calling Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins to share your support for the BIGGER BETTER BOTTLE BILL!

Sample message:

After 40 years, it is time to update and expand New York’s highly successful container deposit redemption program. It should include wine, spirits, hard cider, and most non-carbonated beverages. The deposit should be increased from 5 cents to 10 cents. Additional revenues should be used to boost enforcement and expand redemption centers in “food desert” communities. I urge you to pass the Bigger Better Bottle Bill (A.10184/S.9164) this session!

• Call Speaker Heastie: (518) 455-3791
• Call Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins: (518) 455-2585

Thank you for your help!

TAKE ACTION to combat the climate crisis!

Contact your New York State Assemblymember and Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie and ask them to take action to reduce the state's major source of greenhouse gases by supporting the All-Electric Building Act. As of 2024, all new buildings would be powered with electricity.

As the world recently celebrated the 52nd Earth Day, New York State is at a crossroads. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report resulted in a clarion call from the report’s co-chair:

"It’s now or never, if we want to limit global warming to 1.5°C (2.7°F); without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, it will be impossible."

The All-Electric Building Act helps transition the state to a fossil-free future.

This common-sense first-step strategy for decarbonizing buildings requires that new buildings are all-electric, starting with smaller buildings in 2024 and larger buildings (seven floors or higher) by 2027 – as New York City did in Local Law 154 of 2021. This landmark bill deploys existing and effective clean energy technologies, such as geothermal heat pumps. It is a climate-smart policy to greatly reduce emissions from buildings.

The All-Electric Building Act, S.6843-B (Kavanagh) and A.8431-A (Gallagher), is grounded in the environmental justice principles at the heart of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) and based on the New York State Climate Action Council recommendations that must be passed this year.