Over the last few months, thousands of New Yorkers have marched through the hallways of the Capitol building in Albany to meet with legislators and make their voices heard, with a clear message: to protect and implement New York’s landmark climate law.
New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) is our state’s historic and bold effort to clean up air pollution and modernize our homes by embracing cheap and locally-produced clean energy. Seven years after its passage, the law has barely been implemented, and Gov. Hochul is now seeking to further delay and weaken the law.
For low-income families and communities of color across New York, the proposed delays and rollbacks to the climate law aren’t abstract policy debates; they risk real and devastating impacts that could be avoided by investing in much-needed household services and community resources through the climate law.
Black, Brown, and low-income communities have borne the brunt of pollution and climate disruption caused by corporate polluters, disproportionately experiencing flooding, extreme heat, and higher asthma rates. If this law is weakened, these same communities will continue to suffer from deadly health and climate impacts. However, if implemented, a recent analysis finds that the climate law would prevent 5,000 premature deaths and 4,000 asthma attacks in the first five years, half of which would occur in frontline communities.
Fully implementing the law, including enacting a cap and invest program, would finally hold corporate polluters responsible for their environmental pollution and reinvest the revenue into our communities. In other states such as California, making polluters pay has generated $33 billion that has been reinvested into public transport, affordable housing, and air pollution reduction.
Thirty-five percent of cap and invest funding is required to be reinvested in disadvantaged communities, the very neighborhoods where families live in old, drafty houses, tree-less streets expose residents to harsh summer heat, and pollution fills the air. An infusion of billions of dollars can help fund green, affordable homes that are weatherized, powered by cheap, clean energy, and updated to withstand the elements.
Another third of cap and invest revenue goes back to households in the form of direct rebates to lower energy bills. This will help stabilize energy costs and provide bill relief for the 3.5 million New Yorkers who have fallen behind on their utility payments over the last five years. By updating homes with efficient heating and cooling systems that are powered by clean energy, we will finally have relief from fossil fuel cost volatility and relentless rate increases.
Money from cap and invest will also flow toward community projects, such as enhancing infrastructure and resiliency, building out community solar, and developing green spaces. Clean energy is the most affordable form of energy available, and doesn’t contribute to health-harming air pollution. More green spaces, such as parks, not only provide places for people to enjoy, but are also essential for addressing more intense, frequent, and longer-lasting heat waves.
As the federal government retreats from climate responsibility, New York must stand firm. When the climate law passed in 2019, it was seen as a promise to Black, Brown, and low-income communities that the state will protect them from the negative impact generated by our over reliance on highly polluting fossil fuels.
As thousands have made clear in Albany and across the state, New Yorkers want their officials to embrace the climate law. It’s time for leaders to listen and to act on it now.
Rivera represents parts of the Bronx in the state Senate and chairs the Senate Health Committee.