Cap-and-no-trade: Emissions cap policy faces budget fight in New York
By Marie J. French, Politico
Environmental justice groups who spearheaded the push for a landmark climate law mandating emissions reductions in New York are at another pivotal moment as they fight to shape the funding program to achieve those ambitious targets.
NY Renews, the coalition of environmental, community and labor groups that backed the climate law passed in 2019, is fighting to influence a cap-and-trade program proposed by Gov. Kathy Hochul. If they’re successful, outside observers are hopeful that a more equitable framework could be exported to other states including California, which has had a cap-and-trade program since 2013.
“The stuff in California is a little bit milquetoast-y. We were a leader at some point … It’s now a little bit old and it needs to be refreshed,” said Parin Shah, who heads up environmental justice efforts at the Asian Pacific Environmental Network. “New York really has that ability to be able to set the standard the way y’all have been doing lately and pull us, because it would be really cool to have y’all telling us what we need to do in California.”