Statewide Coalition NY Renews Launches the Climate, Jobs & Justice Package: A Legislative Roadmap to Decarbonize New York State
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***: November 16, 2022
Contact: Marie Scarles, marie@nyrenews.org, (646) 389-8429
Web: @NYRenews | www.nyrenews.org
Statewide Coalition NY Renews Launches the Climate, Jobs & Justice Package: A Legislative Roadmap to Decarbonize New York State
Elected officials, environmental justice advocates, and community members mark the public launch of the campaign to fund and implement NY’s Climate Act
New York State – On November 16, 2022, hundreds of elected officials, environmental justice advocates, and community members held eight rallies across New York State to launch the NY Renews coalition’s Climate, Jobs & Justice Package (CJJP). The CJJP is a roadmap to rapidly decarbonize New York, make our communities healthier and more equitable, ensure a just transition for workers, and help create an accessible green economy for all.
Rallies and press conferences in Manhattan, Long Island, the Hudson Valley, Albany, Syracuse, Buffalo, and Rochester drew elected officials like Senators Liz Krueger and Robert Jackson, Assemblymembers Kenny Burgos and Deborah Glick, Assemblymember-elect Sarahana Shrestha, and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. Community speakers included organizers, environmental justice leaders, and community members from across New York State. (A final CJJP launch event in event will take place in Ithaca on Friday, 11/18.) Events included live music, call-and-response chants, and community artwork (see below for links to photos and videos).
Organized around three key demands that individually and collectively advance the mandates of NY's Climate Act (CLCPA), the Climate, Jobs & Justice Package requires NY to (1) fully fund and implement NY’s Climate Act, (2) build renewable energy for all and create good, green union jobs, and (3) make polluters and the ultra-rich pay what they owe to fund the transition. The Climate, Jobs & Justice Package is NY Renews’ platform to fully address the climate crisis and meet the mandates of the NY Climate Act during the 2023 legislative session.
NYC: A recording of the event can be found here, and a social media recap of the event can be found here. Photos can be found here.
Long Island: Photos of this event can be found here.
Syracuse: A livestream of the event can be found here.
Hudson Valley: A recording of the event can be found here, and a recap of the event with photos can be found here.
Albany: Photos will be available here on 11/17.
Quotes:
“The CLCPA was a groundbreaking piece of climate legislation, and it mandated in law the emissions reduction targets we must hit to prevent utter climate chaos. But that was three years ago, an eternity when faced with the dire urgency of the current crisis. This coming session, with the Final Scoping Plan in hand, it is time for us to put our money where our mouth is, literally. We must create the funding and investment mechanisms we need to dramatically ramp up the transition to a decarbonized future, one that will save New Yorkers money, free us from our dependance on petro-state dictators, and protect the health and prosperity of our children and grandchildren,” said Senator Liz Kruger (SD 28).
Senator Robert Jackson (SD 31) said, “Working-class, Black, and Brown neighborhoods across New York have sadly and disproportionately paid the cost of environmental injustice in poor public health and exposure to pollution due to the adverse climate crisis for generations. Investing in adaptation and mitigation will save lives and improve New Yorkers' quality of life, with immediate benefits for disadvantaged communities, emission reduction, and job creation. I will continue championing for a greener and fairer New York with NY Renews; let’s properly fund the CLCPA!”
“New York voters sent a strong message of their support for bold environmental action when they overwhelmingly approved the environmental bond act. My colleagues and I in the Senate Majority will continue our state’s robust agenda to care for the environment, fight the effects of climate change, increase renewable energy sources, and invest in a strong economy that brings green union jobs to the Empire State,” said Senator Rachel May (SD 53).
Assemblymember Kenny Burgos (AD 85) said, "The climate crisis has affected all of us, but the Bronx has taken the biggest hit. My home borough consistently ranks as the unhealthiest county in all of New York State—62nd out of 62 counties—along with one of the highest asthma rates in the country. As my constituents are suffering, we need to take real action now. the Climate, Jobs & Justice Package (CJJP) is an urgent matter and will help transform our state for a healthier and greener future. I look forward to helping push this package next session so my constituents can live in a cleaner and safer environment."
“We are here to kick off the Climate, Jobs & Justice Package and send a message to Albany that climate is no longer a fringe issue,” Assemblymember-elect Sarahana Shrestha said. “In this midterm election, the Environmental Bond Act got almost 400,000 more votes than the governor did. National exit polls showed that climate was a top issue for voters, tied with crime. But our government is not acting with the urgency needed to tackle this crisis. We did a historic thing when we passed the Climate Act in 2019, and we need to maintain that level of energy and commitment to make sure we hit those goals. The bill that I was organizing around when I decided to run for office was the Build Public Renewables Act. I’m really thrilled that it’s a part of this package and that it passed the State Senate. I’m eager to go back and fight for all these bills in the State Assembly.”
"Everyday New Yorkers have the solutions for a fossil fuel future and a more just world. Already, BIPOC and working-class people from Brooklyn to Buffalo are re-building our communities centered in climate resilience, justice and a thriving economy for all. It was everyday New Yorkers that passed the NYS Climate Act and it's these same people behind the Climate, Jobs and Justice Package which will ensure the Climate Act is fully realized," said Rahwa Ghirmatzion, Executive Director of PUSH Buffalo; member of the NY Renews Steering Committee.
"The storms and heatwaves are getting stronger, the sea levels are rising and so are the stakes. Recent reports represent a great admonishment— this is the last decade we have to efficaciously address and dismantle an epochal climate crisis," said Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright, Environmental Justice Director for New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI). He continued, "This crisis is interlinked and, therefore, necessitates a legislative package that represents a preponderance of intersectional climate policy. NYLPI is proud to support the NY Renews Climate, Jobs, and Justice package, which, once ratified, will not only fund and implement our state's landmark climate law at the requisite scale, it will do so from a lens of climate justice and result in accountability for those most responsible for the climate crisis, accessibility for disadvantaged communities disproportionately impacted and historically subjected to underdevelopment, and affordability through a Just Transition that reduces energy costs while also creating good, unionized jobs that pay family-sustaining wages. New York set the pace with CLCPA, now it's time to see it through and finish the people's business of a more equitable, sustainable, and healthy New York.”
"The extreme recurrent weather events we have endured in the past few months are a reminder that climate change is here and demanding bold, time sensitive and necessary solutions,” said Elizabeth Yeampierre, Executive Director of UPROSE. “The Climate Jobs and Justice Package moves us closer to that vision by fully funding the Climate Law and a regenerative renewable energy economy. In Sunset Park, these bills will strengthen social cohesion by operationalizing a green reindustrialization of our working class waterfront while generating jobs, preventing displacement and ensuring climate adaptation and mitigation measures. It will address health disparities by shutting down the fossil fuel plants that have compromised the health of our children and elders. After a legacy of toxic exposure and increased vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, we deserve climate justice. We call on our elected officials to pass the Climate, Jobs, and Justice package and invest in a climate future for frontline communities across New York."
"New Yorkers went to the polls and voted for justice. Now that the Environmental Bond Act has passed, we urge the State to plan for much greater investments in the coming years by enacting the Climate, Jobs & Justice Package," said Farah Mehreen Ahmad, Jobs to Move America NY Senior Organizer. “This is an opportunity for the city to create good, green jobs in renewable energy while helping to lower utility bills. The Climate, Jobs & Justice Package would ensure that the state's purchasing processes create high-quality community-sustaining jobs through the usage of incentives that encourage manufacturers to commit to good wages, benefits, and training. The state should work closely with unions to ensure that drivers and technicians receive the training and job protection they need."
"We demand hope, dignity, and freedom for all New Yorkers, and access to green, career jobs and clean air is central to that fight. This package, developed by an intergenerational and multiracial movement dedicated to caring for our planet, is the next necessary step toward climate justice. We need New York to step up now for climate, jobs, and justice – our collective survival depends on it," said Maritza Silva-Farrell, Executive Director of ALIGN NY, steering committee member of NY Renews.
“Growing up on Long Island, you inevitably have to think about leaving someday, whether it’s because it’s going to sink or because all jobs are routed towards NYC—it's actually a requirement in certain high schools to have a plan or idea of where else you want to go," Monique Fitzgerald, Climate Justice Organizer with the Long Island Progressive Coalition, said. "With the CJJ package, maybe people can imagine a future where they get to stay in their homes and don't have to plan uproot their lives because of flooding on the South Shore or asthma from the traffic of people commuting to the city daily."
"For the Many strongly supports the Climate, Jobs, & Justice Package. Together the Climate and Community Protection Fund, Build Public Renewables Act, Climate Accountability Act, Gas Transition and Affordable Energy Act, and Blueprint Bill represent a bold, comprehensive climate agenda to decarbonize and democratize our society. It will be paid for through the Climate Change Superfund Act, Fossil Fuel Subsidy Elimination Act, and the Invest In Our New York bill package which will tax corporate polluters, millionaires, and billionaires,” said Daniel Atonna, Political Coordinator at For the Many. He continued, “For the Many organizes working people all across the Mid-Hudson Valley, many of whom are immigrants, people of color, and low-income. With the state DEC projecting an increase in heat waves and that the Hudson River could rise 2-4 feet by 2080, they are directly at-risk. If the State Legislature and Governor do not act legislatively in 2023, there will be widespread economic damages borne most heavily by communities that are already suffering. The New York Renews bill package will combat the climate crisis, grow New York's economy, and begin to repair damage done by environmental racism. We do not need to choose between climate, jobs, or justice. We can have all three."
"It is crucial that New York State's Climate Law is adequately funded to ensure a strong and viable pathway for renewable energy and storage to replace fossil fuel infrastructure. Frontline and environmental justice communities are calling on our elected officials to support the Climate Jobs and Justice Package to further investments in communities that face the most burdens from the climate crisis. This comprehensive package of legislation will help protect New Yorkers by prioritizing climate action now," said Eddie Bautista, Executive Director at NYC Environmental Justice Alliance.
Josie Manucha, Base Building Organizer at Long Island Progressive Coalition said, “Disadvantaged communities on Long Island have been waiting so long for relief, from the environment to the economy. Tons of people still haven’t recovered from Superstorm Sandy, and even more are being impacted by flooding today. Bringing both climate and jobs together into one bill package ensures that people will be able to thrive, not just survive.”
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NY Renews is a coalition of more than 320 environmental justice, community, faith, labor, and multi-issue organizations fighting for just climate policy for New Yorkers. We are the force behind the nation's most aggressive climate law, the NY State Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, enacted in 2019. The Climate, Jobs & Justice Package is the next step in our fight for climate justice in New York.