A Green Way Forward: October 2, 2018

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NY Daily News: October 2, 2018

Green Party gubernatorial candidate Howie Hawkins has thrown his hat in the ring to replace Nixon if she is moved off the line.

NY State of Politics: October 2, 2018

The Working Families Party filed paperwork Tuesday to begin the process of nominating Cynthia Nixon for a state Assembly seat in Manhattan should she drop out of the race for governor....

A Siena College poll this week found Nixon drawing 10 percent of the vote in a general election match up that includes Cuomo, Republican nominee Marc Molinaro as well as independent candidate Stephanie Miner, the Green Party’s Howie Hawkins and Libertarian candidate Larry Sharpe.

Urban CNY: October 2, 2018

Hawkins Says Time to Stop Plastics in NYS Wants Ban on Plastic Bags, Fee on Others; Ban Plastic Straws, Styrofoam

WSYR Radio 570 AM (iHeart, Syracuse): October 2, 2018

(Getty Images) 

Syracuse, N.Y. - Howie Hawkins, the Green party candidate for Governor of New York, wants to debate Governor Andrew Cuomo.  However, he's having a hard time getting someone to organize it. 

Speaking this morning with Dave Allen on Newsradio 570 WSYR, Hawkins says he ran into the Governor at the Global Citizens Festival, over the weekend and he suggested that they should have a series of debates. The governor asked Hawkins if he was planning on organizing them. Hawkins responded he would look to do just that.

FAQ NYC: October 2, 2018

Audio

Azi Paybarah talks with the Green Party gubernatorial hopeful Howie Hawkins, who makes his case and talks some stuff about the Working Families Party.

For immediate release: October 2, 2018

Hawkins Says Time to Stop Plastics in NYS

Wants Ban on Plastic Bags, Fee on Others; Ban Plastic Straws, Styrofoam

Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for Governor, said today that as Governor he would introduce legislation to ban plastic bags from being used by retail outlets, regardless of size, with a 10 cents fee on other single use bags (paper) in order to promote the use of returnable bags.

“We need to halt the use of plastics because they degrade into microscopic particles that are rapidly destroying species, fisheries, and ecosystems and harming human health with plastic chemicals. They create massive worldwide litter even in remote places. They cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars to dispose in landfills,” said Hawkins.

Two years ago Governor Cuomo blocked the plastic bag law for New York City from going into effort. Mark Dunlea, the Green Party state comptroller candidate, had been one of the major organizers of the 5-year effort to pass the NYC law.

Hawkins said he supported the bill in New Jersey that was voted out of a Senate Committee last week. The measure - S2776 - would ban plastic grocery store bags, Styrofoam food containers and plastic straws. It would also impose a 10-cent fee on paper bags at grocery stores.

At the end of the recent legislative session Cuomo did propose a ban on thin plastic bags but did nothing to move the bill in the legislature. Many environmental groups opposed the bill since its failure to include a fee on other bags such as paper would just cause a shift to such bags, which have their own environmental problems.

The New York City Department of Sanitation currently estimates that it collects an average of 1,700 tons of plastic bags per week, costing $12.5 million per year in disposal expenses. Experts estimate that over eight million metric tons of plastic waste ends up in the world’s oceans each year.

“New York needs to adopt a zero waste approach to garbage. We need to pass a solid waste packaging act that requires packaging to be returnable, reusable or at least recyclable. We need the state to invest in making it easier to collect and market recyclables,” added Dunlea. Dunlea said he supported A3941 / S1935 on packaging. Packaging represents one-third of the municipal waste stream.

WBFO (NPR, Buffalo): October 2, 2018

Nixon may not be on the ballot in November. The actor and education advocate is currently on the Working Families Party line, but members of that party are meeting later in the week to decide whether to remove her and replace her with Cuomo. Nixon has already said she won’t actively campaign for governor after her loss in the primary. Greenberg says the votes that Nixon could potentially draw represent the never-Cuomo voters, who might shift their backing to one of the three other minor party candidates.

“They are looking for a safe place to land that is not a Republican,” Greenberg said.

The three minor party candidates - Libertarian Party candidate Larry Sharpe, the Green Party’s Howie Hawkins and independent and former Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner - have a combined total of 4 percent of the vote, according to the poll.

WSYR 570 AM, Syracuse: October 2, 2018

Audio

Politico New York Playbook: October 2, 2018

CUOMO HAS 22-POINT LEAD IF NIXON STAYS IN, SIENA FINDS — Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s chances of winning a third term will not be significantly diminished if Cynthia Nixon continues to run on the Working Families Party line, a poll released by the Siena College Research Institute on Monday found. In fact, it's possible that a continued Nixon candidacy might actually help Cuomo. Cuomo led Republican challenger Marc Molinaro 50-28 when poll respondents were given the names of every candidate currently slated to appear on the ballot. Nixon drew 10 percent on the WFP line, and the Green Party’s Howie Hawkins, Libertarian Larry Sharpe, and Serve America Movement candidate Stephanie Miner split 4 percent of the support of likely voters. When pollsters asked about Cuomo and Molinaro only, the governor led 56-38. That 18-point advantage is actually slightly less than Cuomo’s 22-point lead in the crowded field scenario. POLITICO’s Bill Mahoney