Schenectady and Albany counties will partner together to host free energy workshops for businesses and non-profits that will provide information to reduce energy use and annual energy costs.

The workshops will be held in Schenectady County on May 8 from 7:30 until 9 a.m. at The Stockade Inn and in Albany County on May 9 from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the Albany County Office Building.

Local schools can participate in the Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) Green School program.

According to the DEC, schools across New York are making a difference in their communities with programs that help recycle, reduce waste, save energy and conserve resources.

The DEC has outlined benefits of becoming a green school:

• Prepare students to understand and act on the current and future environmental challenges that face all New Yorkers.
• Model environmental and conservation best management practices in their building and in landscape design and maintenance can reduce costs.
• Build partnerships with the local community to design and implement projects and programs that will result in a healthier environment and safer school.

The DEC has dedicated a website that details green schools and what they do.

Environmental Protection Agency Commissioner Carter Strickland today presided over the graduation of 26 new officers from the DEP's Environmental Police Academy.

The Academy, launched in 2002, is the first of its kind in the nation to provide training, experience, and concentrated course work in advanced environmental laws.

Graduates successfully completed 31 weeks of instruction during which they received intense training in counter terrorism, the environment, police science, the use of firearms, and defensive tactics.

DEP  officers protect the water supply of New York City as well as thousands of square miles of watershed lands in NYS.