The “Clean Fuel Standard” is a False Solution
New Yorkers experience dramatically different air quality depending on where they live. Some New Yorkers are breathing in dirty air and dying from it. Polluting infrastructure, land use policies, and discriminatory decisions are causing air pollution that contributes to the detrimental health and environmental crisis that disproportionately affects low-income communities of color. We must act now to break the patterns of decisions and investments that poison communities of color as the State figures out how to implement the Climate Act and meet its emissions and disadvantaged community mandates. However, the proposed “Clean” Fuel Standard (CFS) is a false solution to our fight for clean air.
Access to safe, clean air is a racial justice, public health, and environmental justice issue. There are proven solutions to reduce air pollution that address these disparities and injustices, including rapidly electrifying and investing in the transportation and transit systems in our state. Full electrification and improved public transportation will result in numerous benefits for all New Yorkers, but especially for communities of color and low-income communities. Benefits include less vehicle pollution, cleaner air, lower asthma rates, fewer hospitalizations, increased bus and train service and access, and more union jobs and workforce opportunities.