Great turnout and rally last week! Now its time for you to take the next step!
Thank you to our volunteers, friends and the numerous organizations who attended last week’s hearing in Smithtown and spoke out! Special thanks to Assembly Members Engelbright, Pellegrino, and D’Urso who brought it all together to give Long Island a voice. Without them, the only hearing on offshore drilling in New York would have been 186 miles from the coast, in Albany.
YOU MUST MAKE YOUR COMMENTS HEARD NOW!
The Trump administration wants to open all offshore ocean areas, as close as 3 miles, to off shore oil and gas drilling leases. The comment period is open now for oil and gas exploration environmental considerations.
REGULATORY ROLLBACK BY FEDS
We knew it would NOT be good news when the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced a briefing yesterday on 30 minutes notice.
Apparently your ocean (Yes, including the Atlantic) is being made great again for gas and oil drilling, spills, pollution and everything else that comes with it- huge rollbacks in regulations by executive orders, effective immediately and revoking previous moderated plans.
We will be opposing this at every possible turn and will be joining our allies to bring the public together to stop this. https://www.boem.gov/National-Program/
NYC TRYING TO TAP GROUNDWATER SHARED WITH LI
NYC is moving forward with plans to reopen their access to Nassau County’s drinking water, including the fragile, last remaining source for Long Beach and several other towns. They plan to effectively remove 60% the amount that Nassau does daily. This will have a huge impact.
See article: NYC seeks renewal of permit to tap groundwater shared with LI
In spite of what we were working towards this fall, there now doesn’t seem to be any hearings needed, so our petition may be one of only a few ways to stand up against this.
YOUR VOICE WILL BE IMPORTANT TO GETTING OUR WATER PROTECTED. CONSIDERING ONLY 28 PEOPLE INCLUDING OFFICIALS WENT TO THE JUNE HEARING, DO NOT ASSUME YOUR CONCERNS ARE BEING HEARD.
If you haven’t already, please sign and share our petition here. If you have, please share it now.
Join our Wind 4 LI advocacy meeting at Long Beach Public Library
Thursday 6/16 at 7PM
111 West Park Ave Long Beach
https://www.facebook.com/events/1641758179481868/
Leading to next Week’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) public meetings, especially our local one at Hofstra University, we will discuss what this means, what is at stake, and help YOU become involved in the process and attend BOEM’s Meeting at Hofstra University.
From BOEM:
On June 6, 2016, BOEM published an Environmental Assessment (EA) in the Federal Register for a 30-day public comment period. The EA considers potential impacts associated with issuing a lease, associated surveys, and approving the installation of resource assessment facilities (i.e., meteorological tower and/or buoys) in the New York Wind Energy Area.
BOEM will hold public meetings in June to provide an overview of the EA findings and offer additional opportunities for public comments. BOEM’s public meetings will be held at the following locations:
Monday June 20, 2016
Long Branch Middle School (Auditorium)
404 Indiana Avenue, Long Branch, New Jersey 07740
6:00- 8:00 p.m.
Tuesday June 21, 2016
Hofstra University (MPR Room)
900 Fulton Avenue, Hempstead, New York 11549
6:00- 8:00 p.m.
Wednesday, June 22, 2016 (Note: New location)
Westhampton Beach Elementary School
379 Mill Road, Westhampton Beach, New York 11978
6:00- 8:00 p.m.
Thursday, June 23, 2016
University of Rhode Island, Narragansett Bay Campus, Coastal Institute Building (Hazard Rooms A & B)
215 S Ferry Road, Narragansett, Rhode Island 02882
6:00- 8:00 p.m.
Monday, June 27, 2016
Waypoint Event Center at Fairfield Inn & Suites
Sea Loft Room
185 MacArthur Drive, New Bedford, MA 02740
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
In addition to the EA meetings, BOEM will host an auction seminar in New York City to describe the auction format, explain the auction rules and demonstrate the auction process through meaningful examples. It will be followed by a public meeting on BOEM’s planning and leasing efforts regarding New York offshore wind energy activities. The public seminar and public meeting will be held at the following location:
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
TKP New York Conference Center, Empire A Room
109 W 39th St., New York, NY 10018
Auction Seminar: 12:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Public Meeting: 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. (with an overview presentation at 5:30 p.m.)