Statement by NY Renews on Governor Cuomo’s Comment on Climate Legislation
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***: April 23, 2019
Contact: Arielle Swernoff | (646) 450-5461 | arielle@nyrenews.org
Web: @NYRenews | www.nyrenews.org
Statement by NY Renews on Governor Cuomo’s Comment on Climate Legislation
In response to Governor Cuomo’s remark on WAMC that he does not see climate legislation as a priority for the rest of the legislative session, NY Renews — a coalition of over 170 environmental justice, labor, and community organizing groups across the state — issued the following statement:
“New Yorkers across the state are calling on Governor Cuomo and the NYS Legislature to pass the Climate and Community Protection Act. The Climate and Community Protection Act has the support of a majority of the State Senate, 60 Assembly members, and 170 community, environmental, labor, and justice organizations throughout New York State. Senate Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie have both named the CCPA as the way forward on climate for New York this session.
The UN’s IPCC report tells us we must immediately begin to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to preserve a liveable planet. When Washington is incapable of acting on climate, states like New York, and leaders like Governor Cuomo, must step up to save our planet and our communities.
We look forward to passing the Climate and Community Protection Act, and we want Governor Cuomo in this fight – so we can invest in good, green jobs, healthy communities, and a fossil-free New York. The bill not only sets aggressive emissions targets, but also invests in green jobs and public health in communities most impacted by the climate crisis.”
About the Climate and Community Protection Act:
The Climate and Community Protection Act is a landmark climate justice bill that creates a green economy while investing in good jobs and racial and economic justice. It establishes aggressive mandates to ensure New York achieves a 100% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in the next 30 years, keeping the state in line with UN warnings to avoid catastrophic global warming. The CCPA also includes the country’s most progressive jobs and equity provisions of any green legislation in the country. Under the CCPA, 40% of state energy and climate funds used to propel the transition must be invested in low-income communities and communities of color. In addition, the CCPA would attach fair labor standards, including prevailing wage standards, to green projects receiving state funding.
The CCPA has passed the New York State Assembly in the past three legislative sessions by large margins, and is currently sponsored by a majority of State Senators. This year, both Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins have pointed to CCPA as the way forward for climate policy in NY.
About NY Renews:
NY Renews is a nonpartisan coalition of over 170 member organizations. The coalition seeks a sustainable future for the earth and its people, recognizing that climate change represents a threat to all and especially to vulnerable people such as workers, people of color, seniors, youth, and the poor. NY Renews believes that the climate crisis and the inequality crisis can be solved with the same set of policies, and that climate protection must serve as a means to challenge racial injustice and bring about greater economic equity.
The NY Renews Steering Committee includes: 32BJ SEIU, ALIGN -- Alliance for a Greater New York, Catskill Mountainkeeper, Center for Working Families, Citizen Action of New York, Demos, Environmental Advocates of New York, GreenFaith, Long Island Progressive Coalition, Make the Road New York, NYC Environmental Justice Alliance, People’s Climate Movement NY, PUSH Buffalo, Sierra Club, Teamsters Local Council 16, and UPROSE.
###