Help Pass Strong Climate Legislation in NYS Now -- Take Action!

We are on the verge of passing the strongest climate legislation in the country, right here in New York!

But Governor Cuomo, who says he supports strong climate legislation, is not standing as the bold leader he’d like us to believe he is and has called proposed legislation “a political placebo.” 

We need to tell him to get his priorities straight and pass a strong Climate and Community Protection Act (CCPA) now.

It's more important than ever to Call Governor Cuomo and Email Your Representatives to tell them it is beyond time to pass a strong CCPA!

It's EASY: simply Click the Link above and select Call or Email. A message is supplied.

Despite Cuomo’s feet dragging, pressure to #PassTheCCPA is at its all time high. Our New York congresspeople endorsed this landmark legislation this week, from Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand to Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Brian Higgins and most other members of the NY congressional delegation (see letter and signatories, below).
 

The time is now. Let’s get this done. Let’s pass the CCPA this legislative session!

~  Environmental Advocates of New York - EANY.org

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Endorsement of the Climate and Community Protection Act by U.S. Representatives 
(click images to enlarge):

TAKE ACTION: Demand a Vote on the NYS Climate and Community Protection Act

TAKE ACTION: 

Tell our State elected leaders: our Planet, our Health, and our Communities can't wait. 

We need New York State to lead on Climate Justice and pass the Climate and Community Protection Act (CCPA) this session. 

We have a Majority of Sponsors in the Senate and the Assembly. 

We demand a VOTE on the CCPA NOW!

Click Here to Take Action

NY Renews is a coalition of more than 150 grassroots, state, and national organizations. We aim to make New York State the nation’s leader in tackling the climate crisis while protecting workers and lifting up communities.

NY Climate and Community Protection Act targets Renewable Energy, Jobs & Justice

Momentum grows for New York’s Landmark Climate-Equity Bill

By Greta Moran | Feb 16, 2019 | Grist

Walter Cooper, a labor union leader, stood on the steps of New York City Hall to fight for new kind of contract.

“We need a contract for a future of our state and for our communities,” Cooper said in support of the Climate and Community Protection Act, a bill making its way through the state legislature.

Cooper’s labor union is part of New York Renews, a broad coalition of 160 labor, climate, and community groups that has been pushing for climate justice since 2015. The Climate and Community Protection Act would move New York to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. The bill’s labor and justice measures have garnered it wide grassroots support. And increasingly, the attention of lawmakers.

On Thursday, as part of New York Senate’s first-ever hearing on climate change, testimonies were heard on behalf of the bill. The legislation would make its goals across energy, transportation, and buildings legally enforceable — a contract with the environment.

The hearing, chaired by Senator Todd Kaminsky, signaled the Democrats’ fresh resolve to address climate change.

It’s not the first time the CCPA has come close to becoming law: Last April, it passed in the Assembly for the third time. But the Senate’s leaders didn’t allow it to come to the floor for a vote. Now that Democrats control the Senate, the passage of the bill — or a similarly ambitious climate bill — is looking more likely.

“The CCPA is the main vehicle through which we will address climate change and these hearings will go a long way toward ensuring that all stakeholders will have input in the legislative process,” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said in a statement.

Along with mandated energy goals, the CCPA would require that state agencies consider not only climate but also equity in their decisions. It would require fair labor standards for jobs created in renewable energy and would invest 40 percent of the state’s energy funds in communities likely to be hardest hit by climate change.

Climate & Energy: Cuomo's 'Green New Deal' is not comprehensive, NY Renews says

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Gov targets 100% clean energy by ’40; Some say it’s not enough

January 21, 2019  | The Villager

BY SYDNEY PEREIRA | Governor Andrew Cuomo recently announced his version of a “Green New Deal” to tackle climate change and ramp up clean energy.

Under his plan, 100 percent of the state’s electricity would be generated by clean power by 2040. This would be achieved by using a mix of energy sources like solar, wind, nuclear and hydropower.

A new Climate Action Council would develop a plan for carbon neutrality across the entire economy — meaning reducing the carbon footprint across industries and sources of greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change.

“We know it’s coming,” Cuomo said in his State of the State address on Jan. 15. “Let the economy be here.”

Cuomo’s “Green New Deal” also includes green technology development, a $1.5 billion investment in offshore wind projects, and a $70 million property-tax compensation fund to help communities transition when old power plants close.

“We want those old plants closed. We want more efficient plants,” Cuomo said. But the state should fund the transition, so “those communities don’t shoulder the burden themselves,” he said.

Cuomo’s announcement comes after years of planning by a coalition of community groups, NY Renews, that have pushed for their own version of a climate action plan. Their plan forms the basis of the current Climate and Community Protection Act, sponsored by state Senator Brad Hoylman and Assemblymember Steve Englebright.

That bill would have mandated the state’s electricity be generated by 50 percent renewable energy by 2030, and that all industries eliminate 100 percent of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The community-initiated bill passed three times in the Assembly but has languished in the Senate.

NY Renews welcomed Cuomo’s announcement, but criticized his failure to set a timeline for a transition to clean power economywide.

“For years, the Climate and Community Protection Act has represented a true climate-justice agenda for our state,” NY Renews said in a statement in response to Cuomo’s address. “It is heartening to see progress toward a fossil-fuel-free New York.”

However, the coalition added, a “truly comprehensive plan to tackle climate change needs more specific deadlines, planning processes and accountability for moving our whole economy off of fossil fuels than are currently included.”

Cuomo must Act to turn Climate Promises into Enforceable Policies

State Capitol Protest March - Cuomo: Walk the Talk on Climate!

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Cuomo talks big about climate change. 

Now it’s time for New York to pass actual policies.

By Greta Moran | Grist | Dec 31, 2018

If you want to hear some fiery climate promises, just listen to a recent speech by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. In the span of a couple minutes, he blasted the federal government’s inaction on climate change, vowed to “leave this planet better than we found it,” and promised to make New York’s electricity 100 percent carbon-neutral by 2040 — and eventually, completely eliminate the state’s carbon footprint.

Despite these strong words, some aren’t holding their breath until they see concrete steps from Cuomo (after all, this is the same governor who just in May headlined a gala funded by oil companies.) “It’s only a statement, and that’s not strong enough,” says Patrick Houston, an organizer with New York Communities for Change. “We urgently need bold climate goals to be written into the law.”

New York state has its best chance in years to pass progressive climate legislation in 2019, when Democrats will take control of the state Senate for the first time in a decade. (They already have a majority in the state House.) The midterm elections positioned many states to take bolder action, ushering climate champions to governorships and state legislatures in Colorado, Nevada, and Maine.

It’s good timing, because the federal government led by President Trump is dismantling environmental policies that are more critical than ever. And if we don’t act soon, climate change will bring a future of food shortages, mass extinctions, and natural disasters like we’ve never seen, as the United Nations’ IPCC report laid out in October.

“The IPCC report is harrowing,” says Kevin Smiley, a professor of environmental sociology at the University of Buffalo. “This is a time when a few states or cities have the opportunity to make a big stamp.”

Cuomo hasn’t released the details of his climate proposal yet, so we’ll have to wait and see if his promises carry weight. In the meantime, it’s worth asking: What would an ideal state climate plan look like, anyway? And how can states make sure their pledges are more than empty promises? I spoke with climate organizers and policy experts about what the states — New York as well as the other 49 — need to do to meet the very real, ever-knocking demands of climate change.

Think beyond electricity

Electricity accounts for only 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in New York, according to the state’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory, last updated in 2015. That’s a sizable chunk, but to take on that other 70 percent, Cuomo’s plan would need to consider every sector of the economy. That means all sources of greenhouse gas emissions, including buildings, transportation, and all forms of infrastructure, says Ann Carlson, a UCLA law professor who focuses on climate change and policy.

States can work together on their emissions targets, like the coalition of Northeastern and mid-Atlantic states that agreed on regional transportation goals, and the other state-based coalition that has set shared caps on greenhouse gas emissions through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. “We have a lot of small states that collectively can make a big difference,“ Carlson says.

Put the people most affected by climate change first

“Across the state, we can see that there are communities that have existing inequalities that are exacerbated by climate change,” says Adrien Salazar, a lead organizer with New York Renews, a coalition of more than 100 climate and labor groups. “When think about putting our economy on a path to 100 percent renewable energy, we want to make sure that those communities are invested in.”

New York state’s current energy plan doesn’t include explicit protections for these communities. New York Renews has been working to change this and pass the Climate and Community Protection Act, which would put the state on the path to running solely on renewable energy. It requires 40 percent of clean energy projects to be in communities impacted by climate change. The act would also give those communities ownership over these projects and ensure fair labor standards are in place.

Make it a law, not a suggestion

Cuomo supports a Green New Deal for Carbon-Free Electricity by 2040

Cuomo sets Goal for Carbon Neutral Electric System by 2040

By MARIE J. FRENCH

12/17/2018 | 04:44 PM EST

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday set a new goal to reduce emissions from the state's electricity generation and promised to support a Green New Deal to get to a completely carbon-free economy.

Details were sparse on what Cuomo's conception of a Green New Deal would entail or when he'd mandate that the state eliminate carbon emissions across the economy. His current goal for the electric sector is 50 percent renewables by 2030, and for emissions in most sectors of the economy to be cut 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050.

“New York will launch the Green New Deal to make New York’s electricity 100 percent carbon neutral by 2040, and ultimately eliminate the state’s entire carbon footprint," Cuomo said during a speech in New York City, where laid out his agenda for 2019.

Environmental advocates expressed optimism at Cuomo's new goals.

“The new goal is incredibly exciting and motivating,” said Kit Kennedy of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "What happens now is going to be crucial. In other words, is this a goal … and that’s it, or can we get done what we need to get done in New York state on the ground in terms of policy deployment, acceleration of energy efficiency, electric vehicles, Article 10 [the state siting law for large-scale generators] reforms, offshore wind, storage, the whole gamut of zero-carbon technologies."

For advocates who have consistently pushed for more aggressive action, the lack of details or a goal to get to zero percent emissions in the short-run were disappointing.

“A vague pledge of carbon neutrality by the year 2040 is not the bold action necessary to move New York off fossil fuels," said Food and Water Watch's Alex Beauchamp. "Cuomo must go much bigger: A true Green New Deal for New York must include a moratorium on all new fossil fuel infrastructure and a commitment to transition New York to 100 percent renewable energy by 2030."

The Cuomo administration did not respond to questions about what a Green New Deal would include, whether legislative action would be required or whether electric generators would be able to purchase carbon offsets to comply with the 2040 goal.

The Democratic governor has already directed the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to study how the state could get to 100 percent renewables, not just in the electric sector but across the economy. He's said he supports that goal. The study was expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Climate Bill addresses Justice for Communities and Workers

Climate protection bill would hit renewable goal

In a recent Another Voice column (“Energy policies can be pro-business, pro-environment”), the authors gets things half right.

The Climate and Community Protection Act (CCPA), the focus of their article, is also pro-community and pro-working families! If enacted, the CCPA would commit New York State to a just transition to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050.

This transition would impact the entire economy, from energy generation to transportation to how we heat and cool our buildings. It would require that state agencies apply climate and equity filters to all decision making. This would ensure that no New Yorkers get left behind during the transition and that state government is accountable to climate goals.

The CCPA was perhaps the first climate bill in the country to take justice for communities and workers seriously. It acknowledges the disparate impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities and would support implementation of community-based climate solutions. The bill would redirect 40 percent of existing state climate and clean energy funding to vulnerable communities to enhance climate resiliency and reduce energy poverty by opening up access to renewables and energy efficiency.

The CCPA would also set job standards for industries called into action by public sector investments so that workers and their families can thrive as our economy transitions.

Global consensus has been reached that we’re now living through an intensifying climate crisis. The CCPA is a commonsense response to this crisis and represents a transformative strategy for achieving a just transition for all New Yorkers.

Clarke Gocker

Buffalo

Published on 12.18.2018 at BuffaloNews.com

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To read the text of the Climate and Community Protection Act and see the bill's co-sponsorship in the NYS Senate, click here

NY Renews Coalition urges Cuomo to pass Comprehensive Climate Bill in 2019

NY Renews urges Cuomo to pass Climate and Community Protection Act in 2019 after speech embracing carbon neutrality

by NY Renews  |  December 17, 2018

New York, NY — In his “Justice Agenda” speech outlining legislative priorities for 2019, Governor Cuomo talked about moving New York completely off fossil fuels – but now we need a real plan and bold legislative action to get us there.

Governor Cuomo can implement his vision and go further by supporting the passage of the Climate and Community Protection Act (CCPA) in 2019. The NY Renews coalition of 150 plus groups, has advocated for the CCPA since 2015.

While the Governor spoke of a “100% carbon-neutral electricity” target, electricity generation represents approximately 20% of our state’s emissions profile and New York needs more comprehensive action to face up to the urgency of the climate crisis. The CCPA would put New York on the path to 100% renewable energy – not just in electricity generation, but economy-wide – while mandating fair labor standards for green jobs and targeting investments in low-income communities and communities of color.

The CCPA has passed the Assembly for the past three years; Assembly Speaker Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins have both recently reaffirmed their support, with additional support from incoming Environmental Conservation Committee Chair Senator Todd Kaminsky and many newly-elected Senators.

We look forward to working with the Governor and the legislature to see that the Climate and Community Protection Act becomes law in 2019.

Pending Climate Bill could Transform NY Energy Market

Could New York go carbon free by 2050?

The Climate and Community Protection Act could transform New York’s energy market.

By Susan Arbetter | December 12, 2018 |  Excerpt

The Climate and Community Protection Act, sponsored by state Sen. Brad Hoylman and Assemblyman Steve Englebright, is an expansive bill that requires New York state to generate 50 percent of its electricity from renewable energy by 2030. By 2050, the bill would require the elimination of all greenhouse gas emissions.

The bill is process-oriented. Baked into the plan is a climate action playbook that proponents say will guide the state from its current level of fossil fuel use down to zero.

For workers who may be displaced by the proposed transition to renewables, the bill includes prevailing wage standards and addresses the needs of environmental justice communities where many fossil fuel plants are currently located. The bill is, in one activist’s words, “a B-12 shot for the state’s renewables.”

Currently, New York only uses 3 percent wind energy and less than 1 percent from solar energy. “This is the most important issue on Earth,” said Englebright, who chairs the Assembly Committee on Environmental Conservation. “States now have to pick up the slack that has been created by the inaction of the federal government.”

State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, who was recently tapped to chair the state Senate’s Environmental Conservation Committee starting in January, agreed. “There is no doubt we need to take aggressive steps to address climate change,” he said. “This bill will be the central vehicle by which we will accomplish that.”

Peter Iwanowicz, executive director of Environmental Advocates of New York, said the state needs a strong foundation for setting its clean energy goals in law. “Right now the goals don’t exist in law,” he said. “They are at the whim of the executive.”

A CLEAN START - Environmental Advocates of New York

Dear Advocates,

Former President Obama once said, “Elections have consequences.” That statement might be doubly true for the election we just had in New York.

New Yorkers have elected a new majority to the State Senate. In doing so, over a quarter of the Senate chairs will be filled by new members. With these changes comes great opportunity for popular, common-sense environmental legislation to finally see the light of day in the Senate.

You know from your involvement with us that there has been environmental stagnation in Albany. Critical pieces of legislation have been blocked by leaders who refused to step up and protect our environment, strengthen our communities, or improve our health. Bills with broad backing like the Climate and Community Protection Act (CCPA) and the Environmental Bill of Rights easily passed the Assembly this year with bi-partisan support, only to be buried in the Senate. The CCPA actually had a majority of Senators listed as official co-sponsors.

Where the previous Senate Majority had failed to recognize the importance of having a right to clean air and water or the potential of good jobs in the clean energy economy, we trust the new Senate Majority will take a different path. We expect the new Senate will join the Assembly in being champions of the environment by prioritizing policies that benefit our health, our communities, and our economy. The Climate and Community Protection Act and the Environmental Bill of Rights would both be a good place to start. The incoming Majority Leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins has championed the climate bill.

Similarly, the change of leadership in the US House of Representatives holds promise for positive action on the environment. It starts with a fundamental flip of ideals—science is important again, climate change is real, and actual oversight of agencies like the EPA is necessary. While there may be scant hope for the House to be joined in their ideals by a federal government that remains hostile to the environment, they should provide a counterbalance to the dirty policies of the Trump administration.

This election does not mean our job is done. We still need to make our case—loudly—but now to more receptive ears. The opportunity to make real environmental progress is much greater today than it was a week ago. Let’s get to work.

Sincerely,

Peter M. Iwanowicz
Executive Director
Environmental Advocates of New York

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Environmental Advocates of New York strongly supports these bills:

Climate and Community Protection Act 

A.8270-B (Englebright, et al.)    S.7971-A (Hoylman, et al.)

The impacts of climate change are affecting New York’s economic security, safety, and public health. Poor air quality, which is worsened by climate change, is making our children sick and shortening the lives of seniors. Extreme weather events place people in danger, cost billions in lost production and revenue, and damage or destroy communities.

Read more here...

Environmental Bill of Rights 

A.6279 (Englebright, et al.)     S.5287 (Carlucci, et al.)

This bill establishes in the New York State Constitution a right to clean water, clean air and a healthful environment. It addresses a gap in our legal foundations, and provides an expression of values that other states have already seen fit to establish and to pronounce.

Read more here...

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UPDATE (11.14.2018):

The Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) strongly supports the Environmental Bill of Rights legislation

This proposal would amend the State Constitution's Bill of Rights to include a right to clean air and water and a healthful environment. This proposal establishes for New Yorkers the constitutional right to clean air, clean water and a healthy environmental equivalent to other basic rights guaranteed in New York State’s Constitution Article 1 Bill of Rights, such as, the right of freedom of worship and religious liberty, freedom of speech and the press, compensation for taking private property, equal protection of law, and security against unreasonable searches and seizures, among others. The basic human right to clean air and water and a healthful environment has been starkly absent from this list of constitutional protections, but recent threats to our water and air have reminded us that we cannot take for granted that these life sustaining elements will be protected. It is critical that we recognize the basic human rights to clean air and water and a healthful environment and detail these in the Article 1 Bill of Rights. 
Read more here... 


To Download the PDF document at the ADK website, Click Here

For this and other ADK Policy Positions, visit the ADK Website Here
 

New York State needs Commitment to Renewable Energy

By Geovaira Hernandez

On Sept. 8, thousands of people worldwide united for a day of action around climate and economic justice. Rise Up for Climate, Jobs and Justice events, like the one we helped organize in Buffalo at Canalside – which drew several hundred residents – arrived ahead of the Global Action Climate Summit this week in San Francisco.

The summit brings together elected officials, labor unions, thought leaders and nongovernmental organizations to discuss the Paris climate goals, and how to accelerate efforts to reduce global emissions.

Not surprisingly, considering its intent to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris agreement and its assault on basic environmental protections, the Trump administration will not participate in the summit.

With hopes of federal action on climate now dashed, groups like PUSH Buffalo, the Communications Workers of America and the Sierra Club are working in coalition with others across regions and states to pressure elected officials to commit to a just and equitable transition away from fossil fuels toward an economy powered by 100 percent renewable energy.

In Washington State this fall, residents will vote on Initiative 1631 which, if passed, would generate $1 billion of revenue annually through a corporate polluter fee. The revenue would be used to fund climate solutions that benefit the most environmentally overburdened communities.

Earlier this week, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that sets California on a path to 100 percent renewable energy by 2045. This is a huge development, and the first law of its kind enacted by a state legislature in the U.S. Importantly, progress in each of these areas wouldn’t have happened without sustained grassroots leadership from so-called frontline communities.

California’s commitment to 100 percent renewable energy sets a compass point for the rest of us to follow. Now, we’re demanding that elected leaders in New York deliver on a progressive climate justice agenda that includes not only a commitment to 100 percent renewable energy but prioritizes clean energy investments in frontline communities and creates good paying, green jobs.

As members of the statewide New York Renews coalition, we’re calling specifically for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to pass the Climate and Community Protection Act (CCPA) in 2019 and to support a corporate polluter penalty and reinvestment policy like the one being advanced in Washington State. Together these moves would position New York as a true global climate leader accountable to a progressive populism that is now rising all around us.

Geovaira Hernandez, climate justice organizer at PUSH Buffalo, co-authored this with Lynda Schneekloth, of Sierra Club Niagara Chapter, and Debora M. Hayes, area director, Communications Workers of America.

This article was published as an op-ed in The Buffalo News

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SEE ALSO: 

- NY RENEWS: Cut Pollution, Fund Solutions for NY

- NYS Assembly Passes Climate Bill Promoting Renewable Energy, Green Jobs, and Community/Worker Protections

NYS Assembly Passes Climate Bill Promoting Renewable Energy, Green Jobs, and Community/Worker Protections

THANK YOU New York State Assembly, Assemblyman Steve Englebright, Honorable Speaker of the New York State Assembly Carl E. Heastie, for passing the Climate and Community Protection Act by a huge margin!

Now we need the same climate leadership from Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York State Senate, so we can get this critical bill passed in 2018, fight climate change, protect frontline communities, and ensure green jobs are good jobs.

Big THANK YOU to Assembly Members who changed their votes from No in 2017 to YES in 2018! To see how Your Assembly Member voted, click here.

For a Summary of the Bill, click here.

Governor Cuomo's 2018 Climate Announcements Fall Short, says NY Renews Coalition

January 3, 2018  | NY Renews   

In his 2018 State of the State address, Governor Cuomo announced several significant climate-related initiatives – but fell short of supporting a comprehensive and equitable plan to hold polluters accountable and move New York State to 100% renewable energy on a timeline commensurate with the urgency of the crisis. 

“The Governor has moved New York from a walk to a jog on climate, but what we need is an all-out sprint,” said Rahwa Ghirmatzion, Deputy Director of PUSH Buffalo, a member of NY Renews.

The Governor’s support for congestion pricing, the augmented emphasis on offshore wind and energy efficiency, and the inclusion of equity concerns in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), all represent real progress and warrant sincere praise. But with an issue as grave as climate change, we do not have the luxury of mistaking positive steps for truly sufficient policies.

The Governor should have taken the opportunity to support a comprehensive legislation package that reorients all sectors of the economy and governance to creating a 100% renewable future and holding corporate polluters accountable for the damage they cause to New Yorkers’ health and well-being. The legislative platform proposed by the NY Renews coalition embodies those goals, through the Climate and Community Protection Act (S6617A/A8270A) and a soon-to-be-released proposal for massive investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy, underwritten by a corporate polluter fee.

“With climate change doing real damage to communities of color from Houston to Puerto Rico, this is a historic moment that requires more than incremental steps. Ultimately, Cuomo’s legacy will be judged in jobs created, disasters averted, and the urgency and equity of his climate vision,” said Eddie Bautista, Executive Director of NYC Environmental Justice Alliance, a member of NY Renews.

A study from the University of Massachusetts found that putting a modest $35/ton fee on corporate polluters’ emissions would generate over $7B and 150,000 new jobs for New York every year. That revenue could be invested in building clean energy infrastructure, improving mass transit, supporting fossil fuel industry workers, sustaining communities burdened by climate change, and more. It’s a simple, common sense approach to fighting the climate crisis: price pollution, and fund solutions. In his general embrace of congestion pricing for NYC, he’s already demonstrated a willingness to do just that, albeit on a small scale. To truly lead the just transition our communities so desperately need, he will need to think bigger in 2018 and enact a fee for all emissions from corporate polluters, not just those coming out of tailpipes in lower Manhattan.

Governor Cuomo still has an opportunity to include the Climate and Community Protection Act and a corporate polluter fee in his executive budget in the next few weeks, which would help ensure their passage into law.

NY Renews is a state-wide coalition of over 100 groups: labor unions, community groups, environmental organizations, faith communities, environmental justice advocates and more. We find inspiration in our diversity of perspectives, and strength in our breadth of expertise. 
Join us at NYRenews.org


UPDATES:
Jan. 9, 2018: Cuomo has to do more to tackle climate crisis. By Clarke Gocker, PUSH Buffalo, Director of Policy & Strategy. Letter in The Buffalo News

Jan. 10, 2018: State needs to expand clean, renewable energy. By Ellen Banks, Sierra Club Niagara Group, Chair of Climate & Energy Committee. Letter in The Buffalo News
 

NY Renews Coalition Reacts to NYS Senate Failure to Pass Climate Bill Prioritizing Jobs and Justice

On Thursday, the New York State Senate failed to pass the Climate and Community Protection Act.

In response, the NY Renews Coalition released the following statement: 
 
 On June 1st, Donald Trump made the disastrous decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement. On June 21st, the last day of the legislative session, the leaders of the New York Senate failed again to pass a visionary climate bill--the Climate and Community Protection Act (CCPA)--at the precise moment when we need state leadership the most.

It is disturbing that, even in the wake of President Trump’s dangerous climate policy rollbacks, the New York State Senate failed to pass landmark climate legislation. This failure is as unconscionable as it is cynical. In ignoring legislation to protect New Yorkers from the worst impacts of a changing climate and seize the vast economic opportunity in clean, renewable energy, the Senate is telling frontline communities, clean energy workers, and all New Yorkers to wait at least another year for this life-saving, economy-boosting legislation--another year our state cannot afford to lose in tackling the growing climate and inequality crisis.

New York, the world’s 12th largest economy, can and should be showing that states’ actions can address the climate crisis even while the Trump administration does everything it can to eviscerate United State’s position as a climate leader.

The CCPA gives New York’s goal of reaching 100% clean, renewable energy by 2050 the force of law, creates fair labor standards for renewable energy jobs, and ensures that state energy funding is accessible to the low-income and environmental justice communities that need it most. The bill was developed and is championed by over 110 organizations statewide, representing many of New York’s most dedicated experts in labor, environmental, and social justice policy.

Support for the bill has united low-income communities of color in Buffalo with Hurricane Sandy survivors in Long Island, with clean energy investors in Manhattan. It united labor and environment, from the Teamsters and the Transit Workers, to Catskill Mountainkeeper and Sierra Club. It garnered support from climate champions like Bill McKibben, Mike Brune, and Naomi Klein; racial justice leaders like Ben Jealous, Rashad Robinson, and Black Lives Matter Greater NY; and progressive visionaries like Mark Ruffalo, Robert Reich, and Heather McGhee. And it has garnered bipartisan support in the state senate itself.

Despite this overwhelming, statewide, cross-sectoral support, the bill’s sponsors--the eight members of the Independent Democratic Conference-- and the senate leadership found any number of excuses not to bring the bill to the floor for a vote. This was their chance to prove they could pass a top-level progressive priority, and they did not live up to the challenge. They did not #CallTheRoll. Meanwhile, the Assembly led on the issue, passing the bill with strong bipartisan support by an even wider margin than last year.

It is time for Governor Cuomo, who did not include the CCPA in the budget, to step up and lead the way to passage for the nation’s strongest climate, jobs, and justice bill. We urge the Governor as well as the IDC and senate leadership to pass the CCPA in a special session this summer.

If the legislature is returning to Albany to protect the education of NYC school children, then surely the Governor and senate can also pass legislation critical to the protection of their very future--not to mention the millions of children outside NYC and around the world whose futures will be foreclosed by the climate crisis. The state’s leaders have left Albany with serious unfinished business, and they must redress this wrong.

In the meantime, NY Renews will continue to hold the Governor and the senate accountable, and stand up for New Yorkers who want good green jobs, healthy communities, and to protect their communities from the impacts of climate change.

New York Can Lead on Climate - Call the NYS Climate Bill's Sponsor - Take Action Today!

ACT ON CLIMATE: Please take two minutes TODAY to call NYS Senator Avella, at 518-455-2210. Urge him to bring the Climate and Community Protection Act (S 6617) to a vote before the end of session.

Don't worry if you're not a constituent---this bill is deeply relevant to all New Yorkers, and we all have a right to advocate with Senator Avella, the bill’s sponsor.

Yesterday, the bill passed the NYS Assembly by a whopping 103 to 41 vote! Now its up to the NYS Senate. Please make the call now. 

Thank you for taking Action on Climate Change!

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After Paris climate agreement exit, here's how New York can lead

By U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and NYS Assemblyman Steve Englebright

June 19, 2017 | City & State New York

On June 5, the country's boldest statewide climate legislation, the Climate and Community Protection Act, was reintroduced in the New York state Assembly. The Assembly, under the leadership of Speaker Carl Heastie, passed the CCPA when it was first introduced last spring, and we applaud his leadership. Now it is up to the state Senate and Gov. Andrew Cuomo to do their part in finally ratifying this critical piece of legislation and signing into law its bold and equitable vision for a fossil fuel-free economy in New York state.

With the Trump administration exiting the Paris Accord – jeopardizing global stability and forfeiting American leadership in the burgeoning renewable energy market – now it is up to states like New York, the world’s 12th largest economy, to lead the way for the rest of the country.

Some of the most promising leadership, in New York and other states, is being driven by grassroots campaigns that are forging a new kind of politics, one that unites climate goals with the fight against inequality and racial injustice.

The CCPA is backed by NY Renews, a statewide coalition of more than 100 member organizations, with environmental justice groups on the front lines of climate change joining forces with organized labor and economic justice groups, as well as more traditional environmental groups.

NY Renews and the CCPA are exemplary for the kind of bold, equitable and people-centered climate action we need all across the country. This is a vision that we both share, and a vision that is embraced by the federal 100 by ‘50 Act, which one of us, U.S. Sen. Merkley, introduced in April, along with Senators Sanders, Markey and Booker. The 100 by ‘50 Act is a bold framework that for the first time lays out a detailed set of national policies to transition the United States to a completely fossil fuel-free economy, while ensuring a just transition for workers and low-income and disadvantaged communities.

Much like the federal 100 by ’50 Act, the CCPA mandates a shift to 50 percent renewable energy by 2030, and 100 percent by 2050, across all sectors. This is critical, as much of New York’s progress to date has focused on the electricity sector, though buildings and transportation also represent huge sources of emissions.

If the bill becomes law, New York state will be doing its share of the clean energy transition framework put forward in the federal 100 by ‘50 Act.  In the process, New York would create over 100,000 new jobs per year for the next few decades, vastly accelerating employment trends that are already demonstrating the economic benefits of clean energy. But setting the state’s renewable energy goals in law will be critical to reaping these benefits; laws are needed to ensure the goals’ durability over the next 33 years, and to lend certainty to clean energy investors.

Crucially, the CCPA and the 100 by ‘50 Act have something else in common. When the 100 by ’50 Act was unveiled outside the U.S. Capitol on April 29, the first advocate to speak at the press conference announcing the bill was Elizabeth Yeampierre, a NY Renews leader and director of the environmental justice organization UPROSE based in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. As Yeampierre urged, “Policy makers on the state and federal levels must follow the lead of communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis – low-income communities and communities of color – and put justice at the core of their agenda.” Both the 100 by ’50 Act and the CCPA do exactly this.

Embracing the proposals of grassroots leaders, each bill requires that at least 40 percent of public investment is targeted to ensure that the transition benefits disadvantaged communities.  Further, all publicly-supported investment dedicated to the transition must adhere to high-quality workforce standards, ensuring that workers share in the benefits of the transition. 
Whatever else it means, the result of the election of 2016 surely means that the best – and maybe the only – way we can do our part to mitigate the self-made crisis of climate change is by winning bold policies at the state and local level, state by state and city by city. Protecting the planet from catastrophic climate disruption is a huge responsibility; it is also a huge opportunity for investment in our communities. But the opportunity will be tragically lost if our elected leaders do not do their part, which is exactly that – to lead. By passing the CCPA, New York state leaders can inspire New Yorkers, our nation and people everywhere at this critical turning point for people and planet alike.

Jeff Merkley is a United States senator from Oregon and the author of the 100 by '50 Act. Steve Englebright, chairman of the Assembly's Environmental Conservation Committee, is the lead sponsor of the Climate and Community Protection Act.

NY Renews Coalition Reacts to Gov. Cuomo's New Climate, Jobs and Justice Initiatives in the Wake of Trump's Rejection of the Paris Climate Accord

Following President Trump’s decision to exit the Paris Accords, Governor Cuomo announced the creation of a climate and jobs initiative and the creation of an environmental justice and just transition working group.

NY Renews, a coalition of 109 labor, community, and environmental organizations, released the following statement in response:

"We applaud the Governor in the wake of Trump's shameful decision to withdraw from the Paris Accord for taking an important step toward realizing the massive job-creation potential of tackling the climate crisis head-on. NY Renews has been pushing our elected officials at the state level for over a year to implement strong climate legislation—the Climate and Community Protection Act—that prioritizes jobs and justice.

The Governor's announcement in partnership with Climate Jobs NY of a $1.5 billion request for proposals for renewable energy development is a great example of the kind of agency cooperation and investment that will be needed from the state now and in the coming decades to protect New York families from the worst impacts of climate change, while driving a resurgence of good union jobs in the new energy economy. And the commitment from the Governors of CA, WA, and NY to meeting the Paris Accords sends a strong signal to the world. Now New York must turn to the business of meeting and exceeding that commitment.  

To that end, we look forward to working with the Governor to pass visionary legislation that gives New York’s climate and clean energy goals the durable force of law and ensures fair labor standards are attached, so we can keep these ‘climate jobs’ coming for decades to come. Our legislation would also direct a minimum of 40% of state funding to environmental justice communities. The many NY Renews members who have been appointed to the Governor’s new Environmental Justice & Just Transition Working Group will continue to reaffirm that the best way to champion environmental justice is to give it the force of law and ensure that state resources are going to the fenceline and frontline communities that need them most.

As we defy Trump's historically bad decision, we stay grounded in the future we're fighting for: a future where we’ve averted climate catastrophe through the leadership of organized labor and working people. To lock in that future, New York will need to pass ambitious framework policies, like the Climate and Community Protection Act."

A Diverse NY Coalition Seeks to Pass Landmark Climate Policies Centered on Justice and Equity for Workers and Communities

NY Renews is a coalition of 109 labor, community, environmental, and social justice organizations across the state of New York from Buffalo to Brooklyn. The coalition seeks a transition from dirty fossil fuels to 100% clean renewable energy with good jobs, healthy communities, and climate justice for all New Yorkers.

NY Renews is fighting to pass the Climate and Community Protection Act (CCPA), which sets in law that:

• NYS must eliminate all climate pollution by 2050
• 40% of state energy funding must go to disadvantaged and environmental justice communities
• Fair labor standards must be attached to renewable energy jobs

In 2016, the CPPA passed the Assembly and got majority co-sponsorship in the Senate before being blocked by Senate Republican leadership.

NY Renews is also developing a new bill to fund a just transition to renewable energy by levying a penalty on polluters. This bill should be completed by August. If passed, it would be the first policy of its kind in the country.

Ultimately, NY Renews wants to build a stronger, more diverse climate movement in New York. The coalition wants to use that power to pass landmark climate policies that center justice and equity for workers and communities.

The state climate leadership is going to be critical under Trump.  If New York were a country, we’d have the 12th largest economy in the world. We have a huge opportunity to lead the rest of the country, and the world, toward equitable climate policy, and defy Trump’s insane climate denial.

Recently, Senators Jeff Merkley and Bernie Sanders introduced a federal bill, the ‘100 by '50 Act,’  which would provide job training for low-income Americans and Americans of color, as well as those in coal communities, to work in the renewable energy sector.

Similar campaigns are popping up in other states, from Washington to New Jersey.

NY Renews plans to complete the just transition bill this summer, and to launch it together with the CCPA as a package in September. NY Renews will push to pass as much of it as possible in the final state budget scheduled to be released April 1, 2018.

Learn how you can get involved with NY Renews. Sign up for actions and updates by visiting the NY Renews website.

Buffalo-area members of the NY Renews Coalition include:

Buffalo Coalition for Economic Justice
Climate Justice Coalition of WNY
Grassroots Gardens WNY
Interfaith Climate Justice Community of WNY
Massachusetts Avenue Project
OPEN Buffalo
Partnership for the Public Good
PUSH Buffalo
Sierra Club
UAW Region 9
Ujima Company
Urban Chamber of Commerce 
WASH Project
WNY Council on Occupational Safety & Health

Call on Gov. Cuomo to Defy Trump and Make Climate Change a Priority

Resist Trump, Press Cuomo

We’re not even a week in, and the Trump administration has already begun burying climate science, dialing back progress, and pushing our planet toward the brink of catastrophe. 

In the face of federal denialism, it's up to the great State of New York to lead the fight to save the world.

How can Governor Cuomo lead the fight? He can start by including the Climate and Community Protection Act (CCPA) in the state's 2017 budget.

CLICK HERE to sign up for a 'Thunderclap' and join thousands of other New Yorkers who are calling on Governor Cuomo to defy Trump and make climate change an urgent top priority.

What is Thunderclap? It’s a website that allows participants to pledge to post a message (our scripted message to Cuomo in this case) to Facebook or Twitter (or both) all on the same day--and at the exact same time--in order to achieve maximum impact (i.e, get Cuomo's attention and attention of all friends and followers that the message reaches).

On Monday, January 30th at 10:30AM, the Thunderclap will automatically launch on Facebook and Twitter, echoing across the state, and calling on the Governor to lead on climate in this moment of crisis by making climate action a top priority in the state budget.

Click Here to Sign Up NOW!

Make Your Voice Heard in the THUNDERCLAP!

Just 10 days after Trump’s inauguration, help us make sure we’re setting New York on a course to lead the nation in tackling climate change. 

Our futures depend on it.

URGENT: Support NYS Senate Passage of Important Climate Bill

IMPORTANT - TAKE ACTION TODAY!

The NY State Climate and Community Protection Act [1] passed the State Assembly, and it now has Bipartisan support of a Majority in the State Senate. 

We need to move this important bill to the floor for a vote [2].   

ACT NOW to show your support!  It's Easy! 

To send a form letter to your Senator or write your own, CLICK HERE.

New Yorkers deserve good jobs and healthy communities powered by clean, renewable energy!

1. NY State Climate and Community Protection Act(A.10342/S.8005) 
2. EDITORIAL: Senate Must Act on Climate - Albany TimesUnion - June 15, 2016

 Sponsors: Climate Justice Coalition of WNY, Sierra Club Niagara Group, and NY Renews

Important Climate Bill Passed by NY State Assembly - Fueled by People Power

Photo: Twitter @32BJSEIU 

By David Kowalski

Hundreds of New Yorkers stood together at the State Capitol in Albany on June 1st, rallying to move the NYS Assembly to pass an important new bill, the Climate and Community Protection Act.

If passed, the bill would require that New York move away from dirty fossil fuels, which cause pollution and global warming, and shift to clean, renewable energy that would lead to new jobs, healthy communities, and help stabilize the climate.

People participating in the rally comprised a broad coalition of environmental justice, climate activist, conservation and labor groups.
 
Buffalo was well represented by members of the Climate Justice Coalition of WNY, Sierra Club Niagara Group, PUSH Buffalo, Massachusetts Avenue Project,  and concerned citizens -- three bus loads of people!

Also present were representatives of unions and the Working Families Party along with the national president of the Sierra Club, Aaron Mair, and the NY state chapter chair, Roger Downs.

We rallied outside with hundreds of others and listened to speakers representing different groups tell their stories and express the need for the legislation and their demands. Then we marched through the Capitol building while the Assembly was in session, making our voices heard with chants and our messages visible with signs.

After gently directing the chanting throngs of concerned citizens in the Capitol hallways and also in the area with a full view of the Assembly Chamber, a Capitol official said to me "this is the way democracy is supposed to work." Right on!

Here is a 1 minute Video that features people from Buffalo (it also includes Sierra Club officials cited above). The video shows a few of the activities at the outdoor rally and also the march inside the State Capitol and a view of the Assembly Chamber:

                                                         Video: David Kowalski

To view Photos taken at the Capitol Climate Rally, Click Here
National Sierra Club president, Aaron Mair, speaks on clean energy, jobs & justice: Listen Here 

~     ~     ~

The Assembly vote was cast hours after we left Albany to return to Buffalo.

The Assembly heard the call of the people and passed the Climate and Community Protection Act (A.10342) by an overwhelming vote of 96 to 43.

We stood together for Climate, Jobs and Justice -- and We Won!

Thanks go to Assembly Member Steve Englebright for sponsoring the bill and to the many co-sponsors (Englebright appears in the last slide of the video speaking to us in the Capitol).

Now, New York is on a path to 100% clean renewable energy legislation.

The Assembly legislation requires the state to transition electricity generation to 50% renewable energy by 2030, 100% by 2050, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050.

Importantly, the legislation places emphasis on environmental and economic justice, prioritizing the safety and health of disadvantaged communities. Furthermore, it protects communities and workers by creating new jobs and providing a justice-based transition.

The Assembly legislation is now in the hands of the NYS Senate and has been referred to the Environmental Conservation committee.

The photo below gives an idea of the size of the coalition that rallied on the Capitol steps (Click image to enlarge):

For more information about the bill, see 'The New York Assembly Just Passed The Nation’s Most Ambitious Climate Bill' at Think Progress.

To see how your Assembly Member voted, click here.

Thanks to NY Renews for organizing the rally and spearheading action on the bill.