Blair Horner

The 2023 summer months set new records for heat. There have been deadly reminders of how global warming is destroying the environment: unprecedented heat waves, rising sea levels, huge wildfires, once-in-a-millennium droughts, staggering rainstorms and floods.

Last week, biblical rains devastated the tri-state area. Flooding in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York were fresh evidence that the costs of adapting infrastructure to the world climate’s "new abnormal" will be staggering.

New York has had a lousy track record on voter participation. Until recently, the state ranked at or near the bottom of the nation in voters turning out at elections. Since 2019 a raft of new laws has been approved that follow the best elections practices of other states. For example, New York is now one of 46 states that allows early voting, with voters able to go to a limited number of polling places to cast their ballots before Election Day.

Former Governor Cuomo scored a victory last week in his legal fight to keep $5 million for a book about how he handled the COVID pandemic. A state judge ruled that the agency looking into whether the former governor violated the state’s ethics code by using government resources to write his book was unconstitutionally constructed. In doing so, the judge shut down – at least in the short term – the ethics agency’s investigation and may have blown up ethics oversight in New York.

When it comes to climate, this year has been horrendous. Wildfires across Canada were so bad that the air in New York City turned orange; there was massive flooding in New York, Europe, Brazil, and China (among others); “heat domes” made life miserable in the United States and nearly impossible in the Middle East; and there were the rising sea levels and melting polar caps. All in all, it’s hard not to be depressed about the fate of the planet.

New York colleges and universities have opened and with it comes the excitement of new educational and personal experiences for the students. But for nearly all, the escalating cost of attending college and the resulting student debt looms.

For many, August is the traditional time for vacationing. Vacations are often the week or so before Labor Day. Yet, while many would like to relax, it’s hard to chill out with the ongoing drumbeat of bad news about the worsening climate.

For most of us, bees are a common insect – we see them around flowers, buzzing by our heads, and sometimes even stinging us. However, bees play a critical role in the natural world: they are responsible for pollinating 80% of flowering plants. In the US, honeybees pollinate $15 billion in agricultural products each year, including more than 130 types of fruits, nuts, and vegetables.

In his State of the Union address, President Biden focused part of his comments on the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs. In his remarks he noted that the drug companies are “unfairly charging people hundreds of dollars.” The President was drawing a line in the sand that he would veto any measure that weakened the ability of the federal government to negotiate drug prices for Medicare recipients.

While lawmakers, public officials, lobbyists, and reporters have a reasonably good sense of how much and where New York State government spends money, there is very little publicly available about how well Albany delivers services. When it comes to spending money, legislation is introduced, hearings are held, financial plan updates are issued.