With time running out on the legislative session in Albany, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the State Senate and the Assembly should set aside their differences and find common ground on a climate bill that would greatly reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. This would be enormously beneficial to the country and to the planet, and would ensure that, as the federal government slides backward, New York remains in the forefront of increasingly aggressive efforts by state governments to address the dangers of global warming.
At issue are two bills. One is the Climate and Community Protection Act, much favored by environmental activists. It passed the Assembly three years in a row but never the Senate, which until this year was dominated by Republicans. The other is the governor’s Climate Leadership Act, introduced early this year. As is often the case in Albany, the argument has not been helpful, and suggests that the sides are miles apart. On Tuesday, protesters invaded the State Capitol, demanding that Mr. Cuomo sign the first bill and suggesting that he simply didn’t care about climate change. Mr. Cuomo sniffed that he had already put in place a host of regulatory measures reducing power plant emissions, promoting energy efficiency and building out wind and solar power. He said he had no intention of playing politics.
Read the opinion piece from The New York Times - “Where the Climate Change Action Is: Hint: It’s not Washington.”
