Advocacy
Leading grassroots and legislative campaigns to safeguard the valley’s air, water, land and other irreplaceable natural resources.
The Hudson River and its waterfronts play a major role in sustaining the health and well-being of valley residents. They also drive the region’s robust tourism economy.
We educate, engage and mobilize people, communities, leaders and elected officials (from small towns to Albany and Washington, DC) to:
- Halt threats and increase public access to the river
- Block irresponsible industrial or residential development
- Support “win-win” projects that deliver economic gains and protect the environment
- Push for environmental funding and legislation that benefit valley communities
Since 1963, we’ve spearheaded dozens of campaigns to stop projects that would have destroyed iconic views and polluted our air and water.
We’ve also played key roles in major environmental initiatives, including: advocating for state and federal legislation to stop development of harmful barge anchorages in the Hudson River; local ballot initiatives that created Community Preservation Funds in New Paltz, Warwick and Red Hook; and establishment of the Hudson River Estuary Program, the Coastal Management Program, the Hudson River Valley Greenway and the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area.
On December 10, 2020, Scenic Hudson helped found and launch New Yorkers for Clean Water and Jobs, joining more than 175 organizations in a new coalition to protect funding for critical environmental programs that support hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs, fortify local New York economies, protect clean drinking water, create new parks, advance environmental justice, and mitigate the intensifying climate crisis.
This coalition helped to pass the Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022 (commonly referred to as “the Bond Act”). The largest investment in the environment in the history of New York State, the Bond Act provides $4.2 billion for projects that improve public health, increase access to nature, and protect people from the consequences of climate change, like deadly heat and flooding.
Our Advocacy Legacy
Bear Mountain Bridge
Sloop Hill (New Windsor)
Expanded Crude Oil Operations (Albany)
