Local News: February 13, 2024

-  State Republicans want electric school bus conversion extended to 2045 -

Republican state lawmakers say school districts need more time to switch to zero-emissions school buses. New York school districts must transition by 2035 as part of the state climate law passed in 2019. The Albany Times Union reports Republicans and some school leaders say the cost of new infrastructure like charging stations and buses is too high for most districts to afford. They want the deadline moved to 2045. Electric school buses cost about $300,000 each about double the cost of a diesel school bus.

- Cornell’s CHESS gets $20 million federal funding for new research technology -

The Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) has received $20 million from the National Science Foundation. The Cornell Chronicle says the money is to build an X-ray beamline (XLEAP) that will be used in research of environmental and biological systems. It can be used to see into live plant and soil structures. The beamline will be housed in the CHESS experimental hall scheduled to open in 2025.

- Local officials were unaware of plans for gravel mine expansion until DEC announced public hearings for this week -

FingerLakes1.com reports that Watkins Glen and Schuyler County leaders say they didn’t know about plans to expand a sand and gravel mine until the DEC announced public hearings last month. The operation is located close to an entrance to Watkins Glen State Park. An effort to expand the mine in 2008 failed. Under the current proposal, the mine would become about four times larger to cover over 75 acres. Public hearings about the expansion took place on Monday and Tuesday. The deadline for written comments to the DEC is February 28.