Heather L. Carl of Westerlo is one of 30 environmental conservation officers and Tyler R. Mitchell of Guilderland is one of 14 forest rangers to graduate on Dec. 6 from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s 22nd Basic School for Uniformed Officers.

ALBANY COUNTY — On Tuesday, Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy signed two local laws to help with environmental efforts: one is for a five-cent fee on paper bags at retail stores and the other creates a loan program for sustainable energy projects.

As extreme-weather events increase in number and strength, some New Scotland National Grid customers are left asking: How will my power be protected?

After an Associated Press report called attention to the safety rating of dams across the country, the Albany Water Board commissioner assured that the Basic Creek Reservoir Dam is inspected “weekly, monthly, yearly.”

In 2020, the town will begin to charge residents for accepting their household recyclables.  

RENSSELAERVILLE — “It’s happening to us here and now,” the deputy director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Science Center warned the crowd that gathered Saturday to celebrate 80 years of research at the Huyck Preserve Field Station.

If the state can ban plastic bags, why can’t it ban plastic bottles? People for generations carried canteens or used public water fountains when they were thirsty. There is no human need to have water in plastic bottles.

RENSSELAERVILLE — The Sustainable Communities Program at the Carey Institute for Global Good will begin work with the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute (NYSP2I) to develop a Supplier Code of Conduct for use by New York State brewers.

In a decade, the Albany Water Board may be a million dollars richer. The revenue will be earned from carbon credits, a relatively new idea for New York, although in California it’s a routine practice.

We do not have to sacrifice the health of our citizenry, or the health of our world, for a prosperous economy.