Make cap & trade work for all New Yorkers: Environmental justice must be a factor in state emissions program
The climate crisis is growing in intensity, threatening our communities, and is affecting the lives of all New Yorkers. Just this summer New Yorkers have been confronted with new, more deadly and debilitating climate emergencies, from the severe flooding in the Hudson Valley to the thick, choking wildfire smoke from Canada causing an increase in respiratory issues and asthma-related ER visits, disproportionately in low-income, predominantly Black and Hispanic communities.
In the coming months, Gov. Hochul will roll out her administration’s proposal for a “cap-trade-and-invest” (CT&I) program, an economy-wide, sector-based program intended to help New York lower its emissions and meet the targets in New York’s ambitious climate law, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). This new program would set an annual limit, or a cap, on New York’s greenhouse gas emissions and create permits that businesses could purchase, allowing them to pay to emit an amount of emissions up to the cap.
We urge the Hochul administration to adopt guardrails to minimize costs, maximize benefits, encourage early action, undo legacy pollution, and protect frontline communities disproportionately impacted by climate injustice from increased emissions and pollution hotspots.