This past year New York saw the collapse of one major environmental initiative due to the pandemic, but the enactment of several important new environmental laws.

In 2020, the Restore Mother Nature Environmental Bond Act of 2020—which was New York’s first environmental bond act in almost 25 years—became a casualty of the pandemic’s economic consequences. If approved by voters, the Bond Act (Laws of 2020, Chapter 58, Parts QQ and RR) could have raised up to $3 billion for capital projects “for the single purpose of making environmental improvements that preserve, enhance, and restore New York’s natural resources and reduce the impact of climate change.” (A more complete review of the Bond Act appeared in our March 2020 column.)