Protect the Adirondacks cheers the appointment of Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) as the new chairman of the Assembly Committee on Environmental Conservation. Assemblyman Englebright has served in the State Assembly since 1983, following service in the Suffolk County Legislature. Assemblyman Englebright has successfully passed far ranging legislation, such as the Assisted Living Reform Act of 2004 and the North Shore Heritage Area Act.
On the environmental front, Assemblyman Englebright worked to pass the successful NYS Pine Barrens Protection Act, Pesticide Use Registry Act of 1996, and New York’s first solar and wind net metering laws.
“Steve Englebright has been one of the go-to members of the State Assembly for decades on environmental issues. He will bring passion and leadership to the major environmental issues facing the State of New York,” said Peter Bauer, executive director of Protect the Adirondacks. “Steve Englebright brings a background in science and strong legislative experience in a wide range of land protection, public disclosure and protection from pesticides and chemicals, and sustainable and clean energy issues to his new position leading the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee. This is very good news for New York’s environment.”
Assemblyman Englebright has previously served as the Chair of the Assembly Committee on Aging from 2001-2007, the Chair of the Assembly Committee on Tourism, Arts, Parks and Sports Development from 2007-2011, and Chair of the Assembly Committee on Government Operations from 2011-2015.
Englebright had been endorsed for this position by Long Island Newsday. The newspaper stated “Englebright’s environmental credentials are sterling. A geologist by training, the Setauket Democrat is an ardent proponent of clean energy and open space, and knowledgeable about our waters and the threats to them. Before election to the Assembly in 1992, he was staff geologist for a legislative commission on water resources for Long Island. He authored a bill that created a pesticide-use registry to explore a possible link to breast and other cancers, and worked on pivotal pine barrens protection legislation as a Suffolk County legislator.”
