It’s easy to be overwhelmed by all the negative news out there about the state of the planet’s climate. But, as we like to say, the best way to ground yourself in such a complex issue is to look for signs of progress that are happening not only globally but also locally. At a time when everything seems like a loss, always acknowledge the wins. In keeping with that philosophy, here are some positive climate and environmental headlines from across the Hudson Valley.
River Otters Make a Comeback in New York Waters
North American river otter populations are on the rebound after a precarious drop during the mid-20th century due to a mix of human-driven causes, including habitat loss, hunting, and pollution.
In 1995, the New York State Department of Conservation started a restoration program that moved almost 300 otters from the northern part of the state to more than a dozen sites in Western and Central New York.
The short program ended in 2001, but the results were a success a couple of decades later. While it’s hard to tell how much of a return we’ve seen, about 900 river otters have been counted in the DEC’s average annual harvest.
Bard College Partners with JustAir on New Air Quality Tracking Platform
Bard College’s Center for the Environmental Sciences and Humanities recently announced the release of a new online air quality tracking tool for the Hudson Valley, built in partnership with environmental tech startup JustAir.
The platform will collect data in real time from the Community Sciences Lab’s four air trackers spread out across the Hudson Valley: one on top the Stevenson Library on Bard campus in Red Hook, one at the Andy Murphy Neighborhood Center in Kingston, one on the Adriance Library in Poughkeepsie, and one at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh. Together they form the Hudson Valley Community Air Network.
“The air quality station atop Bard’s Stevenson Library is a vital part of the environmental science and humanities center’s mission to empower the Hudson Valley with real-time, hyperlocal air quality data,” program director Desirée Lyle says. “We offer quality-assured, community-accessible air quality measurements, including PM2.5 (the tiny particles that affect human health) and weather conditions and give residents, students, and local institutions the information they need to make informed decisions about their health.”
It’s an invaluable service. We all remember when smoke from the 2023 Canadian wildfires blanketed huge swaths of New York state in an exasperating, yellow-orange haze. While we haven’t seen anything as drastic as that in the last couple of years, the specter of smoke still looms large every time the air quality index worsens.
“For the Center of Environmental Sciences and Humanities, this is an important expression of stewardship — our responsibility to care for the places and people we’re connected to. By grounding community action in transparent, trustworthy data, we’re strengthening our collective capacity to protect the air we breathe and support a healthier, more resilient region,” Lyle says.
To access data from the HVCAN and get real-time air quality data, visit the JustAir website or app.
City of Cohoes’ Floating Solar Array Will Shine Bright
After breaking ground in 2024, the City of Cohoes’ ambitious floating solar array project on the city’s reservoir is finished with construction and will be supplying power to the grid sometime this year. Thousands of solar panels now blanket the 10-acre body of water, right near the city’s filtration center, buoyed by plastic floats in what will soon be one of many floatovoltaics projects operating around the world.
Besides serving as another valuable location for the expansion of renewable energy, floating solar panel arrays also have the added benefit of shading the waters they rest on, cutting down on evaporation, and therefore helping to combat drought.
More importantly, this 3.2-megawatt project will be the first of its kind in New York State, and the power generated by it should be enough to power a few thousand homes at a time. Cohoes Mayor Bill Keeler anticipates the project will save property taxpayers about $500,000 in power costs each year.
“Once the project is fully operational, those costs will be eliminated altogether. Essentially, the 5,880 floating solar panels owned by the city will generate enough power to run our city-owned buildings,” Keeler says. “We’re grateful Congressman Paul Tonko helped secure $3 million in federal funds to initiate the $8 million project, leaving the city $400,000 along with additional federal and state grants. Plus, an extra $750,000 from National Grid.”
