Colin Kinniburgh is a reporter at New York Focus, covering the state’s climate and environmental politics. He has worked in media for more than a decade, across print, television, audio, and online news, and participated in fellowship programs at CUNY’s Graduate School of Journalism, the Metcalf Institute, and the NYU Stern School of Business. His climate reporting earned a New York Press Club award.
Mamdani’s plans for universal child care, fare-free transit, and affordable housing rely on Albany getting on board.
Wrangling over a major bill to cut packaging waste continued until the final hours of the legislative session, assemblymembers said.
State officials said they needed more time for “stakeholder engagement” on cap and invest. But groups involved with the program have gotten crickets.
Half of sovereign bonds are issued under New York state law, giving Albany lawmakers the power to shape how countries around the world face off with creditors.
The chemical industry is pushing to replace a sweeping plastics bill with a more business-friendly alternative.
A campaign group run by New York’s business lobby and backed by the American Chemistry Council failed to submit copies of mailers it sent in support of candidates.
New York’s budget includes $1 billion for climate action — a record amount, but less than the state was supposed to raise by charging polluters.
A national trade group has nearly doubled its spending in Albany since the packaging reduction bill was introduced and taken out attack ads on Democrats in swing districts.
The country’s biggest public housing authority is counting on a Chinese company to supply thousands of new energy-saving window heat pumps.
“There’s no legal basis for what they’re trying to do,” said one legal expert.
Environmentalists have long charged that New York is falling short of its climate mandates. Now, they’re taking the state to court.
A 2023 law is transforming the state power authority into one of New York’s biggest renewable developers. Some still want it to go further.
Here’s where the Senate, Assembly, and governor stand on funding New York’s green transition.
In many cases, electrifying homes is cheaper, according to one new study.
The state is pushing ahead on all-electric buildings, but a draft update to the building code leaves out other key recommendations from the state’s climate plan.
The state has yet to publish a building code update, promised in December, which should include requirements to phase out fossil fuel appliances in new homes.
“I really felt like the carpet was ripped out from underneath us,” said one county official. The state still hasn’t fully explained why it put HEAP on hold so suddenly.
The HEAP program abruptly closed to applications in January, months ahead of schedule. It has since reopened, but key questions remain about why it shut down so suddenly in the first place.
A $1,700 Bills suite tab was paid with campaign funds, bipartisan support for clean water funding, and New York’s top court upheld a man’s conviction despite his negligent lawyer.
Hochul proposes school funding updates and a climate funding alternative. A prominent lobbying firm racks up fines.