Natural Resources
Our long-standing and accomplished committee meets regularly.
Contact us at: LWVtompkins.info@gmail.com
May 28, 2026
Letter from LWVNY Executive Director Erica Smitka – Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act
League of Women Voters Urges Passage of PRRIA S1464/A1749
Dear Senators and Assemblymembers,
The League of Women Voters of New York State continues to urge passage of the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act “PRRIA” (S1464/A1749) which represents a critical step in the health harm mitigation process. Failure to act on PRRIA will further expose all New Yorkers, including your constituents, to health impacts from plastic while externalizing to New Yorkers the waste disposal and health related costs of plastics, none of which New Yorkers have asked for.
Attached and below, please find our memo of support for this bill.
In April 2026, the League of Women Voters of NYS hosted a webinar on Plastics, Health Harm and Solutions. We invite you to review the recording here: https://youtu.be/XpTMOyA4mb8
With only a few days remaining in session, we urge you to act now and pass this important legislation.
Respectfully,
Erica
Erica Smitka, MPA (she/her)
Executive Director
League of Women Voters of NYS
1 Steuben Pl, The Blake Annex, Albany, NY 12207
Telephone: 518-465-4162
www.lwvny.org
@LWVNYS
The League of Women Voters of New York State
supports the PACKAGING REDUCTION and RECYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE ACT (S4246B/A5322B) and urges Legislature to pass the bill this session. The Memorandum of Support in connection with the packaging legislation (S4246B/A5322B) was submitted on February 26, 2024 by the NYS League to the Senate Environmental Committee in advance of the February 27, 2024 meeting regarding this bill. Read the Memorandum of Support here
2024
The League of Women Voters of New York State strongly supports banning the use of carbon dioxide (CO2) in fracking for extraction of natural gas in New York State (A.8866/S.8357). Doing so would amend Article 23 of the Environmental Conservation Law to widen the existing ban on High Volume Hydraulic Fracturing (HVHF or fracking) to include use of CO2 in natural gas or oil extraction.
Read the Memorandum of Support here
Fracking with CO2: Examining the Plan for the Southern Tier
with Irene Weiser, Coordinator of Fossil Free Tompkins
A video recording of this March 20, 2024 event is here
October 24, 2023
TESTIMONY OF THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS NYS FOR HEARING ON (EPR) PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY FOR PACKAGING
Oct 12, 2022
The New York Environmental Bond Act
THE CLEAN WATER, CLEAN AIR, AND GREEN JOBS ENVIRONMENTAL BOND ACT OF 2022
October 12, 2022
2-year moratorium on cryptocurrency
LWV New York State request to Governor Hochul to sign bill A7389C/S6486D for two-year moratorium on new or extended previous permits for cryptocurrency mining operations using Proof Of Work authentification methods into law
June 22, 2022
Roadmap for implementing the NYS Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act
Statement written by Beth Radow, chair of the LWVNY committee on Energy, Agriculture and the Environment, and Kay Wagner, LWV Tompkins County Natural Resources Chair and submitted during the public commenting period for the NYS Climate Action Plan. This plan was written as a roadmap for implementing the NYS 2019 CLCPA (Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act) legislation.
January 13, 2022, at 7 pm
Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Blockchain: The Promise and the Peril
To view recording: https://youtu.be/qIuMqn2ISA4
An online presentation by Irene Weiser, Coordinator of Fossil Free Tompkins, sponsored by LWV of Tompkins County and LWV of Cortland County
A technology exploding across NYS is celebrated for its transformative potential while criticized for its environmental impacts. To better understand this important issue, the League of Women Voters through its local chapters in Cortland and Tompkins counties presented a program on the above topic at 7 pm on Thursday, January 13, 2022.
Speaker Irene Weiser, Coordinator of Fossil Free Tompkins, covered the basics of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies and how the energy appetite of some forms can threaten to derail achievement of NYS climate goals. While not throwing the blockchain baby out with the bitcoin bathwater, she discussed possible directions forward.
Weiser has spent 10 years working toward local and state energy policies that will bring an affordable, equitable transition to renewable energy. She was elected to three terms as councilmember in the Town of Caroline, serving from 2012 to 2020.
Co-Sponsored by: Campaign for Renewable Energy, Fossil Free Tompkins, People for a Healthy Environment, and Sustainable Tompkins
Recent Developments Related to Natural Resources
October 12, 2021:
USDA Report on Agriculture Adaptation to Climate Change
September 27, 2021:
Auction Cancelled for Largest Remaining Private Shoreline in Finger Lakes
September 5, 2021:
Important News About Local Community Choice Aggregation
April 28, 2021:
Energy Costs of Processing Bitcoins
April 3, 2021:
Economic Impact of Climate Change
Programs and Projects: Natural Resources
See 2019-2020 Program Report in the April 2020 Bulletin