by Caitlin Ferrante, Conservation & Development Program Manager
In this year’s state budget, the governor and legislature agreed upon an historic $3 billion “Restore Mother Nature” Environmental Bond Act to invest in key environmental protection and mitigation measures. Some of the resiliency investments included
restoring critical habitats
reducing flood risk
fighting harmful invasive species
doubling reef acreage
investing in habitat protections
Unfortunately, the governor and the Division of Budget determined, on July 30, that the “Restore Mother Nature” Environmental Bond Act would not be on this year’s November 3 ballot, citing the state’s fiscal condition. However, in the same announcement, the governor did express support for a future environmental bond act, indicating he would likely work to advance new authorizing legislation in the near future.
While we understand the current fiscal situation, we are also disappointed in the decision. This bond act would have helped New York get back to work by creating tens of thousands of jobs fixing water systems, building resilient infrastructure, conserving the natural resources communities depend on, and tackling issues that threaten public health, such as air and water pollution, and deadly heat and storms.
While we recover from the pandemic and related economic fallout, we must address the impacts of the climate crisis on New York. If we don’t take action now to reduce pollution, protect natural resources and make our communities more resilient to climate impacts, such as stronger storms and more deadly heat waves, it will plunge us further into public health and economic misery.
As one of more than 125 organizations that was enthusiastic about the prospects of an environmental bond act in New York, the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter will continue to call on our state and federal leaders to support environmental funding as a pathway to an economic and public health recovery. Investment now will ensure we can leverage federal funding — including funding already being approved in the Great American Outdoors Act.
As the Division of Budget continues to assess the state of NY’s finances, it is imperative that we protect and preserve the environmental funding we currently have in the Empire State, including the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) and the funds to support the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act (WIIA), while also working to ensure there are no funding raids/sweeps from the funds in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). We look forward to our work to ensure all these funds are protected while also endeavoring to enact a future environmental bond act.