Kill the Drill: Protect New York City’s Drinking Water
November 10, 2009
It is difficult to overemphasize the importance of the New York City Watershed to the
City and State of New York. The Watershed is the largest unfiltered drinking water supply in the
nation, providing 1.3 billion gallons of affordable, high-quality drinking water daily to more
than 9 million consumers in New York City — half the population of the entire state of New
York.
I testified before the Department of Environmental Conservation today at a public hearing on the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement on Gas Development in the Marcellus Shale. (My testimony is below.) In my testimony, I opposed any move to allow natural gas drilling in the Watershed, and I have called upon the Department to issue a moratorium on drilling and am a co-sponsor of A.8748, which would set strict standards for protecting drinking water throughout the state, and prohibit drilling in and around the watershed.
The Department of Environment Conservation has extended the public comment period
related to this application until December 31st. Clean water is one of our most precious resources, and the extension of the public comment period is an important step in assuring that decisions regarding drilling in the Marcellus Shale will not be rushed. I encourage everyone to express their opposition through the comment submission process. As a member of the Kill the Drill Coalition, I urge you to visit Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s Kill the Drill webpage to find out other things you can do to make the call for environmental justice issue known and heard.
11.10.09 DEC Testimony Re SGEIS Opp to Drilling in Marcellus Shale
Interviewed on PBS
July 10, 2009
Recently, I was featured in a lengthy interview with Dara Welles on WLIW 21’s “New York Insiders.”
We had a great conversation about what’s next for New York City’s schools, as well as Second Avenue Subway construction issues - and we also discussed broader topics like marriage equality, disability rights, the upheaval in the State Senate, and my own plans for the future.
PBS is linking things strangely, so when you click to see the video of my interview the title will read Suffolk County Legislator Steve Levy - but don’t worry, it’s me.
5 Cent Plastic Bag Fee Will Keep Our Environment Cleaner
May 4, 2009
Harry Nespoli, President of the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association, NYC Sanitation Commissioner John J. Doherty, Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh, State Senator Jose Serrano, and I are pictured here at a press conference April 30th to announce the introduction of legislation to curb the overuse of plastic bags.
The average American family uses 60 plastic bags in only four trips to the grocery store, but using just one tote bag instead eliminates 1,000 plastic bags from our waste system. Single-use plastic bags accumulate and persist on our planet for over 1,000 years. Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade—breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits that contaminate soil, waterways, and enter the food chain. New Yorkers throw out 5.2 billion (that’s “billion” with a “b”) plastic bags each and every year, causing irreversible environmental damage.
Last year, I distributed over one thousand free tote bags made from 100% recycled plastic bottles in my district and they became quite the fashion statement on the Upper East Side. I blogged about that effort in October of 2008, and I plan to do an even bigger push this year in my district.
On April 30th, State Senator Jose Serrano and I, joined by NYC Sanitation Commissioner John J. Doherty and the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability Rohit T. Aggarwala, announced the introduction of legislation (A.7844/S.4866) to place a nominal 5 cent fee on plastic carryout bags. The legislation is a program bill of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Under the provisions of the act, any store that distributes plastic carryout bags that are less than 2.25 millimeters thick with handles will be required to assess the fee on customers and pass the revenue on to the City. The City anticipates an initial 10 percent reduction in plastic bag usage, while raising approximately $100 million in the first year alone.
At the end of the day, our bill is about encouraging people to change their habits when it comes to plastic bags, and there’s no better example to follow for this than the Emerald Isle. Ireland introduced a fee for plastic bags in 2002 and within weeks, use of plastic bags dropped by 94% as the Irish began to adjust to carrying tote bags to the store. Now using a plastic bag is socially unacceptable in Ireland. People are just more aware.
I believe that the same will happen here. New Yorkers are the kind of people who care deeply about their global and environmental impact. I predict that soon after this is implemented, the Big Apple will be known as the Big Green Apple, and that other jurisdictions in this country will follow our responsible lead.
The introduction of the bill was covered extensively by media, including an article in the Daily News (”Law would cost you some paper if you chose plastic bags“), a short piece in the New York Post (”Bid to Push Nickel Bags“), and a mention in a New York Times editorial about the Mayor’s Executive Budget, which endorses the bill, calling it “compelling.”
The NYC Audubon Society, the New York League of Conservation Voters, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the Natural Resources Defense Council joined us at the press conference to offer their support.
Kellner Bill Would Make It Easier for Consumers to Recycle Unwanted Electronics
March 13, 2009
According to the EPA, used or unwanted electronics amounted to 1.9 to 2.2 million tons of waste in 2005, of which 1.5 – 1.8 million tons were primarily disposed of in landfills and less than 400,000 tons (under 20%) were recycled. Every year this number grows.
Electronic waste is a major environmental health hazard, commonly containing cadmium, hexavalent chromium, brominated flame retardants as well as constituting 40% of the lead found in landfills and 22% of the annual world consumption of mercury. The sheer volume of improperly disposed of consumer electronics indicates that the strategy of encouraging consumers to mail unwanted electronics back to the manufacturer is failing.
Requiring big box retailers to collect consumer electronics for recycling and reuse makes it easier for the consumer to understand and participate in recycling. This way, a consumer can drop off their old television or DVD player when they go to shop for their new flatscreen or Blu-ray player.
My bill, the Consumer Electronics Recycling Act (A.6739), requires major retailers to collect unwanted electronics of the brands they sell in their stores. Retailers also have the option of entering into a collective collection plan with other retailers or not collecting electronics but paying into a local fund for electronics recycling. Retailers are required to provide information about their recycling program at the time a consumer makes a purchase, advertise their program in their store, and maintain a conspicuous location where unwanted electronics are collected.
At the same time, the bill bans the disposal of covered electronic equipment in any solid waste management facility. Once there is a convenient place for consumers to bring electronics for recycling, there is no longer any excuse for the pollution that comes with throwing electronics out with the trash.
For more information on how to dispose of your unwanted electronics right now, please see the New York City’s WasteLe$$ website, which has information about take-back programs, Sanitation recycling events, and the new New York City recycling laws.
Take the GO GREEN! Challenge
October 17, 2008
In the following weeks, I will be distributing free tote bags to constituents at street fairs, greenmarkets, and outside grocery stores. The idea behind the campaign is to promote the use of durable reusable bags for grocery trips and other shopping needs instead of using plastic bags.
The average family uses 60 plastic bags in only four trips to the grocery store. These American-made (the company is Fabriko) Eco-Spun Recycler Tote Bags I am distributing are made from 100% recycled plastic bottles, a material known as PET. PET is considered the greenest material on the planet today and regularly using just one of these bags for daily shopping can eliminate over 1,000 plastic bags from entering our waste system.
My great hope is that my campaign will begin to raise awareness about alternatives to plastic bags. Single-use plastic bags accumulate and persist on our planet for up to 1,000 years. In New York City, they comprise about 2.87% of our residential waste stream, and they are our largest source of plastic waste – and plastic bags are among the 12 items of debris most often found in coastal cleanups. To read more about this issue, I highly reccomend the website ReusableBags.Com.
My GO GREEN! CHALLENGE comes just after New York City’s Local Law 1, the Plastic Carryout Bag Recycling Law, came into effect on July 23rd, 2008. This new city law requires stores across the City to establish in-store recycling programs for plastic bags and film plastic, such as plastic wrap, dry cleaning bags and newspaper bags. The law applies to stores that use plastic bags and occupy 5,000 or more square feet or have more than five branches operating in New York City. Stores are also required to sell reusable bags.
Introduced just over 25 years ago, the world consumes an estimated 500 billion plastic bags annually (almost 1 million per minute). According to the EPA, over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year. Four out of five grocery bags in the US are now plastic. Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade—breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways and entering the food chain when animals accidentally ingest them.
I will also be exploring policy avenues to have an even larger impact. Using reusable bags needs to rise to the level of a social imperative, and I think it will, once people realize how simple it is to make such a big difference. A good example is Ireland. That country introduced a new tax in 2002, requiring customers to pay at the register if they wanted to use a plastic bag. Within weeks, use of plastic bags dropped by 94% as the Irish began to adjust to carrying tote bags to the store. Now using a plastic bag is socially unacceptable in Ireland. People are just more aware.
Feel free to stop by my office at 315 East 65th Street during business hours Monday to Friday, 10 am to 5:30 pm to get your free tote bag (while supplies last). Go Green!
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My community office is here to help you.
315 East 65 Street
New York, NY 10065
Tel 212-860-4906
Fax 917-432-2983
Email KellnerM@assembly.state.ny.us
