NY Renews Coalition’s Proposal to Fund New York’s Landmark Climate Law Could Unlock $$ for Ithaca Green New Deal
By Zasu Scott, Tompkins Weekly
New York’s hard-fought climate law was a big win for the climate justice movement. The landmark Climate and Community Protection Act (CLCPA or Climate Act) passed in 2019 set ambitious targets for both emission reductions and environmental justice, including a mandate for 40% emissions reduction by 2030.
It’s already 2023. And unless something big changes, New York state is not on track to meet the 2030 mandate. Why? Almost four years after the climate act became law, there are no sustained investments for its implementation.
Much like New York’s landmark climate law, the Ithaca Green New Deal is also in need of sustained funding to achieve its goals: carbon-neutrality community-wide by 2030, and addressing the city’s stark social, historic, and economic inequities. Local programs like Ithaca’s Green New Deal could be funded through state level investments, if New York state were to establish funds dedicated to meeting New York’s climate mandates.