As global fossil fuel emissions are the leading cause of climate change, leaders all over the world have come up with solutions to lower their region’s carbon footprint. In New York, policies have been implemented to help reduce gas emissions through transportation, industrial, and power sectors. Since the primary source of the city’s emissions comes from buildings, it is evident that building decarbonization is necessary to achieve our climate goals. One of the most critical ways to fight climate change in New York City is to electrify buildings. NYLCV therefore supports Intro 2317, a bill that would place an emissions cap on all new and renovated buildings and encourage building electrification. However, we feel that there need to be some major amendments to the bill so that we approach the complexities of building electrification pragmatically.

As soon as Kathy Hochul was sworn in as Governor it became clear that she would be consciously implementing an environmentally-focused policy agenda. New York State (NYS) has some of the most ambitious goals in the country, outlined in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), and Governor Hochul has shown that she is working to ensure that those goals are met. Now, at the three-month mark of her tenure, we review some of the exciting advancements in New York State’s fight against climate change. 

The deal secures an investment of $1.2 trillion, some of which will be used to fund new climate resilience projects, such as electric school buses, EV infrastructure, zero-low emission public transit, the removal of lead pipes & PFAS to improve drinking water, and pollution remediation. These investments are part of a comprehensive effort to both build resilience against the climate crisis and completely stop it in its tracks, and it marks the largest federal investment into infrastructure in U.S. history. 

Researchers at Princeton University recently published their “Net Zero America,” offering five potential pathways charting different paces, priorities, and methods we should enact to reverse the damages of climate change.

The American Jobs Plan’s transportation agenda anticipates drastic advancements in infrastructure and energy consumption standards. New York State’s adherence to this federal agenda will ensure the health and safety of its residents while creating millions of jobs and sustainable economic growth.

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy recently released the State Transportation Electrification Scorecard research report, which named New York as one of the top 10 states for our policy and program efforts to electrify transportation.