Work has just begun on New York’s ambitious climate plan
New York State just took a bold and heartening step toward a future that promotes clean energy, a healthier environment, and resources for disadvantaged communities that typically are hardest hit by pollution and climate change.
On July 18 Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which was recently passed by the state legislature. The law requires greenhouse gas emissions from human sources in the state to be cut by 85 percent by 2050. The remaining 15 percent to get New York to be fully carbon neutral will be realized through a variety of carbon reducing projects that offset the effects of remaining emissions. In some areas of the state the offsets might be related to agriculture and forestry. In urban settings they may focus on pollution mitigation from other sources or green spaces.
The act also establishes a process to ensure that a minimum of 35 percent of investments from the state’s clean energy and energy efficiency funds benefit disadvantaged and vulnerable communities. These gains will be found in clean energy and energy efficiency spending in such areas as housing, workforce development, local pollution reduction, transportation, energy storage, community-owned renewable energy projects, and large scale renewables that reduce the need for local fossil fuel-fired generators.
These combined mandates – to eliminate emissions and bring about environmental justice -- have prompted media reports calling the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act one of the world’s most ambitious climate action plans. Now the real work begins, including the need for the same grassroots vigilance that led to the bill’s passage.
Because what the measure does not specify is exactly how the state will accomplish these bold results. That will be left to a 22-member “climate action council,” a group to be comprised of state agency commissioners, heads of state authorities, and other appointees chosen by the governor and legislative leaders.
The council’s work will be informed by advisory panels of “special expertise.” At minimum, panels will focus on transportation; energy intensive and trade-exposed industries; land-use and local government; energy efficiency and housing; power generation; and agriculture and forestry.
The law also calls for a “just transition working group,” which will advise the climate action council on issues relating not only to disadvantaged communities, but also to people working in energy-intensive industries who may need re-training or be otherwise affected by the state’s dramatic move to clean energy sources.
Needless to say, that’s a lot of advising.
In its leadership role, the climate action council will have two years to prepare and approve a plan that outlines recommendations for attaining the law’s requirements. Along the way there will be at least six public hearings throughout the state.
The impact that grassroots activism had on the shape and passage of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act cannot be understated. There were dozens of social media campaigns, calls to email or telephone state legislators, and demonstrations at the state capitol.
“Thank you to the frontlines for bringing this into Albany,” Peter Iwanowicz, executive director of the nonprofit group Environmental Advocates of New York, told dozens of activists gathered at the state capitol just before the legislation was passed. “Insiders couldn't do this by ourselves.”
In a formal statement, Iwanowicz added that the act , “will not only move one of the world’s largest economies off of fossil fuels, it begins the conversation on how to make this transition equitably and with justice.”
The key word in that statement is “begins.” There is much work to be done. And it is essential that public interest and scrutiny be sustained throughout this process.
The kind of activism we need is not defined by a protest or a phone call. It is a practice that must be nurtured. So sign up for news from environmental groups that will be closely engaged with the 2-year process of the climate action council. When public hearings and other avenues of public input are announced, take advantage of those opportunities to listen closely and make your voice heard. In these ways supporters can do more than celebrate New York’s new victory for our environment — they can help ensure it is shepherded it to its fullest fruition.
Robert “Skip” Backus is the CEO of the nonprofit Omega Institute for Holistic Studies and founder of the Omega Center for Sustainable Living.