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FRANCESCO DAMICO<\/p>\n
Photo courtesy of Assemblymember Diana Moreno\u2019s Office<\/p>\n
At a time when households and small businesses are struggling to afford their energy bills and corporate utilities continue to raise rates in New York, Governor Hochul wants to weaken the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act<\/a> (CLCPA), our landmark Climate Law, in an alleged attempt to lower costs. That deeply flawed argument risks making energy more expensive in the long run<\/a> and would lock us into the kind of volatility that has defined the fossil fuel era.<\/p>\n If the past several years have taught us anything, it is that the climate crisis is already here and that vulnerable communities bear the brunt of its consequences. In my district of Astoria<\/a>, children suffer from disproportionate asthma rates from peaker plant pollution, giving our neighborhood the unfortunate nickname of \u201cAsthma Alley.\u201d In Queens, Hurricane Ida highlighted the deadly impacts of flooding in low-income immigrant neighborhoods and the inequality in access to disaster recovery resources.<\/p>\n We\u2019re also suffering from an affordability crisis and know that fossil fuels are the primary driver of energy price spikes. Natural gas prices soar based on global supply disruptions, extreme weather and international wars \u2014 not to mention the rising costs of maintaining NY\u2019s aging Weakening the CLCPA will not insulate us from both the human and material costs of the climate crisis, but instead lock us into fossil fuel dependence for years to come, further endangering New Yorkers.<\/p>\n Clean energy, on the other hand, is the only path to both affordability and energy independence. Renewable wind and solar power is now the fastest and least expensive way to add new energy to the grid. Investments in energy efficiency reduce consumption permanently and lower bills month after month<\/a>. Scaling renewables and efficiency is one of the most effective long-term cost-control strategies available to the state. Fully implementing the Build Public Renewables Act with 15GW of publicly owned renewable energy projects will supercharge our transition Weakening our climate laws will not lower our bills. It will only slow the transition away from the polluting fuels that cause price volatility in the first place which continuing our complicity in accelerating the human-made climate crisis.<\/p>\n As the Trump administration destroys federal climate protections and drags us into endless wars, state leadership becomes more critical. Laws like the CLCPA are now the primary safeguard against unregulated pollution and unchecked greenhouse gas and co-pollutant emissions.<\/p>\n New York has been a national leader on climate, and retreating would send the wrong signal to other states, as well as local businesses and frontline communities living at the crossroads of climate pollution who are counting on the state to stay the course.<\/p>\n The CLCPA\u2019s targets are ambitious because the risks we face are real: intensifying heat waves, stronger storms, worsening air quality, rising costs and the threat of an unlivable future. Weakening the framework meant to address those threats would not make them disappear \u2014 it The CLCPA is more than an emissions statute \u2014 it is also a commitment to environmental justice. The CLCPA requires that 35-40% of clean-energy and climate investment benefits flow to disadvantaged communities \u2014 neighborhoods like mine that have borne the brunt of air pollution, extreme heat, flooding and public health burdens for decades.<\/p>\n Those provisions are central to the law\u2019s design, and weakening the CLCPA would reduce investment in precisely the communities that face the highest risks. It would mean fewer resources for cleaner air, resilient housing, energy efficiency upgrades and local job creation in areas that have historically been overlooked.<\/p>\n
fossil gas infrastructure.<\/p>\n
away from fossil fuels and lower utility bills through the REACH Program. Fully implementing the Climate Law would strengthen state and local economies and create upwards of 30,000 jobs a year<\/a> statewide, including nearly 10,000 jobs a year in NYC<\/a> installing heat pumps, weatherizing homes, expanding EV charging networks and building community-led solar.<\/p>\n
would simply make New York less prepared.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Photo courtesy of Assemblymember Diana Moreno\u2019s Office<\/p>\n