Originally published at Ecocentric.
Like many regions of the United States, Long Island faces a mind-boggling array of short and long-term environmental challenges that touch upon food, water and energy issues. A recent Newsday interactive series identifies six key concerns including pollution of groundwater, stagnating recycling rates and negative effects of climate change. Some big issues, however, didn’t make the list. For instance, the adverse impact of five Long Island power plants on the North and South Shore estuaries (already strained by polluted storm water runoff) is nowhere mentioned.
The threats to Long Island’s ecology and population of 2.8 million people are real and the effort required to effectively reduce the impact is daunting. But is Long Island up for the challenge? It appears to be.
Long Island is blessed with top-notch environmental and sustainability organizations that work on issues ranging from energy efficiency to open space preservation to clean water infrastructure to downtown revitalization. A short, albeit, incomplete list includes: Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Grassroots Environmental Education, Group for the East End, Vision Long Island, The Sustainability Institute at Molloy College, Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition, Renewable Energy Long Island, The Nature Conservancy, and Sustainable Long Island. These organizations have launched groundbreaking projects and forged successful partnerships to effect positive change. A 2009 documentary provides an excellent overview of some Long Island initiatives to go green.
In addition to having a strong base of advocacy groups representing the public interest, another critical component to solving Long Island’s environmental quandaries is reliable data and information. That’s where the Long Island Index enters the picture. The Index is a project that collects and publishes data on the region with the goal of engaging Long Island communities in thinking about the region and its future. The Index has proven to be an important resource for advocates and government alike.
Which brings us to another key component of confronting Long Island’s environmental challenges: officials at the local, state and federal level who are committed to protecting environmental and public health. The “environment” is definitely on the respective agendas for Long Island’s 2 counties, 13 towns, 2 cities and numerous villages, although the priority it is afforded varies from place to place. One local government initiative worth noting is the Town of Babylon’s Long Island Green Homes program, which helps homeowners lower their utility bills by making their homes more energy efficient. The program has served as a model for municipalities throughout the country. State government representatives are engaged in local issues, as are federal officials like Judith Enck, Regional Administrator for the EPA’s Region 2 Office.
Government commitment to environmental protection is a reflection of the awareness generated by organizations like those mentioned above, as well as the credible data and information provided by the Index. Of course, it is also a product of Long Islanders’ keen interest in environmental and public health issues.
The combination of first-rate organizations, high quality data and information and dedicated officials and citizenry gives Long Islanders the necessary tools to successfully confront the challenges before them. As one article in the Newsday series put it, “the future will likely be a balancing act as communities work to preserve recent environmental gains and keep up with stricter regulations expected in the next decade.”
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