Andrew Cuomo has made it clear he wants to bring hydraulic fracturing, or hydro fracking (in which natural gas is extracted from the Marcellus Shale formation, often leaving nearby water flammable), to our state and today the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation went and released a revised draft report on the prospect. Which means we've all now got a 90-day public comment period (30 days more than usual) before this thing moves forward, so be prepared to hear a frack load more about fracking in the next three months! more ›

Last summer not only was the city's sand deemed disgusting, but the water at our beaches wasn't getting a clean bill of health either. In fact, no NYC beaches rated above 3 stars on a 5 star rating system. Well, over the past year not much has changed. According to this year's report put out by the Natural Resources Defense Council, we've still got some of the dirtiest beaches in the country! more ›

The Natural Resources Defense Council's New York Urban Program Director Eric Goldstein (that's a mouthful) has gone undercover to see what Manhattan retail stores are blasting their air conditioning with open doors to lure the customer inside. This is illegal, of course, and as Goldstein points out, while "the issue isn't tops on the national environmental agenda... it does serve as something of a symbol of shameless wasting of fossil fuels by some of our fellow citizens." more ›

Just last week MTA board member Nancy Shevell was under a microscope for skipping a crucial fare-hike vote in order to fulfill her new full-time job duties of being Paul McCartney's girlfriend. A socialite at heart, the 48-year-old Shevell is still gallivanting around town with Macca this week, most recently for the Natural Resources Defense Council gala. The organization focuses on climate change issues and was honoring Stella for her environmentally-friendly design. A UK rag takes a look at the unfortunate glittery sheer leggings Ms. Shevell wore to the event, and the even more unfortunate zipper issues the 66-year-old McCartney had with his pants. A wardrobe malfunction that would have been way hotter about 45 years ago. more ›