CLCPA

A Victory (for now) on the NYS Climate Action Front

/ Peter Bardaglio / Leave a comment

There is so little good news in the world these days, especially regarding the climate crisis, that it’s worth paying attention when some comes along. Not just happy, greeting card talk, but substantive, positive developments.

Well, there was good news last Friday (October 24) and it’s worth focusing on. A state supreme court judge ruled that New York is violating its own 2019 climate law, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA).

CLCPA Mandates

How can this possibly be good news?

Here’s why: it’s been clear for months now that Governor Hochul and her administration have been working hard at slow-walking the effort to to implement the CLCPA. This law mandated – not suggested, recommended, or advised, but legally stipulated – the following climate and clean energy targets: a 40% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030; an 85% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050; and 70% renewable electricity by 2030; and 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040.

Cap and Trade Rules

Under the law, the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) had until the start of 2024 to issue regulations that would “ensure” New York met its binding greenhouse gas emissions targets. A year and a half later, no such regulations had been issued.

Behind the scenes, the DEC and NYSERDA had apparently completed draft rules at the beginning of this year for cap and invest, the emissions program that is critical to theimplementation of the climate law. But the governor, instead of releasing these rules for public comment, pulled the plug on them.

In response, Citizen Action of New York, PUSH Buffalo, Sierra Club, and WE ACT for Environmental Justice filed suit in March. In his decision Judge Julian Schreibman gave the DEC until February 6 to issue the cap and trade regulations. “While DEC notes that it has taken other, commendable regulatory steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” the judge said, “it candidly concedes that the impact of those regulations would fall far short” of the targets set out in the climate law.

Echoing Governor Hochul’s concerns about cap and trade, the DEC argued in court that issuing the regulations was “infeasible” because it “would require imposing extraordinary and damaging costs upon New Yorkers.”Judge Schreibman, to his credit, dismissed that argument. “It is undoubtedly true that the task placed before the DEC is very complicated indeed,” he observed. “But as a legal argument, this is unavailing.”

Two Paths

The judge said there were two paths ahead: the DEC can release regulations to meet the requirements of the law or the legislature can change the law. Of course, the DEC could also appeal the decision, which would lead the case to drag on for months longer, if not more. The DEC would only say that it was reviewing the decision.

Governor Hochul took a less ambiguous position on the decision, indicating that she was considering the possibility of pushing the state legislature to change the CLCPA.

NY Renews, a statewide climate justice coalition, spoke out in strong opposition to this possibility. In its words, “changing the climate law would be a massive step in the wrong direction, allowing polluters across New York to proceed with business as usual, unfettered and unchecked, and condemning us to an ever-worsening climate crisis.”

As if on cue, Hurricane Melissa roared through the Caribbean, leaving a trail of death and massive destruction in its wake. One of the strongest hurricanes on record, Melissa slammed into Jamaica on October 28 with winds of 185 mph. Closer to home, New York City suffered extensive flooding and at least two deaths on October 30 as rainfall broke 100-year records and submerged streets and subways.

The message couldn’t be clearer: the climate crisis isn’t going away and, in fact, will only get worse. Those of us who recognize this likelihood must hold the governor and state legislators accountable during the next session beginning in January, making sure that any efforts to weaken the climate law are defeated.

The New York Draft Energy Plan Falls Woefully Short

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It wasn’t that long ago New York achieved national prominence for its ambitious renewable energy push. But with NYSERDA’s recent release of its draft energy plan state officials are openly acknowledging that New York will fail to meet the clean energy targets mandated by the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2018. The state climate law stipulates that 70% of the energy produced in New York should be zero-emissions by 2030.

The plan recognizes the need for more renewable energy and greenhouse gas emissions reductions. To say the least, however, it sends a disappointing message by calling for continued reliance on fossil fuels as well as new investments in new natural gas pipelines and the repowering of fossil fuel plants.

The plan also concludes that New York’s goal of reaching a 40% reduction in emissions from 1990s levels by 2030 is probably not achievable. So far the state has only reduced its emissions by 10% with just five years to go.

Not surprisingly, the plan blames some of the state’s failures on the increasingly aggressive opposition to renewable energy by the Trump administration, but as environmental activists point out, the state was already behind before these attacks.

To its credit, the plan calls for accelerating the deployment of energy efficiency measures such as home weatherization and power-saving appliances. According to its projections, up to 25% of homes by 2040 will have heat pumps and over half the cars could be zero-emission vehicles.

The plan also seeks to increase solar power and battery storage, and notes that New York could increase its renewable electricity generation by 80% over the next 10 years. Of course, the Trump administration’s irrational effort to pull the plug on offshore wind casts a shadow over this possibility.

With the right kind of strong, visionary leadership, New York could accelerate its adoption of solar energy, battery storage, and geothermal energy while retiring its fossil fuel system and electrifying transportation and buildings. The key problem clearly lies with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s reluctance to meet the moment and provide such leadership.

Thousands of comments have been submitted by the public focusing on the flaws in the draft energy plan and its lack of commitment to the CLCPA. Later this year, the state will publish a final plan. Let’s hope it responds to these comments, keeping New York on the path to a renewable energy future.

Time to Tackle Methane Emissions from Landfills

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The following is an expanded and revised version of a piece published in the Ithaca Times in June.

When it comes to fighting climate change, it’s hardly news that time is growing short. What is news, however, is the fact that methane is our best way to buy more time.

A groundbreaking new study using aircraft-based emissions monitoring equipment just confirmed that landfills are the largest source of methane in New York State. Researchers flew over more than 100 waste sites, power plants, and farms, measuring real-time emissions. What they found was staggering: landfills were emitting methane at levels dramatically higher than state and federal estimates.

Methane Emissions Need to be Cut

A garbage scow at Fresh Kills Land Fill on Staten Island. Photo by R36 Coach licensed under CC BY 2.0.

In fact, Seneca Meadows, the biggest emitter of any landfill in the state, was more than four times higher than previously reported.

So what’s the big deal? It’s this: methane is over 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. So cutting it is one of the fastest ways to slow global warming.

Makes sense, right? But, frustratingly enough, New York is dragging its heels, continuing to delay action on this vital issue.

Time to Put Rules in Place

Despite passing the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act in 2019, our state still lacks enforceable methane rules for landfills. That’s unacceptable; more than enough time has occurred to put such rules in place.

The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) itself identified this problem in the 2023 Solid Waste Management Plan, which committed to minimizing landfill greenhouse gas emissions through updating regulations and deploying effective monitoring technology. Yet more than two years later, no rulemaking has begun. Further delay hampers New York State’s ability to meet the goals set out in the state’s Climate Law and is a missed opportunity to protect overburdened communities.

Methane by itself is bad enough, but we know methane doesn’t travel alone. It comes with toxic co-pollutants like benzene and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that contribute to poor air quality and respiratory illness, especially for the low-income and Black and brown communities disproportionately living near landfills.

States like California and Colorado are already implementing strong landfill methane regulations. This spring, California launched a first-in-the-nation satellite program to track large methane leaks, and Colorado just released what could become the country’s most effective landfill methane standard. The proposed rule, if enacted, would require Colorado landfills to manage their emissions by installing a gas collection and control system. In addition, they would also have to phase out open flares (systems that burn methane gas into the open air) and instead use enclosed systems that more effectively control pollution.

The benefits of taking action are too great to be ignored. Strong rules would deliver significant public health, climate, and economic gains. By contrast, the price of inaction is steep—rising health care costs and worsening climate impacts that New Yorkers cannot afford. New York must get on board with these critical efforts to fight for climate and environmental justice. The Department of Environmental Conservation must initiate rulemaking now. The need for action has never been clearer.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

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With the Trump administration taking office on January 20, it’s become clear that efforts to stave off runaway climate change will have to focus on state and local policy.

Trump has promised to halt federal support for clean energy technology and electric vehicles, and he has pledged to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord, reverse a key regulation aimed at reducing emissions from power plants, and roll back other rules aimed at curbing climate change and air and water pollution.

Offshore wind is a crucial component of New York’s attempt to achieve 70 percent of its electricity from renewable energy by 2030. Photo by David Dixon/Walney Offshore Windfarm licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Clean Energy’s Rapid Growth Continues

One bright light, though, is the fact that Trump can slow down progress, but he can’t stop the transformation of the domestic and global economies sparked by the clean energy revolution.

More than 40 percent of all global power in 2023 came from renewable sources, and investments in renewable energy are accelerating because prices have dropped dramatically. In fact, more than 80 percent of new electricity capacity around the world comes from carbon-free sources.

NY’s Leadership Role

Nonetheless, action at the state and local levels will be imperative going forward. With Gov. Kathy Hochul’s signing of the Climate Change Superfund Act, New York has taken on a leadership role that will give the state an opportunity to defy the president-elect’s attempt to reverse climate action. This new law, as explained above, will require the biggest oil and gas companies to contribute to a fund that will be used for infrastructure projects meant to protect New York residents from increasingly dangerous climate disasters like storms and sea level rise.

Another major step in the state’s climate fight took place when Hochul, at the same time, signed into law a prohibition on using carbon dioxide for fracking, closing a loophole in New York’s existing hydraulic fracturing ban (also reported above). This legislation, introduced by Assemblymember Anna Kelles in March, signals a determination to keep the fracking industry out of the state.

These two steps forward should be applauded, while at the same time recognizing the importance of continuing the push on climate action and clean energy in Albany when the state legislature opens its new session on January 8. Efforts to ensure that New York obtains 70 percent of its electricity from renewable energy by 2030, as called for by the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) are especially critical.

Expanding offshore wind, implementing congestion pricing in New York City, eliminating subsidies for new gas hookups as well as the Public Service Commission’s obligation to provide gas service, reducing state tax breaks provided to the fossil fuel industry, putting in place a true cap-and-invest program with guardrails to keep it from devolving into cap-and-trade, increasing the kinds of containers covered by the state’s bottle law, and addressing the issue of plastic packaging are just some of the ways New York can continue to strengthen its leadership role on the climate and clean energy fronts.

At the local level, we’ve seen a disappointing step backward with the continued attempt by Cornell University to install synthetic turf fields on campus. Given the recent finding that 2024 is set to become the hottest year on record, the massive rollout of plastic undertaken by Cornell at its athletic facilities is a bad look, to say the least.

Equally dismaying is the apparently superficial investigation by the city planning board as part of the approval process. The board’s negative declaration of environmental significance, precluding the need for the kind of thorough environmental impact statement (EIS) called for by Zero Waste Ithaca, is hard to fathom in light of existing scientific research outlining the harmful public health and environmental effects of synthetic turf. We can only hope that the lawsuit launched by this activist organization will result in greater transparency regarding the risks involved.

How Serious is NY about Its Climate Goals?

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There’s something seriously unnerving about the casual way in which Gov. Hochul has acknowledged that New York will probably not meet its 2030 climate targets. The pathbreaking Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) calls for the state to obtain 70 percent of its electricity from renewable energy by 2030.

A joint draft report issued in July by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the Public Service Commission (PSC) indicated that the 70 percent renewables target will not be achieved before 2033.

State State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. NY Senate Photo licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Audit Reveals Flaws
A few weeks after this report, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released a detailed audit criticizing the PSC and NYSERDA for inadequate planning and the use of outdated data. In particular, it said that the PSC had failed to address “all current and emerging issues that could significantly increase electricity demand and lower projected generation.”

Perhaps most disturbing was the audit’s finding that the PSC had overlooked the need to calculate the costs of the transition to renewables or to identify how to cover those costs beyond the tried and true method of dumping them on ratepayers. 

How Committed is the State?
Together these two reports raise major questions about the actual commitment of the state to implementing the 2019 CLCPA. The governor’s reaction to these findings? Oh well, it won’t hurt if we let things slide for a few years. Not surprisingly, state Republican leaders and the business community have taken advantage of the leadership vacuum to attack the climate law and press Hochul to abandon it.

How is it possible for this failure of leadership to take hold during the same summer that global temperatures have been setting new records month after month? In fact, not only was this past July the warmest on record, but it was also the 14th consecutive month of record-high global temperatures. Does anyone see a pattern here?

Cornell professor Robert Howarth, a member of the state’s Climate Action Council, certainly does. The council passed a plan to implement the CLCPA in December 2022, and Howarth is on the front line defending it. “I am appalled at this pushback against the CLCPA by business interests pushing their short-sighted agenda,” Howarth said in an interview with WaterFront. “Climate change is very real. The consequences of climate disruption (floods, droughts, fires, crop failures) are becoming increasing obvious to all.”

Eddie Bautista, executive director of the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, strongly agrees that stronger leadership is necessary. “In just five short years, we’ve gone from being visionary leaders to not being able to implement our own laws. It’s just insane,” he said recently.

The governor’s reversal on congestion pricing in New York City has environmentalists wondering whether this is part of a larger plan to back away from other elements of the state climate action agenda such as the cap-and-invest plan that would price greenhouse gas emissions. At the very least, it looks likely that the administration will blow past its self-imposed deadline to launch the program in early 2025.

A Simple Step
One step that Hochul could take to restore some degree of confidence in her commitment to climate action would be to sign the Climate Change Superfund Act that is currently sitting on her desk after being passed in June by both the General Assembly and State Senate. This legislation would require oil and gas companies to pay a total of $3 billion a year for 25 years to cover the cost of the climate damage they have inflicted on the state.

The governor has not yet signaled her intention, which leaves a lot of climate activists worried, although some think she might just be waiting until after the election to do so. The pressure on her has been growing throughout the summer and will only continue to increase this fall.

Fossil Free Media, together with the Sunrise Movement, has launched a national billboard campaign in California, New York, Arizona, and Philadelphia, with plans to expand to Florida and Louisiana in September. as part of the effort to build support for the principle that polluters should pay for the mess they have made.

The Make Polluters Pay campaign seeks to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable through legislation, lawsuits, and public pressure. This is exactly the kind of national attention that Hochul wants to avoid, but she better get used to it. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) just announced their intention to introduce federal Polluter Pays bills in Congress. Things are definitely heating up – stay tuned.

NYS Drops the Ball on Climate Legislation

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In a breathtaking display of political malpractice, the NYS General Assembly just adjourned the 2023-2024 legislative session in Albany without taking a vote on several crucial pieces of climate legislation.

The final days of the session turned into a brawl to rescue congestion pricing after Gov. Kathy Hochul paused the program just weeks before it was set to begin. As a result, key bills were left by the wayside.

Governor Kathy Hochul. Photo credit: Darren McGee, Office of Governor.

They included the NY HEAT Act, which would stop utilities from automatically charging ratepayers for new gas lines, a measure to reduce plastic packaging, and an expanded bottle deposit law. Both the NY HEAT Act and the Packaging Reduction Act had already passed in the Senate by wide margins, and they had the backing of a majority of co-sponsors in the Assembly, but they never came to a vote.

“This is taking us backwards where we need to be to meet our climate law mandates and to protect people and save them money,” said Liz Moran, a state policy advocate at Earthjustice.

Moran pointed out that NYS lawmakers approved the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act in 2019, with a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85% by 2050. But since then, she said, Democratic leaders in Albany have been unwilling to take the steps needed to actually achieve that goal.

“We will not forget this failure as we struggle with utility shutoffs, high temperatures, and bad air this summer,” said AGREE executive director Jessica Azulay, joining the call for a special session to take up the NY HEAT Act.

The governor’s decision to pause congestion pricing, combined with the failure of the other bills to get a proper hearing in the Assembly, is disconcerting, to say the least. These actions displayed the power of the fossil fuel industry to get its way in Albany, thanks to the flood of dollars it’s handing out in what is an election year.

There was one place where Big Oil failed to get its way, though. In the final hours of the Assembly session—at 3:22 am, to be exact—the Climate Change Superfund Act secured passage.

The bill would charge fossil-fuel companies a total of $3 billion a year for 25 years to pay for costs associated with the destruction caused by climate change.

The Climate Change Superfund Act now lands on Gov. Hochul’s desk, awaiting her signature. If enacted, New York will join Vermont as the second U.S. state with a law requiring fossil-fuel companies to pick up at least a portion of the tab for the huge damage they’ve knowingly inflicted.

There will be tremendous pressure brought to bear, as there should be, by climate justice and environmental groups across the state to make sure the governor signs this historic bill. If she does, it will mark a significant step towards holding climate polluters accountable.

A Failure of Leadership at the Capitol

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When the state’s final budget was released earlier this month, not a single major climate bill was included. No Climate Change Superfund Act, no NY HEAT Act, no Stop Climate Polluter Handouts Act.

It was a shocking development in light of the state’s supposed commitment to achieving an 85% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. That’s what New York State’s 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) requires, but you’d never know it flipping though the pages of this year’s budget book.

The New York State Capitol in Albany. Photo by Craig Fildes licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED.

The operative word in the title of the CLCPA is “leadership.” It was hard to discern any of that, however, when it came to Gov. Hochul and the legislature, especially the General Assembly. Instead, anxiety about the upcoming elections prevailed and Democrats took the safe way out. It was a sad day in Albany and there was little to celebrate when Earth Day occurred a few days later.

The Fossil Fuel Industry Betrayal

It was bad enough when we found out this past January that the fossil fuel industry had more than enough evidence as early as 1954 to understand the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on the climate. But then word came today, with the release of internal documents, that Big Oil lobbied against climate policies that they claimed to support. The betrayal was complete.

“For decades, the fossil-fuel industry has known about the economic and climate harms of its products,” declared Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) “but [it] has deceived the American public to keep collecting more than $600bn each year in subsidies while raking in record-breaking profits.”

Where Do We Go From Here?

In the context of these larger national events, the fact that oil and gas companies were a major factor in pressuring state legislators to forego climate legislation in this year’s budget is especially galling. All three major bills directly confront the oil and gas firms. The NY HEAT Act seeks to eliminate subsidies for new gas hookups, eliminate the “obligation to serve” gas to neighborhoods, and ensure that no low-income household would pay more than 6% of its income for energy.

The Climate Change Superfund Act holds major oil companies accountable for the harm they inflicted on New York between 2000 and 2018. It would require these companies to bear a share of the costs of infrastructure investments required to adapt to the impacts of climate change in the state. The program would assess the major fossil fuel emitters $3 billion annually over the span of 25 years to offset the climate damages incurred by the state.

The Stop Climate Polluter Handouts Act aims at paring back the $1.6 billion taxpayers hand out each year to the oil and gas companies in tax subsidies and other breaks. It defies logic that the state continues to provide huge subsidies to an industry that is causing so much destruction. This bill would end the most egregious state subsidies, amounting to $265 million annually.

The fight to secure the passage of these three bills is far from over. Even though the budget has been set, the legislature still has until June 1 to gain their approval. This is clearly the tougher road but climate movement activists across the state, including TCCPI, are gearing up to push even harder over the next four weeks for this legislation to become law. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work!

 

Accountability and Climate Change in Albany

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It’s that time of year in Albany when a wave of bills sweeps ashore in the New York State Legislature, among them a number of critical climate and energy transition measures.

The big question on the minds of climate and environmental activists and their legislative allies is pretty straightforward: to what extent is Governor Kathy Hochul committed to fulfilling not just the letter but the spirit of the state’s 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA)?

Assemblymember Anna Kelles speaking at a NY Renews rally in January. Photo courtesy of NY Renews.

Uncertainty and Anziety
Close on the heels of this question is a related issue: the State Climate Action Council has developed a substantive, thoughtful roadmap for meeting the ambitious goals of the CLCPA, but it remains unclear how energetically the governor intends to pursue it.

Feeding this sense of uncertainty are the challenges facing the rollout of utility-scale renewable energy projects in New York. As Marie French points out in a recent article, recent setbacks in developing industrial wind and solar have raised serious doubts about the state’s ability to meet the demands of the Climate Law, which requires that 70 percent of New York’s power come from renewable sources by 2030.

Finding a Solution
At the same time, extreme weather events attributable to climate change have been escalating, creating a palpable sense of urgency about the need to find a solution. As Raya Salter, a member of the Climate Action Council and founder of the Energy Justice Law and Policy Center, puts it, “The stakes are higher than ever so the governor needs to be willing to step out and make sure that we fully implement the CLCPA.”

There is certainly no shortage of suggestions about how to do this. One of the boldest set of proposals before the legislators is the Climate, Jobs, and Justice Package (CJJP) advanced by NY Renews, a coalition made up of over 370 environmental, justice, faith, labor, and community groups, including TCCPI.

The CJJP has three main components: 1) fully fund the CLCPA so that it can achieve its objectives; 2) build renewable energy for all and create green union jobs; and 3) hold polluters accountable and ensure everyone pays their fair share in taxes. Here are the details about how this would be accomplished:

  • The People’s Climate Justice Budget is a $1 billion spending plan that outlines critical climate and environmental justice programs that would constitute a downpayment on the more than $10 billion a year the state estimates is necessary to address the climate crisis. It builds on the creation of the Climate Action Fund (CAF) in 2023, seizing a historic opportunity to fund projects across the state.
  • The NY HEAT (Home Energy Affordable Transition) Act would eliminate subsidies for new gas hookups (the “100-foot rule”), enable neighborhood scale building decarbonization by eliminating the “obligation to serve” gas, and ensure that no household pays more than 6% of its income for energy. The plan would also ban the construction of any new gas plants in areas where they do not already exist after September 30, 2023.
  • The Just Energy Transition Act provides a plan to guide the replacement and redevelopment of at least 4 GW of New York State’s fossil fuel facilities by 2030. It lays out a clear direction for proceeding with the transition off fossil fuels in accordance with the CLCPA requirements. Converting these facilities to renewable energy as soon as possible will generate climate and economic benefits as well as public health benefits.
  • The Climate Change Superfund Act holds major oil companies, the state’s worst climate polluters, accountable for the harm they’ve inflicted on New York between 2000 and 2018. It would require companies that have contributed significantly to the buildup of greenhouse gases to bear a share of the costs of infrastructure investments required to adapt to the impacts of climate change in the state. The program would assess the major fossil fuel emitters $3 billion annually over the span of 25 years to offset the climate damages incurred by the state.

Not included in the CJJP, but closely aligned with it, is the Stop Climate Polluter Handouts Act. Many supporters view it, in particular, as a companion bill to the Climate Superfund Act, arguing that New York shouldn’t be providing huge subsidies to an industry that is causing so much destruction. This legislation will end the most egregious state subsidies of over $330 million each year (out of an annual total of $1.6 billion) to oil and gas companies.

These are just a few of the bills under consideration in Albany. Efforts to ensure that the Cap-and-Invest program doesn’t devolve into a cap-and-trade shell game; to make the fashion industry more transparent when it comes to supply chains, carbon emissions, and labor conditions; to reduce plastic packaging and modernize the bottle bill; and to push the governor and legislature to figure out how state facilities in downtown Albany, including the Empire State Plaza and State Capitol, could receive their electric power and heating and cooling from 100% renewable energy are all crucial ways in which New York can demonstrate its seriousness about fulfilling the vision of the CLCPA.

As Raya Salter contends, “the stakes are higher than ever.” The governor and legislature need to demonstrate the vision and leadership that act on this understanding, and it’s up to the rest of us to hold their feet to the fire. TCCPI will be right there with our allies in the climate and energy transition movement, making sure that our representatives feel the heat and act accordingly.

TCCPI at Fifteen

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It’s hard to believe, but this summer marks the 15th anniversary of the Tompkins County Climate Protection Initiative. At the time of TCCPI’s launch in June 2008 I was working on a book with a colleague at Second Nature, a nonprofit think tank in Boston dedicated to promoting the higher education sustainability movement. One of the key themes in the book, Boldly Sustainable: Hope and Opportunity for Higher Education in the Age of Climate Change (2009) was the need for greater collaboration between colleges and universities and the communities in which they operated.

I was drafting a chapter for the book in early 2008 on sustainability, economic development, and community partnerships, exploring several case studies across the U.S., including Ithaca. I had stepped down the previous year from the provost’s office at Ithaca College, where I had helped lead what became a nationally recognized sustainability initiative, to join Second Nature as a senior fellow. Having left the academic world following a quarter century as a faculty member and administrator, I became much more aware of the disconnect between campuses and communities in the emerging sustainability movement. 

Time for Collaboration

Looking over the Ithaca landscape, it seemed to me that the time was right for an effort that would bring together higher education institutions, local governments, nonprofits, and businesses around the need for climate action and the energy transition. I brought the idea to the Park Foundation and submitted a grant proposal for what became TCCPI; the foundation generously funded the proposal and has continued to do so with unstinting support.

In that time, TCCPI has held about 165 monthly meetings, published 76 newsletters, and issued 14 annual reports of member accomplishments regarding climate action, clean energy, and sustainability. In 2016, as part of an effort to strengthen our engagement with the private sector, we established (with the assistance of a grant from NYSERDA) the Ithaca 2030 District, part of what is now a network of 24 urban districts in the U.S. and Canada dedicated to improving the energy and water performance of commercial buildings in downtown areas. 

From an initial base of 15 buildings, the Ithaca 2030 District has grown to 44 buildings with 584,381 square feet of committed space. Besides our quarterly meetings and newsletters, we provide each property member with an interactive, online dashboard that measures the energy and water performance of their individual buildings. These dashboards are regularly updated so that owners, managers, and tenants can monitor their progress. You can find our latest annual district-level report here.

Policy Advocacy

Apart from the founding of the Ithaca 2030 District, perhaps the most significant change in TCCPI since its beginning is the extent to which we have become involved over the last few years in policy advocacy. Our activities in this area are primarily focused on the state level, and we are members of three statewide activist coalitions: NY Renews, Renewable Heat Now, and Climate Can’t Wait. The passage of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act in 2019 and the subsequent establishment of the Climate Action Council, which released its recommendations for a state climate plan this past December, as well as the flurry of bills sparked by these recommendations, have constituted the main catalyst for this evolution in TCCPI’s work. At the local level, we have been a strong and active supporter of the Ithaca Green New Deal.

Underlying this new attention on policy advocacy is a mounting sense of urgency as the climate crisis becomes an undeniable reality of our present, one that has had a disproportionate impact on marginalized groups and which demands that we place equity and justice at the center of our efforts. In the face of this growing awareness and public support for action, however, the fossil fuel industry and its allies have responded with misinformation, fear mongering, and a deep-seated commitment to maintaining the status quo.

In the process, it’s become clear that the most effective way to push back and secure a safe, just, and healthy future is collective action by well-organized citizens fighting for our communities and making sure no one is left behind. Animated by this spirit, TCCPI will keep moving forward in the years to come. As Thomas Berry writes in The Great Work: Our Way into the Future, unless we devote ourselves to preserve and enhance the life, beauty, and diversity of the planet for the generations to come, we will become “impoverished in all that makes us human.”

Climate Action & the NY Fossil Fuel Industry

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The 2023 session of the New York state legislature is well underway at this point, and a flurry of important climate and clean energy bills have been introduced in the General Assembly and State Senate. Following the recent release of the state plan approved by the Climate Action Council, as required by the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), lawmakers are seeking ways to buttress its recommendations.

State legislators welcome Gov. Hochul for her 2023 State of the State address. Photo courtesy of NYS Senate Media Services licensed under CC By 2.0.

Given the potential of the various proposals to accelerate an equitable energy transition, it’s not surprising they have stirred up opposition and anxieties. In particular, the fossil fuel industry has mounted an aggressive lobbying campaign to undermine these far-reaching efforts and hamper the ability of the state to meet its climate targets.

A recent report issued by the nonprofit Public Accountability Initiative lays out in great detail the attempts of the industry to obstruct climate action in New York. It points out that millions of dollars have been spent by the industry and its supporters “to delay, water down and otherwise frustrate the implementation of the CLCPA and other key climate legislation.”

“Legislators, communities and other stakeholders invested in a cleaner, greener, decarbonized future for New York must stay vigilant around efforts by the fossil fuel industry to muzzle and erode” the state’s climate actions, the report warns.

Not only are the oil and gas industry representatives engaging in aggressive inside lobbying of legislators in Albany, they are working hand in hand with gas utilities to disseminate misinformation among the general public, muddying the waters and generating unwarranted fears. Deploying online ads and robocalls, they are raising the prospect of “power outages and cost increases.” “We need all energy options to keep the lights on and heat flowing,” they misleadingly claim.

The fossil fuel companies have been mobilizing their customers to contact state lawmakers and express their opposition to building electrification. What’s especially galling is that New York State hands out about $1.5 billion each year in tax subsidies to these companies, which are then turning around and spending a significant portion of the dollars to fund their misinformation and lobbying machine.

There is hope, however, that this time the industry will not be as effective as it has been in the past at stopping crucial climate action. Rich Schrader, New York State policy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, notes that the oil and gas groups engaged in these tactics last year and have now lost the element of surprise. In addition, the advantages of new technologies such as cold-weather heat pumps have come into sharper focus.

“The politics have changed, information has changed, and the [federal] incentives are much clearer now,” he observes. “All that weighs against their propaganda.”