Workshop on Climate Justice in Western NY

Climate Justice Workshop

Sam Magavern and UB Law | December 1, 2017, 10 am

Please join Sam Magavern of the Partnership for the Public Good and a team of seven University at Buffalo Law School students for a workshop on climate justice. 

This Climate Justice Workshop will be held December 1, 2017 from 10am to Noon at 617 Main St. (Market Arcade - Map) in the First Floor Community Rooms.

Topics to be covered include:

·         Climate change impacts on Western New York
·         The climate justice movement in Western New York
·         Electric buses
·         Community-owned solar power
·         Methane leakage from natural gas pipelines
·         State carbon taxes
·         Divesting from fossil fuels and investing in renewables
·         Making public school food more nutritious, sustainable, and just
·         How to grow and sell produce in the City of Buffalo

Free and open to the public.  To reserve a seat, please email colleen@ppgbuffalo.org by November 28.

Online Meeting: Legislating a Price on Pollution to Pay for a Justice-based Transition to a Sustainable Economy

 

New York Business Roundtable on Carbon Tax

With President Trump withdrawing the US from the Paris climate accord, it becomes that much more critical for the states to lead.  We invite you to join us on Tuesday, June 6th at 4pm to learn about the national movement for carbon tax legislation, discuss a new legislative proposal for New York by NY Renews, and offer your business perspective on this important issue.

You can join us by phone, by computer, or in person at hosted gatherings.  Currently we have a confirmed gathering at the CommonSpot in Ithaca, NY and a location in Binghamton pending sufficient registrants.

The online portion of the meeting will be hosted via Zoom, and you will have the option of joining by video or audio. All registrants will receive an email in advance of the meeting with instructions on how to join.

This is a FREE event.  Registration is required - Click below.

REGISTER NOW

Agenda
The main portion of this meeting will last 1.5 hours with the option to continue for those interested.

• Introductions & Goals
• Speaker Presentations
  • Richard Eidlin, American Sustainable Business Council
  • Chris Burger, New York State Sustainable Business Council
  • Stephan Edel, NY Renews
• Q&A
• Questions for participants, discussion
  ----------------------------------------------------------------
• Survey feedback on policy proposal
• Continued networking at in-person gatherings

Goals for this gathering

1. Gather input from independent New York State business leaders on the NY Renews policy proposal
2. Engage around the idea of legislating a price on pollution to help pay for a just transition to a sustainable economy in New York
3. Connect with like-minded businesses both locally and across the State

We hope you can join us.

Sharp Contrast on Climate and Energy in Presidential Campaign

GOP and Democratic Platforms Highlight Stark Differences on Energy and Climate
While Republicans embrace fossil fuels, Democrats push for climate action. But do party platforms influence policy?

By Phil McKenna | Inside Climate News | Jul 26, 2016 

If there was any lingering confusion on how America's two major political parties differ over climate and energy policy, platforms released by the Republican and Democratic Parties during this month's national conventions made their often polar-opposite views exceedingly clear.

Republicans would dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency as it currently exists and abolish the Clean Power Plan, the centerpiece of the Obama administration's plan to rein in greenhouse gas emissions.

Democrats called for a price on carbon, implementation of the Clean Power Plan, which was stayed by the Supreme Court in February, as well as other regulatory measures to reduce greenhouse gases, and prioritization of renewable energy over natural gas.

While platforms are more outline of party beliefs than binding policy, they nonetheless offer a picture of the widening gulf between the increasingly conservative Republican Party and a Democratic Party that has adopted many of the progressive policies championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Read more at Inside Climate News



Climate Change Divide Bursts to Forefront in Presidential Campaign

By CORAL DAVENPORT | New York Times | AUG. 1, 2016

WASHINGTON — During the 2012 race for president, the issue of climate change was nearly invisible. President Obama and his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, almost never spoke about it, and it did not come up during their debates. There was far more talk of ramping up oil and gas production than cutting emissions.

But this year, as Hillary Clinton thrusts climate change to the heart of her campaign, the issue is taking on a prominence it has never before had in a presidential general election.

In speeches, Mrs. Clinton regularly highlights her plan to combat global warming, and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, praised her at the Democratic National Convention last week for putting it at “the center” of her foreign policy. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, her main rival in the primaries, spoke of the issue forcefully, saying that “this election is about climate change.” The party platform calls for a price — essentially a tax — on carbon pollution.

Mrs. Clinton’s opponent in the November election, Donald J. Trump, has gone further than any other Republican presidential nominee in opposing climate change policy. He often mocks the established science of human-caused climate change and dismisses it as a hoax. The Republican platform calls climate change policy “the triumph of extremism over common sense.”

The divide between the two parties over the issue is the widest it has been in the decades since it emerged as a public policy matter. That is all the more remarkable given that during the 2008 election, the Democratic and Republican positions on climate change were almost identical.

Read more at the New York Times

TALK: 'Carbon Tax' - Citizens Climate Lobby

 

A New York State carbon tax bill was introduced in Sept. 2015 by two Democratic legislators, Assemblyman Kevin Cahill of Dutchess County and Sen. Kevin Parker of Brooklyn. 

The bill, A8372 Cahil / S6037 Parker, starts taxing CO2 emissions from coal, oil, natural gas and biofuels at $35 per ton and increases the rate annually by $15/ton, to a ceiling of $185 per ton. 

The bill proposes returning 60% of revenues to low- and moderate-income households, with the remaining funds used to prepare for climate change, invest in renewable energy, and build transportation infrastructure. 

More Information on emerging developments in U.S. carbon taxing in NY State and other states is HERE.