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.

Energy & Climate: Where do we go from here?

Join Buffalo native, Jason Kowalski, for a discussion of the Obama administration legislative initiatives on Energy Policy in the Case Library at Westminster Presbyterian Church [Map] on Sunday October 17, 2010 at 9:30am. The event is open to the public.

Jason Kowalski is the Policy Coordinator for 1Sky Solutions in Washington, DC.

The central aspirations of the 1Sky campaign are:

• Reduce global warming pollution at least 35 percent below current levels by 2020, and at least 80 percent by 2050.
• Create 5 million green jobs and pathways out of poverty by rebuilding and refueling America with a comprehensive energy-efficiency mobilization including immediate investment in a clean-energy infrastructure
• Re-power America by imposing a moratorium on new coal plants that emit global-warming pollution and replacing dirty fuels such as coal and oil with 100 percent renewable energy.

Bio - Jason Kowalski: As a Policy Coordinator at 1Sky.org, Jason works to leverage the collective power of a diverse network of allies to push for strong federal climate policy. He is committed to building grassroots momentum: as a national co-coordinator of Step It Up 2007, Jason and his group connected thousands of people to the political process via an open source web-based campaign. His career in the climate movement was jump-started by working with executives and financial officers at Middlebury College to dramatically reduce their carbon emissions using the most economical means available. Jason co-authored the recently expanded version of Clean Air-Cool Planet's Campus Carbon Calculator, which is currently in use on over 2,500 campuses for greenhouse gas emissions inventories and economic analysis of carbon reduction projects.

Related Material:
An open letter to all people and organizations working to combat global warming
This letter is from members of the 1Sky board of directors: Jessica Bailey, K.C. Golden, Bracken Hendricks, Bill McKibben, Billy Parish, Vicky Rateau, Gus Speth, and Betsy Taylor.

Government's Role in Energy Technology

WESTERN NEW YORK

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY ASSOCIATION

5 PM, TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2010

Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center

Delaware at Tupper [Map]

THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT – A PARTNER IN RENEWABLE TECHNOLOGY?

Please join us for a forum exploring the role of government in promoting the use of renewable technologies as we make the transition from fossil fuels to a renewable energy based economy.

SPEAKERS

Robert E Knoer, Esq. comes to us with broad range of expertise in the field of environmental law. Mr. Knoer taught “Law and the Environment” at the State University of Buffalo from 1992 to 2007. He will speak on “Opportunities for Local Governments to Use Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency: Addressing the Cost of Government”.

Jessica Miller is an urban planning graduate student at the State University of Buffalo. She will talk about her experience developing ordinance guidelines for solar and wind installations for the city of Erie, PA.

Bill Nowak, Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Policy Research for New York State Senator Antoine M. Thompson, will brief us on Senator Thompson’s “Ten-Point Green Jobs Strategy. In the process he will bring us up to date on energy legislation passed in 2009, as well as current energy legislation before the Senate.