Sierra Club Endorsements: New York State

 

Governor Andrew Cuomo has often had a tumultuous relationship with the environmental movement — but the proceeds of long, thoughtful and bruising campaigns with his administration have resulted in some groundbreaking decisions and initiatives that would not have been possible without the governor’s own vision and political acumen. 

 

Over the past four years especially, there has been a significant sea change in how the governor approaches environmental protection, commencing with the ban on high-volume fracking in late 2014. After his historic prohibition of the controversial gas extraction technique, Governor Cuomo committed the State of New York to reaching a number of important climate-related goals by 2030, including a 40% reduction in greenhouse gasses from 1990 levels, 50% of energy generation from renewable energy sources and 23% decrease in energy consumption in buildings from 2012 levels — all within the construct of an enforceable clean energy standard. In addition, the governor committed to phasing out all coal-generating plants by 2020, coupled with a transition framework for communities and workers, and has blocked the construction of a number of major fracked-gas pipelines and distribution facilities, citing concerns for clean water and climate change. 

 

In 2018 alone, under Cuomo’s leadership, the Environmental Protection Fund, NY’s primary funding source for conservation programs, was augmented for the third year in a row to a historic high of $300 million. Clean water infrastructure spending continued at $500 million a year as part of a 5-year $2.5 billion program. Cuomo also committed the state to construct and purchase 2.4 gigawatts of NY-based offshore wind, develop $1.4 billion worth of land-based renewable energy, build 1500 megawatts of new battery storage, facilitated an effective $2,000 electric vehicle rebate program and added an astounding 69,000 acres of wilderness to the Adirondack Park. 

 

Cuomo’s environmental record should be examined against the backdrop of two cataclysmic forces — the rapidly advancing threat of climate change and the erosion of foundational environmental protections through the reckless actions of the Trump administration. New York’s record in contrast to the rest of the nation clearly gives Cuomo a legitimate claim to being a national climate leader. However, New York State, along with the rest of the country, is not moving fast enough to meet our climate goals and stave off the worst of increasingly severe storms, floods, droughts, famines and extinctions. Continued state leadership will be critical for the nation to meet our share of the Paris climate targets in the face of Trump’s systematic dismantling of our environmental laws and agencies, and halting national efforts to curtail greenhouse gas emissions. 

 

Cuomo, to his credit, has positioned himself as a political bulwark to Trump’s dissolution of international climate agreements, irresponsible offshore drilling plans and regulatory rollbacks that favor big polluters. His challenger, Dutchess County Executive Mark Molinaro, vows to overturn the fracking ban. As a member of Trump’s party, he will have a tough time going against the current orthodoxy that threatens all our progress. 

 

We must not go backward in New York. Cuomo is the clear choice for NY’s environment and has earned the Sierra Club’s endorsement for governor.

 

As we lend our support for Cuomo’s third term as governor, we do so with heightened expectations that he fulfills all of his commitments on climate and the environment to date — and in his next term moves faster and bolder on key issues. Our climate goals and solutions need to be synchronized and made enforceable, including mechanisms to pay for the transition from our fossil-fuel past to our renewable energy future. New policies have to be adopted to ensure we reduce transportation and building emissions 40% by 2030. And we need meaningful campaign finance and ethics reform to help disentangle NY from the constricting power of special-interest money that suppresses all these goals. We believe Governor Cuomo is up to the challenge.

 

 

No state office holder may be of more importance to New York in the era of Donald Trump than the attorney general. With unprecedented executive misconduct and reversals of foundational policies, the Sierra Club strongly believes that Letitia James is the ideal candidate to protect the rights of women, minorities, immigrants, workers, our healthcare system and our environment from the cruel rollbacks at the federal level that have been dictated to the president by big polluters, oligarchs and bigots.

 

As a 10-year member of the New York City Council, James distinguished herself as chair of the Solid Waste Committee and enacted landmark laws expanding recycling programs and environmental protections. As an attorney and public advocate, Ms. James has been a staunch defender of environmental justice communities, ensuring that neighborhoods of color are not overburdened with poor air quality, contaminated drinking water, and toxic chemical exposures. She has been at the forefront of numerous environmental and social justice fights. The Sierra Club knows that Letitia James will continue to advocate for vulnerable communities as she stands up to powerful anti-environmental interests. As attorney general, she has vowed to:

 

• Investigate and take legal action to stop environmental injustices that exacerbate racial disparities in asthma rates, lead poisoning and other environmental illnesses

• Advance legislation and take legal action that would ban fracking infrastructure in New York

• Lead the fight for the state to divest fully from fossil fuels

• Litigate to prevent the rollback of federal regulations that protect our air, our water and our food

• Investigate and prosecute corporate polluters who collude with federal officials to mislead New Yorkers about the risk of climate change

• Litigate to protect against toxic products that harm workers and consumers

• Advocate to strengthen New York’s environmental laws by increasing the penalties for illegal dumping

 

The Sierra Club knows that 2019 will be a pivotal year for justice in the wake of Trump’s abuses and is confident that Letitia James will lead the charge as New York State’s next attorney general.

 

 

 

Tom DiNapoli has earned his reputation as one of the greenest comptrollers in the country. When he entered the office more than ten years ago, DiNapoli established an internal green initiative to make the state’s operations more environmentally responsible through energy audits, efficiency standards and investments in clean energy technologies. That impetus has grown into the Comptroller’s Sustainable Investment Program, which has committed $7 billion to investments in climate solutions, and other investments consistent with the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. Recently, DiNapoli established a climate change advisory panel with Governor Cuomo to review potential strategies to further decarbonize the New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYSCRF) portfolio, consistent with the comptroller’s fiduciary duty. 

In 2018, The Asset Owners Disclosure Project ranked the NYSCR Fund third among the world’s 500 largest investment funds in managing climate-related investment risk. This distinction has made DiNapoli an international leader on climate change and a sought-after speaker at COP23 and COP21 regarding the importance of global climate treaties and investing in the low-carbon economy. Through his leadership, his office has informed key aspects of the Paris Climate Agreement, the Clean Power Plan, tax credits for solar and wind power, low-carbon fuel standards, carbon pricing, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the NYS Oil Spill Fund and SEC requirements for corporate disclosure of material carbon risks. 
 

The Sierra Club remains resolutely committed to the concept of fossil fuel divestment — including removing investments from the $207.4 billion NYS pension fund that negatively contribute to climate change. DiNapoli has been reluctant to embrace full divestment largely because, in his own view, he has yet to see this strategy have any meaningful impact on the behavior of big carbon polluters or the price of their stock. DiNapoli remains resolute in the power of his shareholder engagement work and wishes to continue reforming fossil fuel companies from the inside while further searching for clean energy investment opportunities that can provide meaningful returns for the state’s 1.1 million pensioners.

While we may disagree with the comptroller on the pace and totality of divestment, there is no question about DiNapoli’s commitment to decarbonizing the fund and using the power of his office to advance environmental protections and innovation through the state’s fiscal practices. DiNapoli is an irreplaceable state asset, and the Sierra Club is proud to endorse him for his fourth term as New York State comptroller.