With just 16 more days before the end of New York’s legislative session, we’re in a race against time to get the New York Solar Job Act across the finish line before state lawmakers go home for the year.

The good news is this campaign to make the Empire State a real solar powerhouse has been moving at a (more…)

“What was that? Did you see that?” – Overheard in NY and CT

If you are New York or Connecticut resident you would be forgiven for feeling a little left out right now. You see, the solar industry grew at a break neck pace in the United States last year. Its something we all believed, but recently had confirmed by a (more…)

Over the past 25 years, the State of New York has been a national leader in many cleantech initiatives, including its state-wide programs to promote renewable and sustainable energies, reductions in carbon emissions, and recycling programs, just to name a few. Specifically, the State of New York has created administrative agencies (more…)

We are standing on the precipice of solar greatness in New York State, and it is because so many of you have taken action. You have written over 1500 letters to your legislators. You have contributed more than 30 official memorandums of support. You have donated generously to our solar billboard campaign, and it became a reality. You have made calls. You’ve told friends, and those friends have told their friends. (more…)

The effects of climate change and sea-level rise on coastal cities present a new challenge to urban planners, one that inspires the exhibition, Rising Currents, now at New York City’s Museum of Modern Art.

Five teams of architects and landscape designers were asked to envision projects for New York City’s future coastline. The plans all create what they call “soft” infrastructures — landscapes that will allow rising sea levels to flow within and around the building sites where power, water, sewer, and gas lines are encased in waterproof vaults beneath the sidewalks.

The plans imagine the open spaces surrounding these building sites becoming estuarine habitats that will provide cost-effective storm-water management and revitalize the harbor’s biodiversity. (more…)

When New York State’s environmental agency came out with a draft environmental review of drilling in the Marcellus Shale in September, it set off a flurry of action for environmentalists, industry advocates and the general public.

People were given 30 days — later extended to 90 — to digest the highly technical 800-plus-page document and submit comments. They could also voice their opinions at four public hearings.

At stake was the future of gas drilling in New York’s portion of the Marcellus Shale, which could produce vast amounts of natural gas, but which some residents fear also could contaminate drinking water sources and the air.

Since the comment period ended on Dec. 31, New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation has been assembling and evaluating the public’s response, which included a stinging analysis of the plan by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. DEC officials aren’t saying when the final version of the review will be unveiled, but two department representatives, Yancey Roy and Maureen Wren, did agree to walk us through the process. (more…)

Whether you’re looking to share your expertise or just curious about the cleantech space, the CleanTechies Events and Conferences Calendar may feature a must-see event in your part of the world.

Among the highlights in the coming weeks:

• U.S.-Japan Clean Tech Symposium, Feb. 18, San Francisco, CA

What’s big in Japan’s cleantech sector? This four-hour session explores the state of the overseas market as well as ties between U.S. and Japanese companies. It’s organized bythe U.S. State Department and Japan’s trade ministry officials.

• Texas-Israel Cleanovation Conference, Feb. 22, Austin, TX

The launch of this conference promises to bring together some 200 attendees including from utility and clean energy companies, investors and technologists. Dr. Eli Opper, Chief Scientist of Israel, is among the keynote presenters. (more…)

New York’s recently released review of the environmental risks (PDF) posed by natural gas production in the Marcellus Shale offers the clearest picture yet of the chemicals used in the drilling process called hydraulic fracturing.

The document makes public the names of 260 chemicals, more than eight times as many as Pennsylvania state regulators have compiled. The list is the most complete released by any state or federal agency and could help answer concerns about hydraulic fracturing in Congress and in states where gas drilling has increased in recent years.

(more…)

This article by Susan Kraemer, appearing courtesy of Celsias, was originally posted on CleanTechnica.

An amazingly high percentage of people who live down the Mid-Atlantic Seaboard from New York to Virginia want wind turbines off their coast.

Even if they can be seen from the shoreline, 67 percent support off-shore wind power, according to a new  poll of coastal residents of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia .

If the turbines are out of sight, the level of support goes up to an astounding 82 percent.

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The U.S. Department of Energy has granted a $43 million loan to a Massachusetts-based company to prove the value of a new technology in which spinning flywheels are used to improve the efficiency of the electric grid. Beacon Power Corp. will build a 20-megawatt flywheel plant in upstate New York in which flywheels spinning up to 16,000 times per minute will act as a sort of short-term power storage system for the state’s electrical distribution system, according to the Associated Press.

(more…)