skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Cuomo Urged to Fund Law to Cut "Dirty Diesel"

play audio
Play

Monday, October 31, 2016   

ALBANY, N.Y. – New York needs to fund its law to clean up dirty diesel emissions. That's the message public health and environmental advocates are sending to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The Diesel Emissions Reduction Act was signed into law 10 years ago, and was scheduled to take effect in 2010. But according to Caitlin O’Brien, environmental health associate with Environmental Advocates of New York, funding for the law has been left out of every state budget for the past six years.

"Ultimately, Gov. Cuomo, as the top elected official, really has a duty to lead on this issue, on the implementation of DERA,” O’Brien said.

The law mandates a reduction in emissions from the state's fleet of diesel vehicles, as well as those of contractors doing business with the state.

Diesel emissions contain particulate matter that O'Brien said can be especially harmful to children, the elderly and people with respiratory problems.

"It can cause asthma, it can trigger asthma attacks and it can even cause lung cancer,” O’Brien said. "This is some serious, dirty air that people are breathing, and it's really affecting communities."

More than 1.7 million New Yorkers suffer from asthma, which, according to the State Comptroller, costs taxpayers $1.3 billion a year to treat.

Gov. Cuomo has said that environmental justice is a high priority for his administration. But O'Brien said it's time for him to make that priority a reality.

"When you have kids literally breathing in dirty, polluted air that is making them sick, and it's happening on such a grand level, 10 years is far too long,” she said.

Public health and environmental advocacy groups issued a public letter asking the governor to include funding for full implementation of DERA in his next executive budget.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021